VIRTUAL VILLAGE HOPES ARE
HIGH Irish
Sport Horse Bred in
Ireland Born
1989 gelding
jumper Rider: Nick Skelton GBR
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BAHRAM (XX) |
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NEARULA (XX) |
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CRECASSIA (XX) |
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Virtual Village Hopes are High, ridden by Nick Skelton of Great Britain was the winner of the $800,000 du Maurier International at the Spruce Meadows Masters. In August, before competing at Calgary, Hopes are High and Skelton won the prestigious Kerrygold International Grand Prix in Dublin, were a member of the Nations Cup winning British team in Dublin, and three weeks later won the Grand Prix Banko Herrero in Gijon, Spain. This horse/rider combination have only been competing together since mid-July, Hopes are High formerly having been ridden by Andrew Davies of Great Britain.
Hopes are High, a 1989 Irish-bred gelding, is from some of the best Irish Draught and Thoroughbred bloodlines available in Ireland.
Virtual Village Hopes are High was sired by Flagmount Diamond, a son of the legendary King of Diamonds. Flagmount Diamond, who has 677 registered foals, also sired the stallions Diamond Chin and Crosstown Dancer, two successful jumpers in Ireland. Diamond Chin was a show jumper who, as a sire, has achieved 3rd place in the Genetic Index rating in Ireland.
The Genetic index is a rating determined by the stallion's success as a performance horse as well as the successes of his family relatives. It is a measure of the level at which a stallion may transmit jumping ability to their offspring as well as giving an indication as to the probability or accuracy of the transfer of that ability.
Diamond Chin achieved a jumping index of 144.9 in 1998 with an accuracy of 75%. Ireland's highest rated stallion in 1998 is Clover Hill with an index of 147.8 and an accuracy of 98% followed by Coille Mor Hill with an index of 145.7 and an accuracy of 70%.
Crosstown Dancer has twice won the Irish Draught Stallion Championship as well as representing Ireland at the World Breeding Championships in Laeken Belgium as a 5yr old. He competed 3 days in this competition with only 4 faults finishing 13th overall. In 1998 Crosstown Dancer has a genetic index of 124.3 with an accuracy of 71%.
As a broodmare sire, Flagmount Diamond is the sire of the mare Lindy Lou Diamond. This mare is the dam of Diamond Cliff, a recent winner of the Royal International Chase for John Whitaker of Great Britain.
A full brother to Flagmount Diamond, the stallion Flagmount King, was a Grade A international jumper and is claimed to be the only Irish Draught stallion to win timed events in open competition. He competed as a member of the British Team. Also a full brother to Flagmount Diamond and Flagmount King is the stallion and sire Flagmount Boy. All three brothers have achieved an above-average Genetic Index, Flagmount Diamond with 126 and a 91% accuracy stands 14th in Ireland, Flagmount Boy with 120, and 72% accuracy stands 17th and Flagmount King has an index of 121 with a 64% accuracy.
Flagmount Diamond's sire, King of Diamonds, is a legend in the breeding of show jumpers in Ireland. With a Genetic Index of 131 and an accuracy of 93%, King of Diamonds is a sire of successful competition horses and sires too numerous to list. Some of his most famous international offspring include Mill Pearl (J. Fargis, USA), Dury Lad (D. Cheska, USA), Mill Street Ruby, G. Mullens, IRE), Special Envoy, (N. Pessoa, BRA), Pinion Muldoon (D.Gardiner, IRE) to mention only a few. His second-generation descendents include Flo Jo (Marion Hughes, GBR), Can Can (Peter Wylde, USA), Bluebird, (J.Popely, GBR), Master Maddox (H.Sprunger, SUI), Heather Blaze, (R. Splaine, IRE) and many others.
As well as numerous high quality show horses, King of Diamonds has produced a number of successful stallions, sires of jumpers. These sons include the full brothers Glidawn Diamond, Diamond Lad and Diamonds are Trumps as well as Kildalton King and Jack of Diamonds to list a few of the most successful sons.
Gildawn Diamond is the sire of O'Learys Irish Diamond, a young stallion in the western United States who is becoming very popular as a dressage horse.
The dam of Flagmount Diamond is the mare Gowan Betty by the Irish Draught stallion New Chieftain. New Chieftain is a son of the stallion Errigal. As King of Diamonds is also a son of Errigal, Flagmount Diamond and his brothers are inbred to Errigal. As well, they are line bred to a great Irish Draught foundation sire, Galty Boy
The dam of Virtual Village Hopes are High is Helena's Lass, an Irish Sport Horse mare who was sired by the Thoroughbred stallion Cornelsourt. This stallion also sired Royale an international winner for David Broome of Great Britain.
Cornelscourt is a son of
Persian Gulf and out of the mare Nymphet by Nearula. His pedigree contains
strong jumping lines. Persian Gulf is a sire whose descendents have been very
successful internationally over fences. Persian Gulf is a half brother to
Precipitation who was the sire of the great stallion Furioso, a foundation sire
of jumpers in France and now an important ancestor of a great number of the
leading jumpers and dressage horses in the world. Persian Gulf is also
the grandsire of the Thoroughbred stallion Marlon whose influence in the
Holsteiner breed in Germany has been of great significance. Persian Gulf is also
a stallion of great importance in the breeding of show jumpers in South Africa,
present in the pedigrees of horses such as Big Len (M. Harding, RSA) who now
competes in the United States. Much of the success of Persian Gulf in South
Africa is through his son Persian Wonder who was a major sire of show jumpers,
as well stallions and mares who produced major winners.
Cornelscourt's maternal grandsire is Nearula, a
son of the immortal Nasrullah, a name so familiar in the pedigrees of world
class jumpers and event horses. The influence of Nasrullah, and his sire
Nearco, is found in more pedigrees of international sport horses than any other
individual bloodline. One of Nearula's sons, Hanassi was a successful stallion
in The Netherlands producing such international jumpers as Sanyo Galaxi, (H.
Smith, GBR) Towerlands Foxfire (M. Pyrrah, GBR) and the international event
horse Oran.
Further Information: http://www.bcm.nl/cgi-bin/web-ssql/html/site/frame.html?menu=1&submenu=9&map=sport_breeding&pag=horses&topbalk=balk17
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