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‘He’s Put Us On The Map’ – Capital Stud Boss Puts Faith Behind Authorized

Capital Stud boss Ger O'Neill has revealed that Authorized (Ire) will stand for a similar fee to dominant National Hunt stallion Walk In The Park (Ire) and outlined his hopes that the new recruit to the County Kilkenny operation will help raise the relatively new outfit's profile amongst Irish breeders.

O'Neill's perseverance paid off in securing the 20-year-old Derby winner and sire of Tiger Roll (Ire), one of the most famous jumps horses of the modern era, from the Jockey Club of Turkey for what he described as “a frightening” sum of money earlier this month.

No insurance could be secured for Authorized, which added to the risks involved in stumping up the cash for the sire who once again made headlines recently when exciting youngster Readin Tommy Wrong (Ire) remained unbeaten for Willie Mullins when landing the Grade 1 Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle.

“It's either cracked or clever, I'm not sure which one,” O'Neill joked, brushing off the magnitude of the risk involved in shuttling a 20-year-old stallion back to Ireland. “I asked a lot of industry leaders what their favourite National Hunt Stallion was before getting the deal done and, nine times out of 10, Authorized was pretty high up the list.

“Ask anyone what their top three stallions are and you are likely to be told Blue Bresil (Fr), Walk In The Park and Authorized. If you look at the sales, he had a €109,000 average for his three-year-olds between France and Ireland in 2023. The market really wanted him here and we were delighted to go and get him.”

O'Neill added, “Like a lot of studs, we had asked about buying him 12 months ago and it was a definite no. It was probably through perseverance that we got there in the end. They put a price on him that was, to be honest, not very realistic, but we got a group of people together and started to do the figures on it.

“I mean, it's a huge move to buy him, but I think he's going to do really well for the Irish breeders. Not only that, but he's going to be great for our stud and has put us on the map alongside the likes of Coolmore and Rathbarry for being one of the bigger National Hunt studs now. With Triple Threat (Fr) joining the National Hunt side of our roster recently, to go with Mirage Dancer (GB) and Hunting Horn (Ire), who were already here, we believe we have something for every kind of jumps breeder.”

Along with Tiger Roll and more recently Readin Tommy Wrong, Authorized has been represented by Stayers' Hurdle winner Nichols Canyon (GB), Irish Grand National winner I Am Maximus (GB), and fellow high-class jumpers Goshen (Fr) and Echoes In Rain (Fr).

His return to Ireland, 15 years after he stood at Kildangan Stud, will be a major boost for Irish breeders, according to O'Neill, who said the people in the ownership group of the stallion convinced him to plough on and get the deal done.

“Donnchadh Doyle, Darragh McCarthy, Jerry Horan and a good few others have gotten involved,” he explained. “Jerry, to be fair to him, has been with us from the start and is a great man to have on board. He's a well-liked character in the industry and is very knowledgeable. He's been a great fella to have on our side. Greg Broderick, the Irish International Show Jumper, is also involved. There's a big group of us and it's a big leap of faith, but you can't go around worrying about what might happen if it doesn't work out.”

O'Neill added, “We bought him with no insurance. We tried everywhere to get insurance but it just wasn't possible. But look, things happen in Show Jumping every day. Horses go lame and their value plummets. That's just part and parcel of the sport. It's the same with working with stallions and, if something were to happen to Authorized, it would obviously be a huge blow but that's the risk we were willing to take. Donnchadh Doyle is one of the bravest men I know and his advice was to plough on and get him bought. We know the risk involved and, the upside of the whole thing is, if we can get a few years out of him, it could be very beneficial for the industry.

“Not only that but, after Willie and Jackie Mullins heard that we were after buying Authorized, they booked in a load of their mares to us. Some of the biggest studs in Ireland have four and five mares booked into him. A lot of people are going to breed to him and race the progeny so I don't think you're going to see huge numbers of them ending up in the sales ring. The aim is that he will cover over 100 mares but if he can cover 150, we'll do it. Blue Bresil and Walk In The Park have covered over 200 apiece in the past few years but we don't foresee Authorized reaching those numbers. We're happy that, if he can cover over 100 mares and is happy here, we'll be happy as well.”

