Eimear Mulhern and James Keogh Lead the ITBA Award Winners

[Wandering Eyes]

KILLENARD, Ireland – At bloodstock's own annual version of Groundhog Day, it's a familiar scene. A flagging British hack shuffles out of the bar at The Heritage, apologising for retiring to bed “so early” at 3.30am while all around Irish breeders great and small are still on the bridle and full of running. Welcome to the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association National Breeding and Racing Awards.

They breed 'em tough on this isle, both horses and their minders. Not even the aftermath of Storm Eowyn could deter the 300-plus members of the Irish breeding community, some of whose homes were still without power following the destructive winds of the day before, gathering for a right old hoolie of a different kind.

“I'm embarrassed almost,” said the modest 92-year-old John Connaughton, as his friends, family and peers stood to applaud as he was handed the Small Breeder Award. Here's hoping that Classic prospect Bay City Roller (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) will be giving the Mullingar breeder more cause for cheer come spring. 

The Irish Thoroughbred community's long-held strong links to government must be the envy of other nations. Indeed, Eimear Mulhern, this year's inductee to the ITBA Hall of Fame, is the daughter of the late Taoiseach Charles Haughey. But it was not for family connections that Mulhern was honoured, rather for her selfless devotion to Irish racing and breeding over the years. The first female chair of the ITBA, Mulhern has held a stream of influential posts in the industry and has also been chairman of Goffs for the last two decades. The current ITBA chair, Cathy Grassick, was choked with emotion as she reflected on the influence Mulhern has had on her own life, and hers was just one of many heartfelt tributes paid to the owner of Abbeville Stud during one of those moving 'This is Your Life' style videos the ITBA does so well. 

“Eimear, quite apart from being the most wonderful and loyal friend, is the very best and foremost ambassador for the Irish Thoroughbred industry, at home, in Europe and worldwide,” said Kirsten Rausing, who has played a similarly significant role herself. “She is marvellously diplomatic, even in the choppiest of waters.”

Henry Beeby, who was coaxed from his native Scottish Borders for a life in Ireland following the merger of Goffs with Doncaster Bloodstock Sales back in 2006, said, “There are very few people that you encounter who have such a big impact that they change your life. Eimear changed my life.”

Princess Zahra Aga Khan, who was present at the awards ceremony with her mother and children to accept the award for breeder of the leading three-year-old male, Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), also added her thoughts on the woman who has joined each of their fathers on the list of Hall of Fame members.

“Eimear has been instrumental in Goffs. She has brought some of the best talents from around the world into the Irish bloodstock sales industry. She's a leader: she's calm, resilient and very wise,” she said. “I remember my father telling me what was going to happen at Goffs and I don't think there was another choice in his mind. I don't think that, as a shareholder, there was another person he would have put in that role.”

 

Princess Zahra Aga Khan and Henry Beeby

 

In response, Mulhern, who has bred the likes of Group winners Approve (Ire) and Gutaifan (Ire), and who received her award from the newly appointed Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, said, “I'm overwhelmed. The farm means everything to me. The farm and the horses are who I am. That's been my passion since I was four years old and I probably speak for so many people in this room when I say that.”

She continued, “I have a second family and that's the team at Abbeville. They're my backbone, they're my friends. Through professional times and personal times, through good and bad, they have made it all possible, they've been there for me and I really can't thank them all enough.”

Of her role as a trailblazing woman in the industry, Mulhern added, “I'm probably being politically incorrect here but I don't really believe in quotas. I don't think women need to be a quota woman on anything. I think we're good enough and there are so many women in this great industry. I think they get there by their hard work, their dedication and their ability. This really is an industry of equal opportunity.”

Reflecting on her father's strong connection to the racing industry, she said, “My dad really believed in Ireland and the ability of the Irish people. Back then, the visionaries of those days – Tim Rogers, Lord Harrington, Vincent O'Brien, John Magnier – when they came to him with the idea of the stallion tax incentive, I think he saw what they saw, that we were a little island on the edge of Europe, and they persuaded him and he believed that we could become a centre of excellence for the whole world of thoroughbred breeding, and so it has come to pass.

“Successive governments have seen the potential and understood the potential of this industry and I think that on a momentous weekend for him and his family, to see the new Minister for Agrictulture, Minister Heydon, here tonight, is testament to that.”

Charles Haughey had been given the ITBA Roll of Honour back in 1996 and his fellow inductees to what has subsequently become known as the Hall of Fame include Michael Osborne, Sonia Rogers, Lady O'Reilly and Aidan and Annemarie O'Brien. That latter power couple loomed large in the awards for 2024, with their daughter Ana, who manages the family's Whisperview Training operation at Mount Richard Stud, collecting the prizes for Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), who was named best three-year-old filly, and Expanded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who was co-top two-year-old colt, along with The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who was bred by the Tsui family's Sunderland Holdings. 

Brenda Shortt, a widely popular member of the sales circuit, was given a much deserved special presentation at the start of the ceremony in recognition of her ongoing contribution to the industry for 36 years. Newer faces on the scene are those of Barry Kennedy and Anna Murphy, both of whom are employed at Castle Hyde Stud but, in the pioneering spirit of so many young Irish breeders, also have their own operation under the name of Rigsdale Stud on land in Fermoy. The first yearling they bred there was the Listed winner and G2 Queen Mary Stakes third Maria Branwell (Ire) (James Garfield {Ire}). In next year's crop came the four-time winner and Listed-placed Lexington Belle (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}).

