‘She Looks Smart And Will Be Early’ – Joseph O’Brien Stable Tour

Joseph O'Brien has an array of talent to look forward to this season, headed by G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hope Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Group 1 winner Above The Curve (American Pharoah) and smart additions to the stable in Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Mooneista (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and Ottilien (Fr) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).

But a yard as big as Owning Hill needs a conveyor belt of youngsters coming through the ranks and O'Brien can boast just that.

Last season's stats back up such a statement. With 31 juvenile winners on the board in that campaign, O'Brien recorded a tally better than every other trainer bar his father Aidan, who was out on his own on 55.

O'Brien has a typically-strong batch of youngsters to look forward to this term and welcomes quality owners like Al Shaqab Racing, Yuesheng Zhang and Kia Ora Stud to the roster.

He commented, “Every year we are trying to increase the quality of horses we have in the yard. The way to do that is by having owners who have the same lofty ambitions that we have. Our owners want to compete at the top level and we are very lucky to have the support of some ambitious and successful people. Hopefully we can justify their support in us.”

O'Brien will not be represented in the opening 2-year-old maiden of the year at the Curragh on Saturday but describes himself as happy with the progression his youngsters are showing at home on the gallops and says that he expects them to be ready to rock and roll in the coming weeks.

He explained, “I think we are pretty much where we usually are with our 2-year-olds. We usually have our first runners in the mid to second half of April and will be aiming to have them in full swing for the summer. We like to think that our 2-year-olds would be better on their fourth run than on their first run and we like to get them to progress throughout the season.”

The 29-year-old has identified 31 juveniles below that have been showing up well at home on the world-famous gallops ahead of the new season.

 

Al Riffa: a major Classic contender | Racingfotos.com

 

2-Year-Old Colts
Unnamed
Pedigree: Acclamation {GB}) colt out of Ramone (Ire) (Marju {Ire})
Bought by: Qatar Racing and China Horse Club from Lynn Lodge Stud for €190,000 at Goffs Orby
Owner: Qatar Racing and China Horse Club
Comment: Looks a pretty mature horse and shows plenty of pace. We think he will be one of our earlier colts to run this year.

Unnamed
Mehmas (Ire) colt out of Box Of Frogs (Ire) (One Cool Cat)
Bought by Joseph O'Brien from James O'Mahony from Springwell Stud at Tattersalls Book 2 for 95,000gns
Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah
A hardy colt who came from Book 2 at Newmarket. He's owned by Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah and was purchased by Khalifa Bin Ahmed Alattiyah, so it is the same ownership as Al Riffa, who we are really looking forward to this year. Again, he'd look to be one of our earlier types at this stage and we're very happy with him. We've had a few by the stallion, the best of which was Magnanimous (Ire), who won the Glencairn S. for us before being sold to Hong Kong. I wouldn't have had a lot of horses by Mehmas but he was quite a good one and achieved a rating of 111 over here before doing well in Hong Kong, where he [now called Circuit Stellar] actually won again a couple of weeks ago.

Unnamed
Magna Grecia (Ire) colt out of Byron Bay (Fr) (Showcasing {GB})
Bought by Stride Racing at Goffs Orby for €65,000 from Camas Park Stud
Stride Racing
This horse is owned by Stride Racing, which was founded by Johne Murphy. He is showing us plenty at the moment. He'll run in the first half of the season and looks a nice six/seven-furlong type. Magna Grecia's first runner was a winner in France on Thursday. There hasn't been as much chat about his juveniles compared to some of the other first-season sires but I certainly couldn't fault anything we have seen from them and I think this horse in particular looks to be a pretty smart and mature colt by the stallion.

Unnamed
Gleneagles (Ire) colt out of Apache Storm (GB) Pivotal {GB})
Bought by Joseph O'Brien from Moyns Park Stud for 55,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2
We've been very lucky with Gleneagles and this guy is out of a Pivotal mare. We're pretty impressed by what we have seen from him to date. He could be a nice horse for a seven-furlong maiden.