It's not just jumps stallions that breeders can avail of at Capital Stud. Alkumait (GB), the G2 Mill Reef Stakes-winning half-brother to the 2,000 Guineas hero Chaldean (GB), had his first foals in 2023 while G3 Marble Hill S. winner Castle Star (Ire) is another recent addition to the ranks. Both horses stand for €5,000.

O'Neill said, “We're trying to add to the roster all the time. We started out with Hunting Horn. Darragh McCarthy is one of the founders of Capital Stud and he probably had more of a desire to stand stallions than I did initially. When Hunting Horn came on the radar, we took the decision to go and buy him. Things have really snowballed from there.

“Mirage Dancer was another brilliant horse to be able to get at the time. He won his Group 1 down in Australia. He has a huge pedigree and, when we saw a video of him walking, we were all blown away by him. Then Triple Threat has gone down very well as well. There are 100 mares booked into Triple Threat already and Harold Kirk, for example, is one person who really believes in him.”

He added, “But the Flat side of the operation is really growing, too. We got an amazing update with Alkumait when Chaldean came out and won the 2,000 Guineas and, not long after that, his sister [Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB})] made 2.5m gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale. His foals sold very well last year. Castle Star is another good addition and the ownership group in him are going to throw everything behind him. That's another thing about our business model, we will try and support the breeders that use our stallions from the bottom to the top, and hopefully that will be mutually beneficial for the two of us going forward.”

The arrival of Authorized comes at a time when the National Hunt Sales in Britain and Ireland have been dominated by two stallions; Walk In The Park and Blue Bresil. O'Neill says he is confident that Authorized can shake up things at the upper end of the market and, in doing so, entice further footfall to the stud.

He said, “We're going to have an open day for Authorized in February and would encourage people to come and see him. He wasn't here on time for the Irish Stallion Trail but a lot of people came to visit and see the place off the back of the announcement that he was coming.

“The other thing I would say about Authorized is, he could do his bit to attract breeders to the place. The breeder who rings up to use him, they might have another mare for Triple Threat, or even Mirage Dancer and Hunting Horn. He's helped us lift our game.”

Capital Stud has come a long way since Hunting Horn and Mirage Dancer joined the roster only four years ago. O'Neill, who is best known as an Irish International Show Jumper, has been able to fast-track its emergence as a pretty serious outfit through his exploits in that sphere but the hope is that Capital Stud can maintain its progression and rival the big boys. It is thought that the addition of Authorized will aid that process.

“My background is in Show Jumping. I am an Irish International Show Jumper and am lucky enough to have won a few Nations Cups. I've always had an interest in breeding and rode in a few point-to-points when I was younger. From that, I rode out for Mags Mullins and really enjoyed that and have kept my eye in on the racing after I returned to the Show Jumping. I said I'd dip my toe in the breeding game and four years later we're really getting stuck in.”

O'Neill added, “We'd like to get as big as we can. We are very motivated to make Capital Stud better and are excited to see how far we can go in this industry. It's a very hard business but it's an enjoyable one and I'd love nothing more than to be standing one of the big-name Flat stallions. That's the goal. If we don't hit that goal, fine, but it won't be for a lack of trying. We're always on the lookout to find the next big stallion and the foundations are in place for us to kick on and make Capital Stud one of the major destinations for National Hunt and Flat breeders alike.”

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Bullet-Proof Vests, Demand For 3-Y-O Bumpers And More At ITBA Seminar

The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association promised “lively debate” ahead of its eagerly-anticipated National Hunt seminar and it didn't disappoint with the introduction of three-year-old bumpers, altering the sales programme, the importance of a strong broodmare band and polarisation of the market some of the major topics discussed on the night.