After receiving the ITBA Next Generation Award, Kennedy paid tribute to dedication of his partner Murphy. He said, “Anna is so hard-working with incredible attention to detail. I'm just the PR man, as she calls me.”

A jubilant Catherine Cashman bounded up the steps to the stage to take understandable delight in presenting the trophy to Henrietta Egan, on behalf of the Corduff Stud team and Tim Rooney, for the mighty Romantic Warrior (Ire), who was recognised in the older horse category. For Cashman this was of course extra special as the highest-earning racehorse of all time is by Rathbarry Stud's late sire Acclamation (GB), who died in November. Romantic Warrior, now seven, has added further to his haul since 2024 with his win in Friday's Jebel Hatta and he now has the world's richest race, the Saudi Cup, in his sights. 

 

Henrietta Egan and Catherine Cashman

 

Beyond the breeders of Romantic Warrior, the man responsible for him making his way to Hong Kong to be trained by Danny Shum, was also one of the major winners at the ITBA Awards. Mick Kinane knows a thing or two about winning major races the world over – from his groundbreaking strikes in the Belmont Stakes and Melbourne Cup during his days with Dermot Weld to riding the Derby-winning half-brothers Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire) for Aidan O'Brien and John Oxx respectively. The 13-time Irish champion jockey is also a Classic-winning breeder, having bred the 2007 Derby winner Authorized (Ire) with David O'Loughlin and Harry King. Now, as the bloodstock agent for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, he is associated with yet another champion.

Kinane, who was described by Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges as “a true ambassador of our sport”, remains as enigmatic in interviews as he ever was, but the evening's host, Leo Powell, did mange to coax a number of glimpses of his deadpan humour, and Kinane admitted, “It's better to breed a top horse than to ride one; it's a unique achievement.”

Every breeder watching on, who has enjoyed that unmatchable thrill of a winner at any level, will no doubt have agreed with him.

A-Hunting He Will Go

One of the most popular awards at this annual celebration is the Wild Geese Award, which is given to an Irishman or woman who has represented the country with pride in playing a leading role elsewhere in the bloodstock world. This year that honour was given to James Keogh, the much loved breeder, sales consignor and mentor to many other 'blow-ins' who find themselves in his adopted home of Kentucky.  

The man whose Grovendale consignment was responsible for recent Eclipse Award winner and 2024 Horse of the Year in America, Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), and the top-rated sprinter Cogburn (Not This Time), arrived in Ireland a week ago with his wife Anne and daughter Georgia, and was joined at The Heritage by his sister Olivia and brother Patrick. Keogh has packed a lot into his week back at home, including two days' hunting with the Scarteen and County Clare hounds.

“I live to hunt,” said Keogh over a late breakfast on Sunday. On stage the previous evening he had admitted to once riding his hunter into the infamous McCarthy's bar in Lexington. 

“Guilty as charged. He was a nice horse – you wouldn't have wanted to be tying him up outside,” he quipped. 

 

Leo Powell and James Keogh

Michael O'Hagan was among those to pay tribute to Keogh in the video presentation. He said, “He has spent his life helping people in the industry. He's had people who have gone to Kentucky and he has put them up in the house, he's found them a car, he's found them a job, and he's looked after them like a son or a daughter.”

Keogh said of his moment up on stage on Saturday evening, “I was trying to keep it together. It's a privilege to be here. I was rather emotional. There are lots of awards out there but this one comes from respected peers.”

Keogh, who left Ireland at the age of 21 to gain some experience of the American breeding industry on the advice of Captain Tim Rogers, continued,”It's a small group of Irishmen who own or manage farms in Lexington, I think about 39 the last time I counted. We're proud of one another – of course we all give each other lots of crap too – but we cheer for one another and look out for one another.

“As a proud Irishman, to get this award, it means an awful lot to me. The level of the guys who have got it before me  – Spider [Duignan], Pat Costello, David Hanley at WinStar – makes it even more meaningful. I was very, very chuffed.”

ITBA National Breeding & Racing Awards 2024

Special Presentation – Brenda Shortt
National Hunt Race Mare Award – Limerick Lace, Breeder: Mrs Noreen McManus
Novice Chaser of the Year Award – Corbett's Cross, Breeder: Ger Murphy
Hurdler of the Year Award – Ballyburn, Breeder: The Beeches Stud Ltd   Chaser of the Year Award – Hewick, Breeder: William Quinn
Small Breeder Award – John Connaughton
Next Generation Award – Barry Kennedy and Anna Murphy
Older Horse Award – Romantic Warrior, Breeder: Corduff Stud and TJ Rooney Two-Year-Old Filly of the Year Award – Lake Victoria, Breeder: Coolmore Stud
Joint Two-Year-Old Colts of the Year Award – The Lion In Winter, Breeder:  Sunderland Holding Inc, and Expanded, Breeder: Whisperview Trading Ltd Three-Year-Old Filly of the Year Award – Porta Fortuna, Breeder: Whisperview Trading Ltd
Three-Year-Old Male of the Year Award – Calandagan, Breeder:  Haras de Son Altesse L'Aga Khan
Wild Geese Award – James Keogh
Lifetime Achievement Award – Michael Kinane
Hall of Fame – Eimear Mulhern 

 

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