Marion Hughes, whose 10th place at last year's European show jumping championships marked her out as a serious Olympic contender, has sold her top horse for a reputed £1 million.

Heritage Charlton, who is by the now deceased show jumping sire Cavalier Royale, jumped superbly at last year's championships and also produced a double clear in the Aga Khan Cup at Dublin when Ireland finished second behind Holland.

However, last month's decision not to send a show jumping team to Sydney has meant that the Co Kilkenny rider and her Portuguese boyfriend, Miguel Bravo, have finally given in to the constant stream of offers for the talented horse.

The 10-year-old has been bought by Karl-David Sundberg, who owns a large estate south of Stockholm. Sundberg's 23-year-old daughter Maria will partner Charlton, whose reported £1 million price tag makes him one of the most expensive show jumper ever sold to Sweden.

The sale is the second major blow to Irish Olympic hopes in recent weeks. Cruising, the stallion campaigned so successfully by Trevor Coyle until a fall-out with owner Mary McCann at the Europeans, was briefly given to Eddie Macken, but is now being jumped by British ace John Whitaker and so is no longer available for the Irish team.

In the light of Cruising's defection and the huge cost of sending a full quota of four to Sydney, the Irish selectors agreed last month not to send a team to the Olympics. The decision was then ratified at a meeting of the Show Jumping Association of Ireland national executive.

John Egan enjoyed another successful day on the continent on Sunday when he captured the Czech Republic's version of the 2,000 Guineas on Sharp Focus.

He won the Austrian version of the race on the same horse two weeks ago and is set to ride the three-year-old in Germany and back in the Czech Republic over the coming weeks.