The event took place on Wednesday at The Lord Bagenal Inn, County Carlow, just a stone's throw away from where Willie Mullins, one of the greatest National Hunt trainer of all time, is based.

The panel featured Anthony Bromley, Walter Connors, Bertrand le Metayer, Peter Molony, Charles O'Neill and Richard Pugh with Lorna Fowler the master of ceremonies.

ITBA chief Cathy Grassick described herself as delighted by the huge turnout, and said, “I was delighted. Not just the number of people, but the calibre of attendees as well, and it made for healthy and important debate. If you want to make change or debate the future of our industry, it's important that the people who make the decisions are in the room, and they were. It's great that there will be some things that will be followed up on.”

Grassick added, “One of the key messages I took from the evening is that the panel were keen to point out all of the things we do right in this country and, while, yes, there are some things we could change, we need to make sure that we are not throwing the baby out with the bath water. There's an awful lot of good things happening and a lot that we can be proud of. That doesn't mean that we can't do some things better.”

Despite the weight of some of the issues up for debate, the evening got off to a light-hearted start with French bloodstock agent le Metayer revealing that, when Molony called him to see if he would be interested in sitting on the panel, he also asked for his jacket size. Why so?

“It was for a bullet-proof vest,” he joked, while alluding to the current reign the French thoroughbred is enjoying over its Irish counterpart.

A scene from The Lord Bagenal on Wednesday | ITM

Le Metayer's sense of humour was once again on show when, paying the Irish breeders a back-handed compliment given their penchant for fashion compared to the French breeders, he said, “Historically in France, and obviously it's a big country, but, the guy from down the road in Burgundy is not going to drive six hours to get his mare covered by Saint Des Saints.

“The reality is that [the success of the French breeding model], I wouldn't call it any brilliance or horsemanship, it's sheer luck. Overall, I think Irish people are better horse people than the French but you guys have got less common sense than us! You are thinking commercially and we are thinking of going 10 minutes down the road [to the local stallion master].”

The depth of the French broodmare band, and the sheer robustness of the mares that breeders in France can call upon, was also highlighted as a major advantage to the industry over there.

Meanwhile, Molony made the point that too much emphasis was being placed on the stallion in Ireland these days and, in borrowing a line from the excellent Jamie Railton podcast with Roger O'Callaghan, where the Tally-Ho Stud man urged breeders to look themselves in the mirror, the Rathmore Stud boss did the same.

Molony went on to give examples where broodmares with proven credentials have been sold relatively cheaply in recent times and identified an opportunity for National Hunt breeders to replenish their broodmare band in the current climate.

Pugh addressed the issue of polarisation in the National Hunt market, which has been so heavily dominated by the progeny of Walk In The Park and Blue Bresil in recent times, by doing what he does best; wheeling out some cold, hard facts.

He said, “We all know the story of the 2023 Cheltenham Festival where 28 races were won by 27 different stallions. But for the purpose of this evening, I looked back over the past 12 months of Grade 1 winners in Ireland. There have been 30 individual winners of Grade 1 races in Ireland in the past 12 months and 20 of them were French while nine were Irish and one was British.

“That's what we're up against. Also, no Irish horse won two. Another thing that was interesting was that there were 23 different sires represented by those 30 Grade 1 winners so, for all of the polarisation, actually, when you get out there into those Grade 1 races, it's spread out a lot more.”

Pugh added, “I have huge sympathy for the Irish breeders because they are going where they think the market is. It's got to be commercial. I sympathise with the Irish breeder who sits down and says, 'this is the covering I would like because it would suit the mare, but that is the covering I feel that I have to choose to get paid.' If that is the case, it's disappointing.”

It was Pugh who summarised that the Irish thoroughbred is, on average, “a year behind” its counterpart in France and the panel agreed that the introduction of three-year-old bumpers or even two-year-old store sales could be an avenue worth exploring in an effort to meet the societal demands.