Celestial Reign (Ire)
Zoffany (Ire) colt out of Sarawati (Ire) (Haafhd {GB})
Bought by Jim Cockburn and Richard Ryan for €200,000 from Pigeon Park Stud at Goffs Orby
Teme Valley
We've obviously had a very successful partnership with Jim and Richard Ryan of Teme Valley over the past number of years and we're hoping that this guy could follow in the same footsteps of some of the good horses we've had for them in the past.

Unnamed
Frankel (GB) colt out of Midnight Crossing (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire})
Bought by BBA Ireland off Kirtlington Stud for 330,000gns at Tattersalls Book 1
Yuesheng Zhang
It's nice to have a horse for Mr. Zhang and the Yulong team. He was bought by Mick Donohoe and will be a horse for the second half of the season but we're very pleased with him. He's our first horse for them and it's great to have a well-bred colt for them. Hopefully we can have some success together.

Al Mudhaffar (Ire)
Wootton Bassett (GB) colt out of Fairly Fair (Fr) (Sinndar {Ire})
Bought by Joseph O'Brien for 145,000gns off Corduff Stud at Tattersalls Book 2
Al Shaqab Racing Partnership
He looks a nice colt and is one of the first runners I have for Al Shaqab which is exciting. I have a couple more for them so it's great to have that support. We're excited about the season ahead with them.

Unnamed
Ten Sovereigns (Ire) colt out of On Ice (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Homebred
Coolmore partnership
A very nice homebred. We have been impressed by what we have seen of the progeny of Ten Sovereigns and this guy in particular looks to be smart. He is a brother to the stakes-winning Galleria Borghese (Ire) (Caravaggio) and is exciting. I have a bunch of horses by Ten Sovereigns and I'm quite impressed by them. They appear to have plenty of pace and look as though they will get six and seven furlongs. This is just one that I picked out by the sire but there are quite a few by him who are working nicely. This guy is going to be 16.1hh, he's a big strong horse.

Unnamed
Teofilo (Ire) colt out of Alnaas (GB) (Dansili {GB})
Bought by Joseph O'Brien for 300,000gns from Pier House Stud at Tattersalls Book 2
Lloyd Williams
A nice horse and one for later in the season. He's owned by Lloyd Williams and obviously he has been lucky with Teofilo, most notably with Twilight Payment (Ire). This looks to be another nice colt and is one for the second half of the season.

Unnamed
Camelot (GB) colt out of Wholesome (Lemon Drop Kid)
LECH Racing and Annus Mirabilis Racing
He's a lovely, quality horse. Being by Camelot, he'll be a seven furlong to a mile type of horse and we've been quite pleased by what we have seen from him. We've had lots of winners over both codes for LECH Racing and Annus Mirabilis Racing so hopefully this is another to do them proud.

Unnamed
No Nay Never colt out of Height Of Elegance (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Bought by Philip Antonacci and Joseph O'Brien for €235,000 from Glenvale Stud at Goffs Orby
Euro Liny Syndicate
He's a brother to Queenship (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}), a filly who did well for us a few years ago, and Shadowed (Ire) (Caravaggio), who runs at the Curragh on Saturday. He's owned by the Euro Liny Syndicate and is a very nice colt.

Unnamed
Churchill (Ire) colt out of Summerseat Flyer (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire})
Bought by Stride Racing for €50,000 from Camas Park at Goffs Orby.
Stride Racing
This looks a lovely colt. He's going to start off over seven furlongs and we really like what we are seeing from him. He'll be ready to run in May or June.

Unnamed
Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt out of Uleavemebreathless (GB) (Tiger Hill {Ire})
Bought by MyRacehorse from Lynn Lodge Stud for €100,000 at Goffs Orby
MyRacehorse
He could be a six/seven-furlong type and we're quite pleased with everything we have seen of him.

Unnamed
Wootton Bassett (GB) colt out of A Mist Opportunity (Aus) (Foxwedge {Aus})
Bought by Blandford Bloodstock and Joseph O'Brien at the October Yearling Sales at Arqana for €135,000
Nick Williams and partnership
He was bought with Stuart Boman in Arqana and looks a nice colt for the first half of the season. He's trained up nicely.

