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All Aged for Ocean Park’s Kolding
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All Hallows’ Eve adds to family legacy
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Per Incanto 4yo dominant Randwick winner
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Tiley takes stakes double at Ellerslie
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Beauden at his best in Riccarton victory
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AUDIO: Stephen Nickalls
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Hezashocka stars for Haub
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First Southern Hemisphere winner for Vadamos
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Atishu dominates rivals in Warstep Stakes
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Tony ‘All Inn’ for toughest fight
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Copy That gets Group One
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Dunn dominates trot features
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Wrecking Ball dismantles opposition
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High upside for Highly Explosive
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Golden Sixty primed to excel as Vincent Ho anticipates a landmark FWD Champions Day meeting
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Flemington test for Favreau
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Positive start for Cotehele
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Strong Kiwi flavour for Waller at Randwick
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First winner for Ribchester
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Asano in the fast lane with Atishu
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By Chief Stipe · Posted
Agreed. @Archie Butterfly used the same photo for his BS story. Hart's foot is clearly wedged into the sulky stay. -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
Next they'll be saying who instigated the aftermath. Instigate being another misused word in the English language. -
This year might be an exception with both of the horses looking like they have rare ability and both could have some luck and go on with it, i.e. wouldn't be beyond reason to see them both in a Cox Plate. Surely that has to create some much needed interest for the sport here, real interest not the fabricated type like KM or the NZ Kiwi. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
More And More is an old ditty that the late singer Joe Dolan, one of County Westmeath's finest exports, made famous back in the 1980s. Well, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association could not have found a more suitable backing track to the small breeder award presentation at The Heritage Hotel, which was won by fellow Westmeath man John Connaughton. For starters, Connaughton has enjoyed a lifetime of successes in business which have been replicated through his bloodstock endeavors. And even at the age of 93, the accolades keep on coming for Connaughton, who now resides at Barretstown House farm on the outskirts of Mullingar. Last year was a special one for Connaughton. Bay City Roller (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), who he sold for €320,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2023, went unbeaten in three starts for trainer George Scott, culminating with G2 success in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. Such a win paved the way for Connaughton, who consigns most of his horses through Tom Whelan's Church View Stables, netting a cool €850,000 for a Blue Point (Ire) half-sister to Bay City Roller back at the Orby Sale–this time to Agrolexica International Trading BV. You could say such memorable results on and off the racetrack in 2024 were a culmination of Connaughton's lifetime indulgence in the turf. Despite never letting his broodmare band extend beyond eight or 10, he has enjoyed a huge amount of success with his homebreds. Dunboyne Express (Ire) (Shamardal) was one of the first. A dual Group 3 winner for trainer Kevin Prendergast, he went on to become a high-class performer in Hong Kong–where he raced as Dan Excel–and retired with career earnings in excess of €4 million. Bay City Roller is a similar story of patience, foresight and bravery being rewarded given the top-notch three-year-old prospect represents over two decades of Connaugton's breeding after he sourced the grand dam Ramona (GB) along with his great friend Ed Naughton for 58,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2002. Bloomfield: the Listed winner is the dam of Bay City Roller | Racingfotos.com Ramona went on to produce Bloomfield (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), which is a nod to the property developer's Bloomfield House Hotel in Mullingar, who became another famous homebred to carry Naughton's green, navy and white silks to victory at Listed level when in training with Willie McCreery. But far more consequential is her role as a broodmare on the farm given she is the dam of Bay City Roller and a large part of why Naughton was acknowledged by his peers at the memorable awards ceremony some two weeks ago. “That was nice,” Connaughton says of his small breeder award in typically understated style from the kitchen table of his impressive estate. “It meant a great lot to me. Any time we bred a good one, it meant a lot to me, but it's not that easy to breed a good one.” He continued, “We've always thought long-term with the breeding and concentrated largely on horses that would stay a mile or more. We'd a reasonably good start to the breeding game with horses like Dunboyne Express for example. And it was that line with Ramona, a mare we bought nearly 25 years ago at Tattersalls, that Bay City Roller has been produced from. So we've been rewarded for our patience.” The small breeder award provided Connaughton with a timely lift. His blue hen mare Bloomfield died while foaling a foal by Blue Point a couple of years ago. The latest progeny from the mare will chart a similar path back to the Orby Sale at Goffs this year while Connaughton still has Bloom Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who failed to win in eight attempts, to keep the line going. “Bloomfield died after foaling a couple of years ago and her daughter died around the same time–so I needed a lift! It's not a simple game, breeding, and there are plenty of drawbacks. For example, mares running blank and not going in foal. We've had instances of mares running barren for no particular reason. And sometimes the best call to make is to cut your losses, rather than persevere with problem mares. “We try to keep our broodmare band to around eight to 10 mares. All in all, we've held onto the mares that were breeding winners for us and cut ties with the ones who weren't–no matter how much we paid for them. We have Bloomfield's daughter, Bloom Vega, who wasn't a good racemare but is too well-bred not to breed from. She almost certainly would have won a race if we persevered but we said we'd bring her home and put her in foal instead so she will be a good addition to the farm.” It's clear that the principals that have sustained Connaughton so well in business have been adopted to his successful breeding enterprise. Despite his considerable wealth, the broodmare band has been built up organically and over a long period of time. And even his son Darragh, who is also involved in property development, shares tales of his father driving a hard bargain on whatever stallion was in vogue down through the years. Connaughton, a proud huntsman who was also at one time one of the biggest breeders of purebred Simmental cattle in Ireland, explained, “I could have been brave and went out and spent a lot of money on mares but I never did. Just because you spend a lot of money on a mare, it doesn't mean that she will breed you a winner. I'd look upon spending a lot of money at the sales as very chancy. I was never afraid to do it the long way and to back the mares we believed in. And if you found a good one, [it was a] licence to print money! “We were lucky to get into some very good stallions early, Shamardal for example, and because we were in from the start we were allowed to stay in. But we built up some very good relationships with Coolmore, Darley and lots of the other big studs.” He continued, “I have a brother, PJ, who is two years older than me. He's living in Dublin and is going alright so I need to keep going to keep up with him. I still work and have quite a bit of business going. We're just about to get planning permission to build 800 houses in Dunboyne. When you are in the game, you have to keep going when you can.” Connaughton may be 93, but there is a lot more to come in business and in breeding. The post Meet The 93-Year-Old Small Breeder Of The Year Who Got “Great Lift” Out Of ITBA Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
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