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Morrin Optimistic About Orby Draft

The Morrin family’s Pier House Stud has been doing business at Goffs for decades and the Curragh-based farm’s current custodian Brendan Morrin is continuing the family tradition by sending a strong draft of seven yearlings, a mixture of homebreds and pinhooks, to the Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Buyers can be spurred on by the fact the farm is a proven producer of quality, high-class racehorses such as Group 1 winner Capla Temptress (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and multiple stakes winner Shamwari Lodge (Ire) (Hawk Wing).

The first of the Pier House draft that will enter the ring at Doncaster will be lot 58, a colt by Le Havre (Ire) who is a full-brother to a stakes winner in Havre De Paix (Fr), who was a 230,000gns broodmare purchase two years ago by Deerpark Stud. The colt was purchased by Pier House for €72,000 at Goffs last year and Morrin said, “He is a lovely big, scopey horse with great action. There are only a handful by the sire in the sale so hopefully he might stand out a bit. His full-sister is a stakes winner so the mare is a proven producer and this is a very good individual.”

Morrin’s draft lacks nothing in sire power and next up is lot 71, a homebred daughter of No Nay Never from the family of champion 2-year-old filly Damson (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}). The catalogue states the dam Castle Cross (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) has yet to breed a winner but that omission was rectified very recently when her Zoffany (Ire) 2-year-old Minsky (Ire) landed a novice event at Yarmouth in impressive fashion.

“She is a nice filly and the half-brother winning was a good boost to get just before the sales,” Morrin said. “He looks like he could go on to better things too so that augurs well for the filly, who is a good type and moves well.”

Morrin was even more effusive in his praise of lot 165, a filly by first-crop stallion Ribchester (Ire) from a family replete with black-type performers. The dam, Galley (GB) (Zamindar), has already bred two stakes winners in Portage (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Cape Magic (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and the €100,000 Goffs pinhook hails from a family that has already been kind to the Morrin.

“We sold her half-brother by Sea The Stars (Ire) last year to Richard Hannon and did well out of him so we decided to go back to the same source,” Morrin said. “The colt last year was a big horse and while he hasn’t been out yet the reports are good. We sold a Ribchester at Goffs UK and we like what we’ve seen of them so far; they have lovely temperaments. This is a proper filly with a great big stride to her and we really like her.”

Day two of the Orby sees Pier House kick off with a Gleneagles (Ire) colt (lot 265). The sire has been represented by some smart looking 2-year-olds this year including Star Seeking (Ire), who earned ‘TDN Rising Star’ status earlier this month. Bought for 62,000gns as a foal at Tattersalls last year the chestnut is out of dual winner Magic Art (Ire) (Nayef) from the extended family of Group 1 winners Kirklees (Ire) (Jade Robbery) and Mastery (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}). “This is a big horse so he may not be a typical 2-year-old type,” Morrin said. “That said, he doesn’t lunge like a backward horse. He moves lovely and whatever he does as a juvenile he should make up into a lovely 3-year-old.”

Fans of Starspangledbanner (Aus) will be keen to hear that Morrin’s lot 365, a son of the Coolmore stallion, is built very much in the mould of his father.

“This is a very strong colt, a real bull of a horse, just like his sire,” Morrin said. “He wasn’t over big when we bought him but he has grown into a fine horse and we are very pleased with him.”

Pier House offers a filly from the first crop of Irish National Stud stallion National Defense (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) as lot 437, and Morrin said he could not be happier with how the homebred out of Thames Pageant (GB) (Dansili {GB}) has developed.

“She’s probably one of the best-looking yearlings on the farm,” he said. “The National Stud actually took a video of her to use to promote the stallion and she’s an absolute queen to look at. We think Invincible Spirit is a very interesting sire of sires; you just have to look at how the likes of Kingman (GB) and Cable Bay (Ire) are doing and the Profitable (Ire) yearlings look nice too, so we thought National Defense was worth supporting. This filly looks fast and there has been very little prepping on her; she just looks a natural racehorse.”

With a Kodiac (GB) filly withdrawn, the Pier House draft is completed by lot 440, a homebred filly by Caravaggio out of a half-sister to G1 Al Quoz sprint winner The Right Man (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). “She wouldn’t be quite as big as the previous filly but she is a nice type, a good mover with a lovely temperament; she should be an early 2-year-old,” Morrin said. “We have a few by Caravaggio to sell this year and they’re nice horses. They look fast and my late father used to say you can never have enough speed in a family and that is something we strive for when breeding.”