Unnamed
Wootton Bassett colt out of Zalia (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB})
Bought by Alex Elliott for €165,000
Nick Williams and partnership
He came from Baden-Baden in Germany and was bought by Alex Elliott. Again, he is owned in a partnership with Nick Williams and is a nice colt for the second half of the season.

 

Joseph O'Brien | Tattersalls

 

2-Year-Old Fillies
Unnamed
Advertise (GB) filly out of Treeline (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB})
Bought for €300,000 by Dan Hayden for Blue Devil Racing from Rathbarry Stud at Goffs Orby
Blue Devil Racing
This is a very nice filly and was bought by Dan Hayden for Mark Holiday of Blue Devil Racing at Goffs. She was an outstanding physical and, at the moment, looks pretty smart. She's going to be an early filly.

Sioux Me (Ire)
Sioux Nation filly out of Emerald Isle (Fr) Exceed And Excel {Aus})
Bought by Bronson Racing for €72,000 from Mountarmstrong Stud at Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale
Bronson Racing
We've had some success with Sioux Nation already and this is a particularly forward filly by him. She shows lots of speed and is owned by Bronson Racing, which is Neil Sands and family, so it would be great if she turns out to be nice for them. She will be one of our earliest fillies.

Unnamed
Zoustar (Aus) filly out of Madernia (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire})
Bought by Kia Ora Stud for 110,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2
Kia Ora Stud
It's great to have horses for Kia Ora Stud. She will run in the first third of the season. We had a nice colt called Alexis Zorba (GB) by Zoustar last season and hopefully this filly can show up well as the season goes on.

Unnamed
Karakontie (Jpn) filly out of Kodiak West (Ire) (Kodiac {GB})
Bought by Justin Casse for $75,000 off Gainesway at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale
Magnolia Racing
She looks a pretty forward type of filly. She's a Karakontie out of a Kodiac mare which is an interesting cross and we're looking forward to her this season.

Unnamed
Dark Angel (Ire) filly out of Summer Daydream (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB})
Bought by Hanshen Tham of Pattern Bloodstock for 85,000gns from Grangemore Stud at Tattersalls Book 2
Hanshen Tham
She was bought by Hanshen Tham, who had Thornbrook (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) with us last year and is obviously a very good judge. We've had quite a bit of success together and hopefully this filly can continue that. Thornbrook will run in the Guineas trial at Leopardstown on Apr, 2, all being well.

Unnamed
Zoffany (Ire) filly out of Kiss Me Daily (Fr) (Reliable Man {GB})
Bought by Badgers Bloodstock for 75,000gns from Ballyhimikin Stud at Tattersalls Somerville Sale
Dean Reeves and Sven and Carina Hanson
She looks to be very nice and is very natural in her training. She will be a mid-summer filly but she is doing things particularly easy.

Grand Job
Justify filly out of Sure Route (GB) (Ishiguru)
Bought for $105,000 by Fergus Galvin off Four Star Sales at Keeneland September Yearling Sale
Coolmore partnership
This filly is showing up well and is showing a lot of pace. We won't run her too early but we like what we see from her.

Unreasonable (Ire)
No Nay Never filly out of Silent Thoughts  (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Newtown Anner Stud
She is a sister to Neptune Rock (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), who won a stakes race for us last year. She was bought by PJ Colville on behalf of Newtown Anner Stud for 375,000gns at Tattersalls Book 1 and is a very natural filly. She's done everything very easily and looks pretty smart at this stage.

Promptly (Ire)
Kingman (GB) filly out of Amser (GB) (Frankel {GB})
Homebred
Scott Heider
She is a homebred of Scott Heider's, who we have had a lot of success with. Ted Durcan and David Lanigan bought the mare in foal to Kingman for 160,000gns and it's a lovely Juddmonte pedigree. She is a filly for the mid-season but has done her training very nicely to-date.

