Travelling sales team

Travelling sales team

An autumn yearling sales season on tour is in store for the Marlhill House Stud team as it is to offer horses in Doncaster at the relocated Orby Sale before travelling direct to Newmarket ahead of the Tattersalls October Sale, writes Aisling Crowe

THE THRILL AND to defy the laws of physics as time passes of knew from day one that he was special,” EXCITEMENT of selling a with the speed of a glacier slipping down McConnon says. yearling that tops a prestigious a valley until the auctioneer brings his “He was one of those horses that sale is something known only hammer down. everything came easy to him, there was to a select few breeders and It’s an experience that Brian McConnon never an issue with him. stud farm managers. is familiar with, recalling his memories “I knew he was nice, but it is not until

That dizzy whirl of emotions; the of Marlhill House Stud’s Goffs’ Orby people start to come and look at him for knowledge that your horse is potentially sale-topping yearling, as he sits beneath the sales and start remarking on the quality special coupled with the anxiety as the sale a photograph of the Frankel colt out of that you start realising that your own grows ever closer, the hope and trepidation Belesta who made €1.6m to Justin Casse in impressions are correct. mingle as the appointed hour looms. 2017. “When you get to the sales and there

Those five minutes in the sales ring seem “The sale was a bit of a blur, but I kind starts to be a bit of a buzz around the horses, people come to see him because other people are talking about him, that word is spreading around the complex, you get a vibe about it.

“Then with the amount of shows he was asked to do, and the type of shows, you get an inkling of it but you are so busy that you try not to focus on it that much,” he recalls, adding: “When the actual sale was on, it all happened so quickly to be honest, I was confident he would make a big price but the €1.6 million surprised me, it was a fantastic result.”

McConnon manages Marlhill for Eddie and Eimear Irwin, who established the farm in 1998, and he has been there 22 years this September.

The tower of Rockwell College is visible above the trees, as if it casts a watchful eye on the education of the young horses on the neighbouring farm, as well as the teenage pupils that study in its shadow.

“We started off with a small pool of mares and are up to 12 now, we want to focus on quality rather than quantity, and have gradually improved the quality of the broodmare band over the years – we are at a level now where we are producing nice horses,” he remarks.

That Orby colt was named Old Glory, and he didn’t move far from home trading the green pastures of Marlhill in Tipperary’s Golden Vale for a stable in Ballydoyle just a couple of miles away.

“The cherry on the top was that he went to a good trainer, he was a lovely horse, but he exceeded our expectations at the sales.

“Mentally this year’s colt out of the mare is quite similar, he has a very good temperament and really straightforward to prep. He is as good a mover as his brother was and I think he is probably going to be an earlier type.

“The mare has a Frankel colt foal and is in-foal to Galileo. She always produces an attractive, quality horse and she has a lovely temperament as well, you would love it if they were all like her because she makes your job very easy,” he smiles.

His yearling full brother is Lot 46 in this year’s Orby Sale, and is one of five yearlings that Marlhill House sends across to Doncaster for the relocated sale.

As well as his sale-topping full-brother, who became a Listed and Group 3-placed performer, he is a three-parts brother to Group 3 winner Giuseppe Piazzi and a halfbrother to Adjusted, who won the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes in Australia.

Dam Belesta boasts a perfect record with her six runners and is a half-sister to the Group 3 Prix de Flore winner In Clover, dam of Group 1 winners Call The Wind (Frankel), With You and We Are.

He heads a draft that is hallmarked by quality – Lot 274 is a filly from the first crop of the Group 1-winning sprinter Caravaggio out of a full-sister to the marvellous champion Soviet Song and to the dam of Group 1 winner Sister Act, as well as a halfsister to the champion older sprinter and 6m guineas sale-topper Marsha.

Another first-season sire, the outstanding and enduring champion Highland Reel is the sire of Lot 34. He is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Redwood and his second dam is Jolypha, a Classic and Group 1 winner who is a full-sister to the immortal Dancing Brave.

Once Doncaster concludes, McConnon will drive the Marlhill House lorry to Newmarket and Tattersalls for Book 1 where he will meet the quintet of yearlings due to sell on the third day of the sale.

“We try to support Goffs, Tattersalls and Arqana every year and try to give them nice horses, but it primarily comes down to the individual when we are deciding where they go,” explains McConnon of the decisions made for the yearlings’ sale destinations. “Unfortunately this year has been extraordinary because of COVID which meant we had nothing suitable for Arqana.”

Below, Brian McConnon, stud manager at Marlhill House Stud, right, the broodmares at the stud in Tipperary

The way the alphabetical stars aligned this year means that Marlhill’s Galileo colt out of Thai Haku will be the final yearling son of the breed-shaping sire to go through the ring in Europe through 2020’s main yearling sale season.

Lot 490 is bred on a cross that is developing into quite the potent source of good winners that of Galileo and Oasis Dream, and the Derby winner’s affinity with speedily-bred mares is well-known.

Lot 462 is another Marlhill House yearling bred on a top-class proven, Group 1-winning cross – he is a son of Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare.

Starspangledbanner’s prowess as a sire of top-class juveniles is reinforced year after year, but with Home Of The Brave, who hails from the sire’s frst crop still landing Group contests at the age of eight, his progeny have proved themselves as tough as they are talented.

Marlhill’s offering is one of just a handful in the sale by the Group 1 winner. Lot 371 is out of Princess Desire and is a halfbrother to four winners from a family with which Irwin and McConnon are intricately connected.

At grass at Marlhill House Stud

“I think he is our standout this year,” reveals McConnon.“He just oozes class and quality he almost preps himself.

“Eddie owned As You Desire Me, she was one of his foundation mares and she bred Streetcar, the dam of Luas Line, the Grade 1 winner that we bred.

“It’s a family whom Eddie bought into years ago and, thankfully, we still have the family and still producing good horses.

“Last year’s No Nay Never yearling colt was lovely, he was bought by David Redvers, named Science and has won since the catalogue was printed; a nice update.”

Lot 409 is the only filly amongst the stud’s Book 1 quintet and the No Nay Never daughter of Royal Blue Caravel is another yearling from a family that Irwin and McConnon have developed over the past two decades.

“That filly has two lovely updates as well. Blue Cabochon, a half-sister to her dam, was third in a Listed race at The Curragh and Scream Blue Murder’s Galileo filly named Ahandfulofsummers was second in a Group 3 in The Curragh – two half-sisters to Royal Blue Caravel producing updates. It’s another family that has been lucky for us.

“We bought Holly Blue from The Queen a number of years ago and we bred Gibraltar Blue, who was a Group 2 winner and placed in a Group 1, the Group 3 winner Scream Blue Murder and Iiex Excelsa, from her. Blue Cabochon was her last foal, she’s retired now.”

Two for Tattersalls Book 1: above, Lot 409, a colt by No Nay Never, the second foal out of the Henrythenavigator mare Royal Blue Caravel, who is a half-sister to the Group winners Scream Blue Murder and Gibraltar Blue from the family of Nettle. The mare’s first runner has won since the catalogue was published Below, Lot 371, the Starspangledbanner colt out of Princess Desire and a half-brother to two Listed race performers