New for Ireland 2021

New for Ireland

Aisling Crowe meets Derek Iceton at Tara Stud and Micheál Orlandi at his new Starfield Stud to discuss their new stallions for 2021, River Boyne and Far Above

A TALE OF TWO STALLION FARMS; one in its infancy and the other with a long and storied history, but both facing the future fuelled by the dreams of success that are carried by their new stallions.

For Tara Stud in County Meath, a farm that is more than a century in existence, where Key Of Luck, sire of the Aga Khan’s Group 1 King George and Irish Derby hero Alamshar, dominated the first decade of this century, new recruit River Boyne represents a new dawn in a land where people have built monuments to mark the rising of the sun for more than 5000 years.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for the six-year-old, who was bred by the Tara Stud’s Iceton family and who spent his formative months in the historic Boyne Valley.

But sentiment has no part to play in the business of making a successful stallion and it was not involved in the decision to purchase the horse for his stud career.

River Boyne would not have returned to Tara from three years racing in the US if those involved in his career were not firmly convinced he possesses everything that breeders demand of a modern stallion with all the credentials required to be a success.

“He has a tremendous mind and he refused to lose, I’ve never trained a horse who was more professional”

Naturally, stud manager Derek Iceton followed River Boyne’s Californian odyssey from afar, maintaining lines of communications during his time in Jeff Mullins’ barn. Like many others, Iceton was impressed both by the horse’s talent and the tenacity and appetite he demonstrated during a career that took in 25 races, all but three of them in America.

“He is a Grade 1-winning son of Dandy Man, who was thoroughly consistent, genuine and tough throughout his years in training,” says Iceton, who runs the County Meath 1,000-acre enterprise split between tillage, beef and horses with his wife Diana. “He is a very good-looking horse who takes the eye, correct with plenty of bone and a great walk. Anyone who sees him will be impressed by him.”

The couple bred River Boyne out of the Mark Of Esteem mare Clytha and sold him to Joe Foley, who stands River Boyne’s sire Dandy Man at Ballyhane Stud, at Goffs November Foal Sale in 2015.

The catalogue for Goffs’ most recent foal sale proudly displays River Boyne as one of the sale’s star graduates. It was one of three separate sales catalogues to feature the Grade 1-winning miler – the handsome bay also the cover star of Goffs’ Sportsmans Sale catalogue and adorning the Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training tome as well.

His appearance on the front of that particular publication stems from his purchase by the Cohen family’s Red Baron Farm and Rancho Temescal from that sale as a two-year-old after making three starts for Gordon Elliott and Nick Bradley Racing, who had bought him from Ballyhane Stud as a yearling for €65,000.

Swapping the Meath rain for the Santa Anita sunshine seemed to suit River Boyne, although the adaptable horse also seemed to display no difficulties re-acclimatising to the Irish weather when he returned to Tara from California last autumn.

Above, River Boyne with Flavien Prat nose out Desert Stone to win the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile Stakes at Santa Anita, and, below, the son of Dandy Man defeats Got Stormy to win the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile

A well-balanced horse with an impressive physicality, he made an immediate impact in California winning his maiden just weeks after shipping to the West Coast, where his dam’s half-brother Ventiquattrofogli had previously won the Grade 2 Colonel FW Koester Handicap. Something of a globe trotter, he was also third in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes and a Group 3-winning miler in Germany.

River Boyne quickly asserted himself over his peers and at the end of his three-year-old season he had won two Grade 2 contests including the Twilight Derby, a Grade 3 race and two more Listed events and had finished second to another Irish import, Raging Bull, in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby.

As a four-year-old he finished second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile and, kept in training at five, rewarded connections with his Grade 1 triumph, one of seven graded race wins he recorded during his career.

“River Boyne was everything you look for in a racehorse,” commented trainer Jeff Mullins. “He has beautiful conformation and an explosive turn of foot, he was an all-round professional. He has a tremendous mind and he refused to lose, I’ve never trained a horse who was more professional. His win in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile put the icing on a tremendous career.”

It also provided him with the opportunity for a second career, as a stallion, and he arrives onto the market at a time when his sire’s stock has never been higher.

RIVER BOYNE is the most recent of three Group 1 winners sired by Dandy Man, and his success in the Frank E Kilroe Mile last March heralded the best season yet for the now 18-year-old whose most expensive and best bred foals have yet to race.

In 2020, River Boyne was one of five stakes winners for his sire who was also represented by Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes and Group 3 Albany Stakes winner Dandalla, Group 3 Dick Poole Stakes winner Happy Romance and the Listed winners Ventura Diamond, Royal Address and Big Time Baby, who was also second in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize.

As well as those already mentioned, Dandy Man sired the Group-placed twoyear-old colts Escape Route and Lord Of The Lodge during a highly successful season.

“He has the heart of a lion, loved racing off the pace and had a real kick. You watch his races and you see that push-button acceleration.

That track success was reflected in the sales ring, particularly at the year-ending Goffs’ November Foal Sale in December where Dandy Man’s average price across the three days was €37,606 which was higher than the sale average. One third of the foals by Dandy Man sold at Goffs in December brought at least €50,000. In a year where commercial realities are more pertinent than ever, River Boyne’s €5,000 fee which is one third of his sire’s offers breeders exceptional value for money.