Bonbon (Ire)
Footstepsinthesand (GB) filly out of Under Offer (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB})
Glamour And Glory Racing
She's a sister to Basil Martini (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), who is a smart filly for us. She is owned by the Glamour And Glory Syndicate, which is headed by Tamso Doyle. This is a forward type and could be one of our first fillies to run this year. She shows plenty of speed.

Kelbelle (Ire)
Inns Of Court (Ire) filly out of Ziggy's Secret  (GB) (Sakhee's Secret {GB})
Bought by Highflyer Bloodstock for €100,000 off Tally-Ho Stud at Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale
Simon Munir and Isaac Souede
She was bought by Anthony Bromley for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede who we have had quite a bit of luck with. Anthony is a great judge and this is a lovely filly. She will be a mid-season type but looks a lovely prospect.

Unnamed
Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly out of Faay (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire})
Made 80,000gns from Whatton Manor Stud at Tattersalls Book 2
Shapoor Mistry
Bought by Anthony Stroud for Shapoor Mistry, who we had a lot of success with courtesy of Thundering Nights (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). We also have a nice 3-year-old filly for them as well. This is a nice prospect for them.

Unnamed
Kodiac (GB) filly out of My Brunette (Ire) (Arcano {Ire})
Bought by Philip Antonacci from Wardstown Stud for €32,000 at Goffs Orby
EuroLindy Syndicate
She looks quite forward and gets into those auction races as well. She looks an early runner and is precocious.

Unnamed
Kessaar (Ire) filly out of Chellalla (GB) (Elnadim)
Bought by John McCormack for €110,000 off Galbertstown Stables at Goffs Orby
Healthy Wood Company, Ltd.
She is a lovely filly and will be one for the middle to second half of the season. We've been lucky with John before and we're looking forward to seeing what she can do in the second half of the season. I have two Kessaars this year, the first I have had by the stallion, so we will be learning about them this year.

Unnamed
Starspangledbanner filly out of Balakera (Ire) (Dansili {GB})
Bought for €330,000 off Glenvale Stud at Goffs Orby
John Oxley
She was bought by Justin Casse for Mr. Oxley, who owned Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) with us. She looks to be a pretty forward type of filly and shows plenty of pace. She will run in the first half of the season and we like what we have seen from her.

Unnamed
Exceed And Excel (Aus) filly out of Sa Mola (Ger) (Dabirsim {Fr})
Bought by Justin Casse from Killourney Mor Farm at Goffs Orby for €130,000
Eric Long
This filly is owned by Eric Long, who also owns Zoinnocent (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) with us. She is another nice-moving filly who we are excited about. She'll be out in the first half of the season.

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Joe Banhan Q&A: The IHRB’s Official Starter On His Passion For Breeding

Official Starter for the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, Joe Banahan is hugely passionate about breeding, and from a small but select broodmare band, his family have enjoyed notable success on the Flat from their Moortown House Stud base near Navan.
Joe's parents Percy and Elaine have recently passed away but, along with his wife Edel, he has carried on the proud family tradition in breeding.
In this week's Starfield Stud-sponsored Q&A, Banahan, a former jockey, reveals how he became infatuated with breeding, what he aims to achieve from Moortown House Stud in the coming years and much more.

Brian Sheerin: You are not long home from the Saudi Cup where you have been working as the chief starter since its inception in 2019. How did that come about?
Joe Banahan: Tom Ryan was keen to find an English-speaking starter because of the amount of international runners at the Saudi Cup and he approached Denis Egan who was the chief executive of the IHRB at the time. When Denis mentioned it to me, I told him that I would be delighted to do it. Tom would have known me from his time in Naas and was aware that I would have been starting all of the big races over here. They were looking for someone with experience of starting the big races so that's how it came about. We got through the first year okay, although it didn't go like clockwork, but we got through it anyway and it was a good learning curve for everyone involved. I have been asked back every year since and Tom has assembled a good team. He has Michael Prosser, the clerk of the course at Newmarket, who brings a wealth of experience, stewards secretary Adrian Sharpe and Phil Tuck, the resident stewards secretary who knows all the locals and how the system works.