Pier House Stud is very much a family affair, something that is quite evident at the foal sales when there could be three or four members of the Morrin clan following one into the ring.

“I live on the home farm here which is 120 acres and my brother Ger, who used to manage Swordlestown Stud for the late Cathal Ryan, has his own farm near Ballymore Eustace,” Morrin explained. “He keeps all the mares and foals and the foals then come over to me when they’re weaned. I have another brother, John, who helps out here and invests in the business while my other brother, Tom, is a vet and he does all our work. He also does the veterinary work for Ballyhane Stud.

“It’s a big enough enterprise and everyone does their bit, but we all get on well together and it runs quite smoothly. My partner Carol is also a huge help and ensures everything runs smoothly when I’m away at sales.”

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Dream Update For Even So Sister

There may have been relative silence at The Curragh in July when the Ger Lyons-trained Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) won the G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks, but in the Boland household at Piercetown Stud in Meath the decibels were likely to have hit the high notes.

Eight months previously the stud’s owner Ronnie Boland and his son Aaron had bought a Footstepsinthesand (GB) half-sister to Even So as a foal at Goffs November for €22,000 and the now yearling filly will return to the sales ring with a massive update when she takes up her slot as lot 57 at the Goffs Orby Sale at Doncaster on Sept. 30.

Being a half-sister to a Classic winner is no mean feat in itself; however, the pedigree is far from one dimensional, as the filly’s dam Breeze Hill (Ire) (Danehill) is a half-sister to a brilliant Derby winner in Dr Devious (Ire) who also landed the G1 Irish Champion S. and the G1 Dewhurst S., as well as a champion sprinter in Archway (Ire). One doesn’t have to look too far down the page either to see the likes of G1 Epsom Oaks winner Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), champion 2-year-old Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and the multiple Group 1 and Classic winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

Taking up the story of Irish Oaks day in July, Boland said, “Obviously it was an exciting day and we were delighted to see Even So win. She had already done us a turn when she won a listed race at Naas on her previous run but to go and win the Oaks was something we could only have dreamt about.”

It was more than just blind luck that lead the Bolands to the foal’s stable last year at Goffs, however, as Ronnie explained: “Myself and Aaron do a bit of work for Ger Lyons; we take horses that are out of training and that need a break and Aaron also works for Ger at the races sometimes. When he saw this filly catalogued in Goffs last year Even So had just won her maiden in Gowran but it wasn’t in the catalogue and Aaron thought she could be capable of developing into a stakes filly this year so it was his decision to buy her.”

Even So went into a lot of people’s notebooks the day she broke her maiden at Gowran last September and when she stretched almost four lengths clear of her rivals in a soft ground maiden over a mile it was a performance that definitely suggested stakes class at the very least with the possibility of ‘could be anything’ when upped further in trip. Although a beaten favourite on her return when third to stablemate Lemista (Ire) (Raven’s Pass) in the G3 Park Express S. at Naas in March, she acquitted herself well on her next start when fifth in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas over an inadequate mile, running on strongly at the finish. The Coolmore-owned filly then confirmed her staying power when beating subsequent stakes winner Laburnum (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Listed Naas Oaks Trial before landing a second Classic in as many months for her trainer Ger Lyons.

“We would have been happy with any bit of stakes form, even to be have been placed in a listed race would have been grand but to get the big one was special,” Boland said. “There was a lot of shouting at the television here in the house and Aaron was actually at The Curragh working for Ger so he was on hand to witness it.”

Responsibility for prepping the yearling for the Orby has been handed over to Boland’s neighbour, Bill Dwan’s The Castlebridge Consignment, and so far things are going according to plan. “She is coming along fine I believe and hopefully on the day that matters she will be looking her best,” Boland said. “There are four Classic winners under the first two dams and it’s a very solid fillies family.”

As well as acting as a relaxation resort for many of Ger Lyons’s squad, Piercetown Stud is also home to a small band of broodmares with G2 Prix de Pomone winner Star Lahib (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) the highest achiever to have emerged from the boutique nursery. Risk Of Thunder (Ire)–not the famous cross country chaser of yesteryear owned by Sean Connery but a 2020 James Tate-trained winning juvenile filly by Night Of Thunder (Ire)–is another flying the flag for the farm.