Everybody wants things quicker, it was gleaned. And to deal with the demands, or in some cases dwindling patience, three-year-old bumpers and earlier store sales were put forward as ways in which the process of blooding a National Hunt racehorse could be fast-tracked, thus, providing answers to those paying the bills that bit sooner. Grassick confirmed that both ideas could be explored following the event.

She said, “There has been a lot of study and a lot of historical evidence for slow and steady exercise across the whole range of development in the thoroughbred–so foals, yearlings, two-year-olds etc. Introducing horses to light exercise from a young age, the physiological benefits are proven to increase bone density, muscle memory, balance etc. That's what the studies are showing. When you look at some of the horses who were broken as Flat yearlings, the likes of Istabraq and Hurricane Fly who have come across and become great Champion Hurdlers and stood the test of time, it obviously wasn't any detriment to them to have begun their careers earlier than most.”

One of the more surprising developments of the evening was the criticism levelled at ITM by a number of people in the audience. It resulted in a passionate riposte from O'Neill, who defended the organisation, as did Bromley, who described ITM as “the envy” of everyone in Britain which resulted in a round of applause.

It was at this point where le Metayer shared that the foundations set out by ITM, in terms of attracting buyers and promoting the Irish thoroughbred on an international scale, was copied in France. Shortly afterwards, Pugh urged breeders to examine the product and not to point fingers at the people, ie ITM, whose job it is to market the product.

One thing that everyone in the room could agree on is that the cost of producing these foals has sky-rocketed in line with inflation. Such a point was explained in no uncertain terms by Connors. The introduction and development of the mares' programme in Britain and Ireland is another thing that had the majority of those in the room singing from the same hymn sheet. The success of that relatively recent development is also reflected in the numbers.

Grassick explained, “It's staggering the success of the ITBA National Hunt Fillies Bonus Scheme. When you look at the figures between 2022 and 2017 for example, the turnover on fillies at the Tattersalls Derby Sale has more than doubled, even though they are offering roughly the same number of fillies.

“In that time, the turnover has gone from €1.8m to €3.6m for 70 to 75-odd fillies sold. It has resulted in massive increases in the demand for fillies at the sales and proves that the scheme does work and providing a race programme with such opportunities works as well.”

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David Stack Q&A: ‘Breeders Are Looking For Value Now More So Than Ever’

There are few more recognisable figures on the breeding circuit than David Stack. The ever-enthusiastic stallion master at Coolagown Stud has a five-strong roster to look forward to in 2024 and confidence has never been higher in the County Cork camp.

That is in no small part due to the emergence of Storm Heart (Fr), who made a blisteringly-hot start to his hurdling career for Willie Mullins, and more importantly, is by Coolagown's emerging force that is Storm The Stars.

Stack revealed that over 100 mares have been booked into Storm The Stars on the strength of Storm Heart's scintillating debut. The high-class son of Sea The Stars (Ire) stands alongside fellow unexposed dual-purpose sires Kenway (Fr) and Way To Paris (GB) to go with Shantaram (GB) and Zambezi Sun (GB).

In this week's Q&A with Brian Sheerin, Stack speaks about polarisation in the National Hunt game, why he feels he has assembled his strongest roster yet, how difficult it is to run a sustainable business model as an independent stud and more.

How was footfall at the Irish Stallion Trail and did you do much business over the weekend?

Everyone is looking for value and, with the way the horses are priced with me, they are not going to break breeders' pockets. Kenway, Storm The Stars and Way To Paris are €2,000 for a colt and €1,000 for a filly. Storm The Stars will go up, hopefully, if Storm Heart (Fr) wins the Triumph Hurdle but he won't go too high. He actually has a huge book of mares to cover this year and was very popular on the Stallion Trail. But, a lot of the talk over the weekend was about people getting value for their money. Say for example, the lads who are breeding a mare with an average pedigree, they are only going to be getting €5,000 to €10,000 for a foal out of that mare at the sales. There's no point spending €5,000 on a nomination on a mare like that. Breeders have to distinguish that not all mares are going to get you the €30,000 or €40,000 for a National Hunt foal so they are going to have to cut their cloth to measure.