What has been the biggest challenge? As you said yourself, it hasn't all been smooth sailing and, like anything new, there are always going to be teething problems.
The language. Without question. The biggest barrier is the language. We would have different sets of requests coming through right throughout the week from different connections of horses all over the world. Maybe it's to do with a horse being blindfolded at the start, going in early or late, that sort of thing. That needs to be communicated to all of the stalls handlers, who don't have a lot of English, but the two starters who are out there on a regular basis are a great help in getting the right information across. It's a huge challenge and it's not comfortable, I have to say, as I don't have an English-speaking assistant who is fluent in Arabic. That's one thing I mentioned to Tom when I was leaving this year that, if we could get someone who could speak both languages going forward, it would be a massive help.

Horses have been a constant in your life. Your late parents enjoyed a lot of success from Moortown House Stud and you are keeping the legacy going.
I don't think my father ever had more than three mares at one time. He was rooting away at the bargain end of things but I took a big interest when I bought a mare the time I was working down with Dessie Hughes on the Curragh. She was lucky enough for me, in that I got a few quid for the first foals, but I was seeing more and more that you needed a bit of quality to be going to war at the sales. When you are dealing with basement mares, it's never going to happen for you, so I suggested to my father that we go over to the December Sales at Newmarket and look for something. We spent the three days going around looking at all of these mares with beautiful pedigrees and our mouths were open. I suppose, back in those days, forty or fifty thousand would get you something decent, but now it wouldn't get you a ticket in the door. We came across a filly with a great pedigree but she was quite refined and light. Her name was Almaaseh (Ire) and she was a first foal out of Al Bahathri (Blushing Groom {Fr}) by Dancing Brave. Tom Jones had trained her but she wasn't much good–I think she was third in a four-horse race. She'd a fantastic pedigree and a good friend of my father's, Joe Clarke, a renowned breeder and vet, had a look at her to see if she'd enough bone to breed from. He felt that she did so we got her bought. Our maximum was forty thousand but Philip Myerscough bid the forty thousand for the mare. Not to be outdone, my father put up the hand and bid one more, and he got her.

And she became a notable breeder for him.
My father had bought a share to Dancing Dissident, who'd just retired to the Irish National Stud and, given they had burned up all their money on the mare, they sent her to him and got a colt foal [Almaty]. They sold him as a yearling and he ended up being the top-rated Irish two-year-old for Con Collins in 1995. He won the Molecomb S. and another Group 3 at the Curragh–it was enough to make him the highest-rated two-year-old in Ireland that year. That was the start of it and we subsequently sold some high-priced stock out of the mare. Now, he got foal-shares to some of the best stallions who were standing at that time, but it never really worked out for him. She actually had a Galileo (Ire) filly who died roughly six weeks before what is now Book 1 but was called the Houghton Sale back in those days. As a result of that Galileo filly dying, Coolmore let my father into Oratorio (Ire) at a reduced fee and the resulting colt didn't make that much money but he turned out to be a good racehorse. He turned out to be Military Attack (Ire) and Amanda Skiffington bought him on behalf of John Hills at the Orby Sale. He won at Ascot and, as a result of that, got sold to Hong Kong for major money. He became a champion out there. There was another filly out of the mare, Artisia (Ire) (Peintre Celebre), who went to William Muir, and while she wasn't much good as a racemare, she ended up breeding Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}). He was a brilliant globetrotter. Then there was another filly out of the mare, Miss Brown To You (Ire) (Fasliyev), who again was no superstar, but she ended up breeding Big Orange (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}).

You retain an interest in the family with Empowermentofwomen (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}).
I bought back into the family through Empowerementofwomen, a half-sister to Big Orange. Bill Gredley bred Big Orange and, a year or two before that horse had come on the scene, I bought the mare. Listen, she hasn't been that lucky for us in that there was a nice Teofilo (Ire) filly in France who broke her leg the week before she was supposed to run. Tina Rau was the agent who bought that particular filly off me and she told me that she was held in good regard. Noel Meade has had a couple out of the mare, Zoffman (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Sheishybrid (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), and they have won their races. Hopefully one of them will bag a little bit of black-type this season. We lost a Churchill (Ire) colt out of the mare last year but she has a nice Saxon Warrior (Jpn) yearling this year. All didn't go according to plan with her foaling this year and, while the foal is alive, it's an ongoing situation. It's been a little bit up and down with her so far so hopefully we can have a bit more luck with her going forward.

