Conversations: Damian Burns Looks Back On The Breeding Stock Sales And More

[Wandering Eyes]

The Burns family have been producing top-class racehorses from Lodge Park Stud in County Kilkenny since the early 1970s. Derby winner New Approach (Ire) and Oaks heroine Was (Ire) feature among the farm's long roll of honour and another milestone was achieved last autumn when Lodge Park Stud achieved a world record price for a yearling colt when selling their son of Wootton Bassett (GB) to Amo Racing at 4.3 million gns.

That colt hailed from Galileo (Ire) mare Park Bloom (Ire), whose sister Al Naamah (Ire) at the time set a European record at Book 1 when selling for 5 million gns 11 years previously. Safe to say the Burns family know a thing or two about the game.

The modus operandi for this thriving stud farm is quality over quantity. In fact, the slogan 'small on numbers, big on quality,' is the caption on Lodge Park Stud's X page while the Burns family make no bones about the fact that the objective is to breed for the racetrack rather than the sales ring.

Such a business model has not just sustained the farm but has allowed it to thrive and Damian Burns, who helps run the family's stud alongside his brother Jamie, joined the TDN's Conversations podcast to look back on the breeding stock sales from 2024, discuss his philosophy to breeding, building up his own band of broodmares under the Lodge Park banner and a whole lot more.

“I've been standing at stable doors long enough and I suppose it's a privilege to have been able to grow up in a thriving commercial enterprise,” Burns told TDN Europe's Brian Sheerin.

“What I have learned is that it's when you breed those [top-class] racehorses, that's what acts as the biggest ambassador for the stud farm. Okay, you might have made huge money in the sales ring but why did they make huge money in the sales ring? It's because New Approach won the Derby or because Was won the Oaks.”

He added, “The racetrack comes first for us. So, when you breed an elite racehorse like New Approach, that's what people really stand up and take notice of. And I've learned that that's what drives everything. And if you are not breeding those black-type horses, people are going to walk away. They're not going to come back to you.”

To listen to the audio version of this podcast, click here.

The post Conversations: Damian Burns Looks Back On The Breeding Stock Sales And More appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article