And especially over the past few years in particular, you could say that the waters have been even tricker to navigate as a National Hunt breeder.

They have. Way To Paris is a good example. The first year we stood him was in 2020 when Covid just kicked off so we couldn't get people in to see him in the flesh. I'd say my phone number has been blocked on a number of breeders' phones because I had no other option but to harass people about using him. I bombarded people on WhatsApp and that resulted in us covering about 120 mares with him. When the first foals arrived, I did the same thing again, kept pushing it out and sending the photos around to make sure they knew who Way To Paris was and, more importantly, where he was standing. He seems to have earned a reputation now as a stallion that can get breeders a good foal and a decent return from. The market has become very choosey. It's all about fashion.

Is choosey a Cork term for polarisation?

There's a few others I could use but I better not! To get a nice stallion, it's just become very hard. I am lucky I have good friends in this game and they help me out a lot but there are two things I can't skimp on when recruiting a stallion. That's soundness and a good walk. If they are not good wind and limb, I won't be going to see them and then it's very important that they have the walk as well. Any other pieces with stallions for me, you can forgive, but not those. In fairness to Kenway, Mathieu Alex and the Chehboub family were easy people to deal with. Richard Venn does most of my work and he knows exactly the type of horse I look for. Any time Richard has come on to me, he's usually right. He came to me with Storm The Stars and, you know, when Richard comes to you with one, you have a proper chance. But yes, it has become very fashion orientated and it's tougher now more so than ever.

I'd imagine that Storm The Stars's status has soared since Storm Heart shot towards the head of the Triumph Hurdle market after his impressive debut win for Willie Mullins at Punchestown. How much of a difference can one horse make in a stallion's popularity?

Over 100 mares have been booked into Storm The Stars since New Year's Day. That's purely down to Storm Heart. They've finally seen the light! But that shows you what one horse can do. It can be quite reactionary at times but it was hard not to be impressed by Storm Heart's performance and, in many ways, Willie Mullins is the stallion-making trainer.

That's interesting you say that because, while Galiway is a top-class stallion in his own right, you could also say that you are banking on Willie Mullins to a certain degree with Kenway given how well he has done with Gala Marceau (Fr), Vauban (Fr) and more of the former's progeny over jumps.

Absolutely. I'll be honest, that's the main reason I went for Kenway. I saw how well that Willie was doing with the progeny of Galiway and felt that Kenway had the right credentials to make it as a good National Hunt stallion. When you look at it, there's Gala Marceau, Vauban, Jimmy Du Seuil (Fr) and a couple more for Willie and then Gary Moore's horse, Royal Way (Fr), hosed up over hurdles the other day as well. He had been second to the Triumph Hurdle favourite [Sir Gino (Fr) (It's Gino {Ger})] the time before that so he's a pretty serious horse in his own right. The Galiways are tough and consistent horses and that's why I decided to give Kenway a chance. We're going to go down the dual-purpose route and market him as a proper dual-purpose horse. We have set up a syndicate comprising myself and Haras de Beaumont and we bought a good few half-sisters to Group 1 and Grade 1 horses on the Flat and National Hunt. We've bought half-sisters to Harry Angel (Ire), Dashel Drasher (GB), Mojo Star (Ire), Rich Tapestry (Ire) and more. They'll all visit him this year.

And am I right in saying that you are planning on playing the long game with the progeny of Way To Paris, Kenway and Storm The Stars by putting some in training over the coming years?

