Darling Downs buyer pays a record $102k for horse at Berragoon sale

A Darling Downs buyer has smashed records at the Berragoon annual production sale near Albury in NSW, paying $102,000 for a prized horse.

Grant and Alice Carroll's winning bid for Berragoon Bells HSH on Sunday more than doubled the old record of $48,000 set at last year's sale.

Bells, a bay coloured five-year-old by Berragoon Expose HSH out of Berragoon Percussion HSH, was offered by Berragoon ASH Stud, Mandaring, Holbrook.

Competition started at $3000 and auctioneers took 48 bids before the hammer came down, prompting applause from the crowd at the Holbrook Equestrian Centre.

The Carrolls, who run Haluana Horses at Hodgson Vale, just south of Toowoomba, said Bells was worth every bit of the 2400km round trip.

"It's a breed we've always wanted. That mare's mother is probably the best horse I've ever seen and when I saw Bells, we just had to have her," Mr Carroll said.

The breeders had bought horses online from the annual sale before, but this was their first time holding a bid card.

They plan to enter the mare in polocrosse and camp drafting before the breeding season.

"She's only early in her career so we'll start to compete the mare this year and then we hope to breed from the mare every year as well - pull embryos out of her and breed some foals out of her," Mr Carroll said.

Overall, 92 of the 98 horses sold for an average of $12,204 representing 94 per cent clearance.

Queensland was well represented at the sale, with Peter O'Sullivan of Chinchilla the state's volume buyer, finishing with four horses for an average of $7188.

Other northern buyers included Grant Wells of Rolleston, Peter Knight of Thallon, Hugh Anderson of Morven, the Sturgess family of Chinchilla, Lindsey Doolan of Miles, Stephanie Griffiths of Surat, Trish Shepherd of Springside and the Waters family of Bell.

Interstate buyers came from nearby Victoria as well as from Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Article courtesy of Australian Community Media and Queensland Country Life