Have you got mating plans done for your mares yet?
Empowermentofwomen could go to Gleneagles (Ire). I think he's an underestimated sire and gives you a fair chance of getting a black-type horse. He was an exceptional racehorse himself and I think he could represent value. He has had 11 black-type horses and Royal Scotsman (Ire), who is in training with Paul Cole, could be deemed a slightly unlucky loser in the Dewhurst so who's to say what he might achieve this year. That's the way we're thinking anyway but, it's just in the past few days I started to entertain the idea of something like Sioux Nation or even Magna Grecia (Ire). We have gone back to the drawing board a little bit but it's in situations like this where you are probably better off going with your gut.I have a daughter of Empowermentofwomen by Cape Cross (Ire) and she is only starting off. She has a very nice Ten Sovereigns (Ire) yearling and is in foal to Gleneagles. She's going to go to Minzaal (Ire) this year.

What else have you got on the farm?
There are two other mares who I own in partnership with a guy; one is a Shamardal half-sister to Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who won the 1000 Guineas but lost it in the stewards room. She's been a bit of a slow burner but we have a nice Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly out of her called You Send Me (Ire), who is in training with Fozzy Stack. She ran very well on debut at the Curragh and they think she is quite nice. We're hoping that she will do okay this year and bring the mare into a different level because she has a nice New Bay (GB) yearling filly this year. She's in foal to Space Blues (Ire) but is not due to foal until April. The other mare is called Lisanor (GB) and she's by Raven's Pass. We bought all of these fillies out of training and she was owned by Anthony Oppenheimer and in training with John Gosden. She is a lovely-looking filly and cost 26,000gns, which we hoped would represent a bit of value at the time. We bought her the same time that Olympic Glory (Ire) was retired to stud and I liked the idea of a son of Choisir (Aus) so we flew over to Al Shaqab in France to have a look at him. We liked what we saw and sent the mare to him in her first year and she produced quite a decent filly in Mintd (Ire). She might not have been your typical sales filly but Willie McCreery loved her and he bought her. She was a smart two-year-old–finished second to Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), won her maiden at Listowel and finished second to Land Force (Ire) in a Listed race at Tipperary. After she finished second to Land Force, Willie got her sold to America, where she won a Grade 3 for Brendan Walsh. Lisanor has had a few foals since and, while they've all won, there are no superstars. She has a Calyx (GB) with Yeomanstown and that is going to the Doncaster breeze-up sale so I am hoping that can do something. She has a nice Lope De Vega foal on the ground and I dropped her down to Starspangledbanner there last week. Obviously Olympic Glory is by Choisir so we're trying to pick up that link by going to Starspangledbanner. We were very impressed by her Lope De Vega foal so we said we'd take a chance with Starspangledbanner. We also have a daughter of Lisanor by Oasis Dream (GB) who turned out to be disappointing. She ran a few times but never managed to do anything–I think she had a mind of her own. We believe that she had a level of ability and are going to send her to Arizona (Ire) this year. He's by No Nay Never and won his maiden by eight lengths and won the Coventry as well. At a relatively small fee, he should give us a chance.

What is it that drives you?
I suppose I had a little bit of luck from day one. I used to rent a flat off Mrs Cuddy on the Curragh when I was working for Dessie Hughes. Her husband Mick had a good bit of success with fillies who were all trained by Liam Browne. Daness and Ridaness won the Moyglare Stakes for him in the '70s. When Mrs Cuddy's husband died, she got fed up with the horses and happened to say to me that she wanted to get rid of them. Knowing the pedigrees, I bought one of the mares [Royaltess (GB) (Royal And Regal)] off her for five thousand and sent her to Fairy King. Her first foal [Makbul (Ire)] was very nice and I brought him to Goffs that November. I'll never forget, Philip Myerscough came down to look at the foal and he was very impressed with him. About a half an hour later, he comes down with another gentleman, none other than Vincent O'Brien! Well, Vincent spent 20 minutes looking at this foal. He gave him an awful lot of time. They bought the foal for €18,000. For me, it was like winning the lotto. I bought the mare for five, spent the same on the nomination and had eight grand left over. I was addicted after that.