Boland is breeding winners not only on the track but also on the educational side of the bloodstock business as his son Aaron was awarded the Gold Medal in the Irish National Stud breeding course earlier this year.

“Aaron is actually in England at the moment, he is working for Chasemore Farm doing their yearling prep,” Boland said. “He is going to be in Newmarket at the time of the Orby Sale so unfortunately he won’t be there to see the filly go through the ring. It’s his first real foal pinhook so hopefully he gets on well. He used the proceeds from selling an Awtaad filly foal last year that he bred himself to buy her so fingers crossed his luck will continue.

“It’s a tough game and everything has to go right not only during prep but also getting them to the sales up until they go into the ring. Then you need a few people to like them so it’s far from straightforward, as everyone in the business knows.”

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Sporting Prowess Lives On At Marlhill House

Many in this game associate the name Marlhill House with the successful Thoroughbred breeding and consigning operation based near Cashel, County Tipperary. In reality, though, its history of sporting success was established well before current owners, Eddie and Eimear Irwin, purchased it to become a stud in 1997.

Given the moniker in recent times of the ‘Home of Three Champions’, Marlhill House raised and grazed Ireland’s only Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles winner Lena Rice, who lifted the title in 1890. The baton of athletic achievement was then passed onto another resident in the form of Tipperary hurling legend Tommy Leahy, the winner of both Junior and Senior All-Ireland Medals in the 1930s.

Later in the 20th century, David O’Brien took up the reins at Marlhill House. Although he trained his horses down the road at Ballydoyle, it was where he lived when, at the age of just 27, he sent out Secreto to win the Derby in 1984, beating none other than his father Vincent O’Brien’s El Gran Senor–the hottest favourite heading into the race for 30 years.

These past achievements are not lost on Brian McConnon, who has managed the stud for the Irwins since 1998 and cites those that have gone before them when he says, “In terms of sporting accolades already achieved at Marlhill House, we have very big boots to fill.”

Horsemen can be superstitious beings, and while its history of luck in the sporting arena may have attracted the Irwins to Marlhill House when deciding on a place to settle, its position on Tipperary’s finest limestone pastures in the heart of the Golden Vale was likely to have been the main draw.

It is a point that McConnon confirms, “Eddie [Irwin] is from Cashel and being a local he obviously knew that [Marlhill] was on top-class limestone land. It’s also beside Rockwell College who have one of the finest dairy herds in the country. We wouldn’t be the first to discover that where you can raise good dairy cows, you can raise top-class Thoroughbreds.”

It is a theory backed up by their results, and those “big boots” that McConnon referred to previously have gone some way to being filled already. Indeed, the first crop bred at Marlhill House Stud threw up the prolific Group 1 performer Bowman’s Crossing (Ire) (Dolphin Street {Fr}). He was followed soon after by the winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup H., Luas Line (Ire) (Danehill), who went mightily close to winning a Classic for the team when she was third by half a length in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas.

In fact, there has been a continuous flow of stakes winners bred at Marlhill House Stud since its inception, many of which show up in the pedigrees of its sales yearlings. They are families that have taken time to nurture, as McConnon explains, “Our business model has always focused on quality over quantity. We have 12 very nice mares at the stud at the moment and it’s taken a while to get them to that level. We’ve spent a long time building up the broodmare band to where it is today; it’s not something that happens overnight.”

He continues, “We’re a commercial operation and we breed to sell but producing yearlings that are sent to good trainers and go on to be successful on the track is the ultimate goal for us. Any winner provides a great buzz but breeding a Classic winner would certainly be the pinnacle.”

Despite the challenges presented by 2020, McConnon remains cautiously optimistic about the sales and speaks enthusiastically about the 10 yearlings they have heading to the sales this year, split five apiece between Tattersalls October Book 1 and the Goffs Orby.

He says, “We’ve a lovely No Nay Never filly out of Royal Blue Caravel (Ire) selling at Book 1 (lot 409). She’s from a family we’ve had a lot of luck with. We bought her grandam Holly Blue (GB) from The Queen a number of years ago and she has bred two group winners. One of her daughters Scream Blue Murder (Ire) bred Ahandfullofsummers (Ire), who was second in a Group 3 recently, and her daughter Blue Cabochon (Ire) was third in a listed race at the Curragh last month. So those are two timely updates for her pedigree.”

