It didn’t take Andrew Moore long to realise that, if you are not moving forward, you soon get left behind in this game. While many 23-year-olds might hit a speed wobble with new-found wealth, this wise head on young shoulders could think of nothing better than to reinvest the riches found at last year’s Goffs November Foal Sale into the family-run Highpark Stud.
That’s the type of mindset that has seen Highpark grow from a smaller stud with a handful of mares a decade ago, to one of the most upwardly mobile operations in Ireland. Along with father Peter, Andrew sold a Ghaiyyath colt for €150,000 and a Space Blues filly for €85,000 at that memorable sale. When questioned about whether the team felt any temptation to take some of the chips off the table following such landmark results, the youngster replied with a question of his own:
“Sure what good is money in the bank? This game is all about reinvesting. I’d much rather have my money invested in mares at home.” That tells you everything you need to know about his ambitions in the business.
“I’ve got some great advice from people in the industry but my dad has been a massive influence on me,” says Andrew. “We both have the same goal and we drive each other on. We started buying mares about 10 years ago. Just one or two to start with, but have slowly developed our broodmare band. With a better broodmare roster, we have been able to go to better stallions and last year was amazing.
“Ghaiyyath was a World Champion racehorse, one of the best of his generation, while Space Blues was just a top-notch racehorse, by Dubawi again. He stood at €17,500 when he first went to stud, which I think everyone was surprised about. We thought it would be a lot higher than that. It was difficult to get a mare into him but we were lucky. And the rest is history.”
Highpark Stud has come a long way since sending its first mare, Acts Out Loud, to Kildangan Stud to visit reverse shuttler Epaulette, and the father-son duo added well-bred Godolphin mare Poet’s Queen to the team last year, in foal to Cracksman.
The Godolphin connection doesn’t end there. “I spent two breeding seasons with Kildangan Stud and loved my time working there. I also spent time working with Watership Down and Yeomanstown Stud and Guy O’Callaghan has been very good to me, as well. I’m trying to learn from the people who know best and then implement some of the things I pick up along the way into our own farm.
“I was bred into this game and I couldn’t wish to be doing anything else,” he says. “It’s more a lifestyle than a job for me. If you enjoy what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”
And on plans for the future, he adds: “We have some very nice horses coming through – foals by Naval Crown, Cracksman, Blue Point and another Space Blues, who are all going to Goffs.
“They could be worth getting excited about. But, with the way the market is going, we just want to concentrate on quality. Just because you buy a mare cheap, it doesn’t mean you have got value. Sometimes, it’s safer to play at the upper end of the market.”