That's a dream start.
It planted the seed firmly in my mind. Around the same time, we bought a mare [Chaturanga (GB) (Night Shift)] from the Godolphin dispersal, a mare out of Game Plan, who was second in the Oaks. Game Plan was a half-sister to Shahtoush (Ire) (Alzao), who went on and won the Oaks a couple of years later. The best Chaturanga bred was probably Mooretown Lady (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who was very temperamental but had loads of ability. I sold her to a friend of mine, Michael Smith, who still has her today and, while she wasn't a successful broodmare, she did breed a good broodmare by Fastnet Rock (Aus) called Fastnet Lady (Ire). Michael has bred I Am Superman (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and Fastnet Crown (Hallowed Crown {Aus}) out of that mare. It's hard to breed any sort of a winner and then to get a black-type winner, it's not an easy thing to do. When you do achieve it, you really have to enjoy it, and it gives you huge confidence going forward because you think that, if you've done it once, you can do it again, and maybe even at a higher level. I spend ages on the matings plans for the few mares I have. You'd swear I have hundreds of them! You just lose hours and hours going through pedigrees to see what might work and what is coming through. It's a real passion.

And what would be your aim when you set out about choosing a stallion?
The first thing I try to do is find a horse who I think will be popular at the yearling sales. Now, that's two and half years down the line and a lot of things can change after you cover your mare. Obviously you try to eliminate as many risks as possible. I suppose, by going to a proven sire, it gives you a good chance of getting a racehorse on the ground. The thing about that is, the proven sire is normally pretty expensive so, for a lesser mare, it doesn't justify spending that sort of money. I try to find something that has got off to a good start and hopefully it can build on it. For us, it's a balancing act. You need to try and make money out of it but you also want to try and breed a horse of some note. The first-season sire is a safe bet in that nobody knows what they are going to be like and they can't judge them apart from the fact that their foals or yearlings are nice because they haven't done it on the track. If in general they are nice, and the pinhookers latch onto them, that's normally the first hurdle crossed. There are other sires that you can get at good value in their third year but it's a very tricky year because, if their first two-year-olds are no good, your foal is written off before it arrives on the ground. That can be rather sickening. But, equally, if they are successful, and for example we took a chance on Saxon Warrior last year, it can work out well. Obviously in the case of Saxon Warrior, his fee has jumped up dramatically off the back of the success he enjoyed with his two-year-olds. But it's a gamble and the whole thing is a gamble. Breeding horses is a gamble.

What would your main philosophy be?
I like a stallion with a bit of quality, a good mover, but he doesn't have to be an extravagant mover. The majority of horses, they're not the best walkers in the world, but they are good racehorses and you see that when they come out of training and retire to stud. You like to see a horse with movement. At the same time, I'm not looking for a horse with a big lopey walk because that's nearly a sign that they are a bit on the slow side. You see all these big bumper and maiden hurdle horses and they'd walk for Ireland but sure they'd be as slow as a boat. A nice athletic horse with a good shape, good back end, good hip and nice short cannons with a good quality head. That's what I like. I also like them to be Group 1 winners. Indian Ridge (Ire) had no pedigree at all and he turned out to be a very good sire so there's always an outlier but I like using horses who were Group 1 winners themselves.

And I was interested to learn that you consign all of your own horses as well as breeding them.
Having a nice foal or yearling, it gives me great satisfaction working with that horse and bringing it along. Even if it's not the best model in the world, I would try and have it looking better than anyone else's going to the sales and we have always been complimented by how well our animals look at the sales. I'd go overboard and try and have a skin on them that you'd nearly shave through. Pristine condition. I get great satisfaction out of preparing them like that and, while a lot of people like to use a big name, at the end of the day, the majority of the horses the big consignors bring to the sales are prepared by the owner. Some are done poorly and some exceptionally well but, for whatever reason, they like to use these people to consign their horses. I'm not saying these consignors don't do a good job, because they do an exceptional job, but I do all the hard work with these horses and I know their quirks or their personalities so it doesn't make sense for me to hand it over to a big name for the sale after doing the majority of the work the whole way through.