We will be trying to do that, mainly with Ger Lyons. I've always found him the easiest to deal with. I can hear you laughing at that comment but it's true! You have Johnny Murtagh, Michael Halford and a few others there as well. We have clients who have horses with these trainers so they would be a natural choice for us. In an ideal world, whatever the horses do as two-year-olds, they will step up to a mile or further, show a bit of form, and then rock up to a horses-in-training sale and get sold on to one of the bigger National Hunt operators. If we could blood a few Triumph Hurdle types, that would be great. The market for those types of horses bought out of training is quite strong so it's just another avenue worth exploring. I'm not stupid, I know that the Flat game is very tough, so I'm under no illusions. I'm very good friends with Joe Foley and, what the likes of Joe has to go through to make a Flat stallion successful, it's very tough. The new stallions on the Flat, they have one or two years at a maximum to prove their worth. It's crazy. In my business, the stallions have that bit longer.

As it says on the website, Coolagown Stud is the culmination of over 30 years of hard work. You mentioned that things have never been tougher for the independent studs. How sustainable is it going forward in 2024 for the smaller operations?

The doom and gloom of the game comes with the rise in costs. The price of feed, straw, hay, staff and everything else has gone up. You have to be optimistic about the future but the reality is that things are very tough. You can't skimp on feed, otherwise you don't have a product. This is not a game to half-arse things because then nobody will want to buy off you. The breeders are in the same boat. We get people through our gate because they know they're getting value for money. I know you say 30 years of hard work to get to where we are now but we are still trying to get it right. You have to keep trying. Breeders are going to be watching their pockets this year more so than ever and we think we can offer value.

Well, there you go. They can't all go to Blue Bresil (Fr) or Walk In The Park (Ire).

We'd all love a Blue Bresil or Walk In The Park but, unfortunately, both horses cover about 200 mares and are the most sought after National Hunt stallions in the country. With that comes a pecking order. To be fair to the Cashmans, they took a chance on Blue Bresil. I've always been a fan of the stallion-he gets you a stunning individual and he gets you a racehorse. It's great to see him doing so well.

But you clearly feel you offer a value alternative for the man whose mare may not be in that top percentile of what the Walk In The Parks or Blue Bresils of this world will cover?

If you're paying me €2,000 for a colt and €1,000 for a filly and then you go to the sale and get €8,000 for your foal, that's good business. You're in profit from your nomination. We're akin to the small friendly neighborhood corner shop. My roster is stronger this year than ever. We've five stallions here; Storm The Stars has a number of potentially classy horses to run for him while Way To Paris and Kenway have interesting profiles and are going well as well. This game is unrivaled when things go well. For me, it provides you with a buzz that drugs would never compare to. Don't get me wrong, it's a difficult business. But as I said earlier, I'm confident that if breeders cut their cloth to measure in 2024, they can make money. We've carved out a niche as being easy to deal with and easy to pay. I don't send out a bill until July of the following year so I'm not knocking on your front door. My bank manager might want me to do it-and definitely my wife does-but I don't. I try to work with people and there's always a middle ground with me.

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Racing For A Reason Auction Raises Over £70,000

After 130 lots went through the virtual ring, including stallion nominations, mornings on the gallops, paintings, and memberships to various syndicates, over £70,000 was raised in the Racing For A Reason Online Charity Auction, announced ThoroughBid on Monday.

The sales topper was the donation from Capital Stud consisting of a nomination to NH sire Triple Threat (Fr), which sold to Richie Cleary for £3,750, but nominations to Dawn Approach (Ire) (£3,000); Ocovango (GB) (£2,750); Shaman (Ire) (£2,500); and Inns Of Court (Ire) (£2,250) saw lively bidding as well. A two-year membership to the Byerley Indians Racing Syndicate sold for £1,700 while a yard visit to Willie Mullins proved most popular with a £700 bid.

“I never imagined, when starting up Racing For A Reason, that it would ever grow to this scale. To see the online auction raise over £70,000 was staggering and I can't thank everyone enough for their involvement,” said Simon Besanson, the auction orchestrator. “It's fantastic to be able to donate over £35,000 to both the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, and very well-deserved.”

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