You’ve had your share of brilliant horses through your hands – Battaash, Nando Parrado, Harry Angel, Kodi Bear, Tiggy Wiggy and more recently Fairy Godmother. What’s your secret?
“I look back and think, Jesus, we got shockingly lucky. I suppose it all started when we were kids. I have always spent a lot of time around animals. I even showed ducks at the local country shows as a young fella! I am an animal man. If the tractor won’t start at home, I’ll buy a new one. But if there is something wrong with one of the horses, I’ll do everything in my power to make them feel better. There’s something very exciting about being around horses. I’ve always been happiest looking after them. It’s the process of rearing a horse and giving them every chance of being a good racehorse that I love the most.”
At what point did you realise you wanted to carve out a career in bloodstock?
“I studied Law for a while but I failed all my exams and transferred to Commerce, which I got a degree in, but for some reason, it was Stud Management that used to fascinate me. If you were interested in that, you did the Irish National Stud course, which I was accepted for. But, in the meantime, I’d started working for Juddmonte in England. Rainbow Quest was only a three-year-old at the time and James Delahooke and Grant Pritchard-Gordon were very good to me. I had absolutely no connections so I had no option but to make my own mark by being a good worker. They steered me on the right path and it was also on James Delahooke’s advice that I worked with James Egan at Corduff Stud to do yearling prep. I was very lucky to learn from some great people.”
Who made the biggest impression on you?
“The first big job I got was an assistant manager role at Mount Coote Stud with Alan Lillingston. I spent six years there and, for three of them, he was the leading vendor in Europe. Alan succeeded at everything he did. He was a great horseman, a great stockman, and he took a grea interest in teaching young people. The basis of what I do now, with regards to animal husbandry and yearling preparation, 90% of it was learned from him.”
At what point did you start pinhooking by yourself?
“I bought one or two National Hunt foals while I was in Mount Coote and that went well, but it was probably when I went to work for Denis Brosnan at Croom House Stud when things took off. From the minute I met Denis, I got on well with him. He gave me great responsibility but, most important of all, he gave me confidence. In that first year with Denis, I bought Ballyphilip Stud, and he was very much in favour of me doing that. We had a great working relationship.”
Little did you know then the brilliant horses that you would go on to produce from Ballyphilip...
“I still can’t tell you how we did it. And that is a fact. After we sold the Blue Point colt for 1,500,000gns to Godolphin, somebody said to me that it was the culmination of a lifetime’s work – and it was. But I’ve been very lucky to have good people around me. Denis Lawlor has been head man since we started. We’ve a brilliant farrier in Padraig Brennan and Liam Flynn is my vet. Without a good farrier and vet you’re nothing. John Lyons and young Dinny McCarthy are two stalwarts of the sales team. Without every one of those people, we’d be lost.”
What changes over that time are you most aware of?
“The way the market is going, it’s all about producing the nice horses. There are huge challenges ahead for breeders and you need to be producing quality horses. It’s absolutely not easy. Trying to get up the ladder and producing the horses at the top end of the market takes a lot of effort.”
It’s interesting you say that because the foundation of your success was cheaply bought mares – Battaash’s dam Anna Law being the best example at just 14,000gns.
“Things are different now. When I bought those cheaper mares, there was a dip in the market which meant those types of mares were being offered up for sale. I knew I was going to be staying in this business for many years to come, so I was targeting these mares who had a bit of depth to their pedigree. Of course, they had to be very good-looking as well. Those mares don’t seem to be coming to the market as frequently and, when they do, you have to pay for them. It’s becoming harder to buy breeding stock.”
What does it mean to you to be following a graduate like Fairy Godmother this year?
“That Albany performance was incredible. She deserved all the plaudits she got and she is a good advertisement for Night Of Thunder. A lot of people will agree that she was one of the best two-year-old fillies this year and hopefully she can go on and win the 1,000 Guineas. Her dam, Scintilating, is back in foal to Night Of Thunder, who is a brilliant sire.”
In terms of pinhooking, if there was such a thing as a Paul McCartan trademark, what would it be?
“It goes back to my youth and my time spent with a man called Eamonn Finn, who used to always talk about the depth of a horse. I used to be wondering, ‘what the hell is he talking about?’ Now I’ve figured out what he was talking about: I cannot buy a horse without depth. Whether it’s a foal, a yearling or a mare, if it doesn’t have depth, I won’t be buying it. The other thing I can’t buy is a horse with bad hocks. I look for a horse with a strong hind leg.”
And then in terms of stallions, which ones have been particularly good to you?
“I supported Dark Angel and Kodiac early doors and they worked out well. You’re always looking to see whether something like that comes through again. I think what Blue Point did last year was exceptional and he’s continued that momentum into this season. His results are only going to get better and better. I am a very big Blue Point fan. I like Too Darn Hot and Night Of Thunder as well. I have used them a lot and they have been very good to me.”