You clearly have a huge passion for it all.
Some people are interested in golf or whatever but breeding is what fascinates me. Another reason why we like consigning our own horses is because we like to promote Moortown House Stud and I think we have done. I get tremendous satisfaction out of it. The other thing is, if you do it yourself and something goes wrong, well then you can blame nobody other than yourself. I spent a little time working with the big consignors in America when I was younger and learned the right way to show a horse. It's all about presentation. Again, if you're handing it over to someone else, you'd be looking on from the sidelines. That would drive me mad. One thing that I love about the sales, you get to meet new people the whole time, depending where you are stationed around the complex. We've become great friends with some of the people we have been stationed beside and there's a great social element to the thing. The buzz when you have a good foal or a yearling, it happened us a few years ago when we had a foal who got 15 vets, and we barely had time to eat all day. You're just completely revved up over the potential of what might happen. That doesn't happen very often so it's a great place to be when it goes well. But it wouldn't be possible without the help of my wife Edel who does a lot of the hard work at home while I am working at the races. I get to do a lot of work in the mornings but Edel is with them most days and it's very much a joint effort.

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New Irish Racing Documentary Begins On TG4 Next Week

A new four-part series of Laochra Na Rásaíochta, featuring some of Ireland's greatest National Hunt racehorses, will air for four consecutive Wednesdays at 8 p.m. beginning on Wednesday, Mar. 8, TG4 and Touchline Media announced on Tuesday.

The opening episode tells the stories of Willie Mullins's three Champion Hurdle heroes–Hurricane Fly (Ire), Faugheen (Ire) and Annie Power (Ire)–and also features a segment on Quevega (Fr), the record six-time winner at the Cheltenham Festival.

Contributors include Willie Mullins, Paul Townend, Ruby Walsh, David Casey, Gail Carlisle, Ted Walsh and Noel Meade.

The Laochra na Rásaíochta series was written and directed by Stephen Cullinane, produced by Denis Kirwan and Dave Keena, and the director of photography is Peter Moffett. Touchline Media has also produced racing documentaries such as Arkle–The Legend Lives On, Jump Boys in 2012 and Jump Girls in 2019. Touchline has also produced a four-part series on the Galway Races, called Seachtain na Rása.

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Dubai Duty Free Extends Sponsorship Of Irish Derby, Returns To Sunday Slot

Dubai Duty Free will continue their sponsorship of the G1 Irish Derby, as they renewed their partnership with the Curragh, the duo announced on Tuesday. In addition, the prize-money for the Irish Classic will increase from€1 million to €1.25 million in 2023, and five additional races will be sponsored by the airport retailer. For the first time since 2011, the Irish Derby will take place on a Sunday, with 2023's date set to be July 2. The full eight-race card will also become a permanent part of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Tote World Pool for the first time next year. The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Weekend will take place from June 30-July 2. An evening meeting will be conducted on Friday, and Saturday's Ladies Day will feature the G1 Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly S. and the Kildare Village Ladies Derby.

Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin said, “Our title sponsorship of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby is in line with our global strategy of promoting both our own duty-free brand and the city of Dubai itself. We have successfully sponsored the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for the past 15 years and we are happy to extend our sponsorship, with an increase in prize-money, and look forward to working with the Curragh to grow this event even further.”

Curragh CEO, Brian Kavanagh said, “We are delighted to announce this extension to the Derby sponsorship and the increase in prize-money for the Derby itself. We are also very pleased that Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Day has been selected as a Tote World Pool event and excited about the switch back to a Sunday which will allow the three-day Festival to build up to its feature race.”

The post Dubai Duty Free Extends Sponsorship Of Irish Derby, Returns To Sunday Slot appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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