He continues, “Another I’m really excited about is a Fastnet Rock (Aus) colt we have out of Stars At Night (Ire), who is a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to Blue Bunting. He’s a very strong colt with a lot of quality and also heads to Book 1 (lot 462). We bought the dam specifically for that magic cross of Fastnet Rock with a Galileo mare and hopefully she’s lucky for us.”

In recent years that “magic cross” has produced Group 1 winners such as Qualify (Ire), Zhukhova (Ire) and Intricately (Ire), and it requires the type of foresight that does not just happen by chance. Indeed, all planning at Marlhill House Stud is thoroughly thought out. McConnon says, “When it comes to selecting first-season sires, there’s no hard and fast rules, it all depends on the individual. We have two colts by Highland Reel (Ire), and with him it was hard to look past his race record, having been a Group 2 winner at two and being as tough and sound as he was to win at the highest level all over the world until he was a 5-year-old. To top it off, he’s a lovely horse to look at and seems to be passing it on to his progeny. We’re extremely happy with the two that we have to sell this year.

“Another first-season sire we’ve supported is Caravaggio. Being by Scat Daddy and having the speed to win a Group 1 at six furlongs, we felt there were a lot of similarities with No Nay Never, and I was blown away by how good a mover he is. The filly out of Margarita (Ire) that we sell at the Goffs Orby (lot 274) is very similar in that she’s very racy and has a great walk.”

The events of the 2017 Goffs Orby Sale will live long in the memory of the team at Marlhill House Stud when their Frankel (GB) colt out of Belesta (GB) (Xaar {GB})–now known as the Group 3-placed Old Glory (Ire)–topped proceedings at €1.6 million. With a hope that history can repeat itself when they return to this year’s renewal with his full-brother, McConnon says of lot 46, “Physically, this year’s colt is probably more precocious-looking at this stage. He looks an out-and-out 2-year-old, but they both have the same big walk and great minds which seem to be a trademark of the family.”

As loyal supporters of Starspangledbanner (Aus), the stud has three by the sire heading to the sales this autumn.

“They are three lovely colts,” says McConnon, “but the Princess Desire (Ire) selling in Book 1 (lot 371) is the pick of them. He’s one of those yearlings who has just had it since day one. He’s a gorgeous individual who is hard to fault.”

He adds, “Our final yearling to sell this year is an April-born Galileo colt out of Thai Haku (Ire) (lot 490). He’s the full-brother to a stakes winner in Sarrocchi (Ire) and is doing everything right at the moment. I think he should be very popular.”

McConnon’s optimism ahead of the sales is catching, though he remains realistic about the current situation.

“So far, our preparation has gone well, but the last few weeks are always quite a tense time as you try to put finishing touches on them and hope nothing goes wrong. Our time in the shop window is quite a short one so everything has to go like clockwork,” he says. “We have done our best to move with the times this year by bringing ourselves online with a new website and greater use of social media. We hope that it might give those who are unable to attend the sales due to COVID-19 as much opportunity as possible to look at our yearlings.”

He adds, “Despite the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus I was quite surprised at how strong the demand was in the Southern Hemisphere and also the 2-year-old trade at the sales in Europe. I’d say as long as vendors are realistic about their valuations we should be able to get through this. As with any year, the cream always rises to the top so there has to be optimism. I’m optimistic so I hope everyone else is too.”

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Marlhill House Stud Starts New Website

A new website was launched by Marlhill House Stud on Wednesday. The site will be a comprehensive platform for buyers to learn about Marlhill House Stud yearlings in advance of the sales, including photos, conformation videos and pedigree information. To view the 10 Marlhill yearlings, split evenly between Tattersalls October Book 1 and Goffs Orby, go to www.marlhillhousestud.com.

“We have done our best to move with the times this year by bringing ourselves online with a new website and greater use of social media,” said Marlhill House Stud Manager Brian McConnon. “We hope that it might give those who are unable to attend the sales due to COVID-19, as much opportunity as possible to look at our yearlings. We are particularly excited about our group of horses heading to the sales this year and hope that our website will help to showcase them to the best of our ability.”

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