Putting financial considerations to one side, what River Boyne offers breeders is Group 1 winning class allied to speed, soundness and longevity. It’s an irresistible combination.

I think commercial breeders need to take a very serious look at him, he’s excellent value and when you see the success Dandy Man enjoyed last year on the track and in the sales ring, River Boyne makes excellent sense," adds Iceton

Speedster: Far Above

Mícheál Orlandi only opened the gates to Starfield Stud outside Mullingar in County Westmeath 12 months’ ago, but already the farm has welcomed two new additions to its team of sires under Orlandi’s Compas Stallions brand, including the Group 1 St Leger winner Galileo Chrome.

Fellow new arrival Far Above comes from the other end of the racing spectrum as a Group 3-winning sprinter, and the pair have joined the quartet of Compas Stallions at Starfield headed by Kuroshio, who has returned from Australia, along with the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner My Dream Boat, Capella Sansevero, the sire of Group 2 Mill Reef winner Pierre Lapin and Smooth Daddy, a Grade 3-winning son of Scat Daddy with his first yearlings this year.

Palace House Stakes winner Far Above

While the stallions are new to Starfield, Orlandi is not. His family home is across the road from the stud farm, which was an Irish government-owned forestry before Orlandi’s parents bought it and transformed it from a farm that grew trees to one that produced that produced show jumpers. Returning home to the shores of Lough Owel and growing a stallion business was important to him.

“As the stallion business grew, my ambition was always to stand them in Westmeath, but it had to be the right time where I could develop a stud farm that was suitable for stallions and was aesthetically pleasing too,” explains Orlandi.

“The timing was important. Over the previous couple of years, especially with Kuroshio and Smooth Daddy joining the roster, I was confident that if I took the plunge, I could sustain and run a stud farm.

“It’s purpose-built and I put plenty of thought into how it works and it is quite efficient; the feedback from breeders is very positive and the stallions love it.”

HERITAGE IS important to Orlandi, whose family roots lie in Ireland and Italy. The identity of his Compas brand – stallions, equine and racing – was also deeply thought through and planned to be successful.

“Conscious of the importance of a clear, strong, relatable brand, I liked the concept of the compass. The compass is a symbol of guidance, and importantly, of moving in the right direction. It has the added benefit of being recognisable and also of translating into many languages and cultures.

“I opted away from including my own name in the business as it was not a name synonymous with Irish racing and breeding. It also allowed me to have a bit of fun creating a brand image and personality that will transpose time. I was very keen to use the Irish spelling of Compås as I am proud of my Irish heritage and the Irish language. It also provides a small point of difference, much like my name, Micheål,’ he adds.

The thought process behind his brand identity, even that very concept, might seem a radical departure for an industry where many still stick rigidly to the traditional way of doing things.

Far Above’s yellow-themed merchanise: above, beer, every breeders’ favourite, and, below, jackets and hats. Both are part of the exciting new marketing plans Orlandi and stallion partner Jack Cantilion have in mind for the son of Farhh

It’s an approach that Orlandi and Jack Cantillon, with whom Orlandi has teamed up to stand Far Above along with his racing owner Sheikh Dalmook, have taken to the marketing campaign.

Along with the more prosaic merchandising items of jackets and hats, albeit in an unmistakeable shade of yellow which was chosen as it is the predominant colour of Sheikh Dalmook’s silks, Far Above-branded craft beer was available prior to Christmas and the enterprising pair has some more novel ideas to get their stallion’s name out there.

“For him to win the Palace House so emphatically showed great guts and mental strength. It was this, along with his immense physical and lightning speed, that impressed...

“We feel that the game might benefit from a new fresh approach in the way it sells/ markets itself. While the nuts and bolts of the business will always remain the same, we feel that it is time to show our wares to a new demographic.

“Social media content has the ability to travel the world at the press of a button. We are trying to make it fun and enjoyable for people and make things as positive as we can. Much like any marketing or advertising campaign, it doesn’t guarantee mares, but if the breeding rights sold or nominations booked are anything to go by, we will be doing more of it going forward. We have mares coming from Italy, France, UK and all across Ireland to Far Above

The Group 3 Palace House Stakes winner Far Above is the first venture between Orlandi and Cantillon and he explains how it came about.

“You are always on the lookout for a new stallion, dreaming again of the one that could be the next game-changer and I know Jack Cantillon and admire what he is doing with Syndicates Racing, he’s a real mover and shaker and very enterprising.

“He mentioned that if a stallion opportunity came up he would be interested in getting involved. When Far Above became available, we knew he was the one for us.”

Far Above is one of nine black-type winners by the Group 1 Lockinge and Champion Stakes winner Farhh who has just 80 runners to date, giving him a stakes winners-to-runners percentage of 11.25 placing him amongst the elite.

Grandsire Pivotal’s influence over Far Above and his electric burst of speed to win the Palace House stakes last season for James Tate, marked him out as the one for Orlandi and Cantillon’s project.

“I’ll never forget his victory in the Palace House on Guineas weekend and the way he won. He suffered his career-ending injury in the race, but galloped through the line, winning in remarkable style. For him to win so emphatically that day showed great guts and mental strength. It was this, along with his immense physical and lightning speed, that impressed me so much.

“He is by a statistically excellent stallion in Farhh, from the Pivotal line and out of a mare, by Shamardal, who is probably one of the best sires of all time. He has a great pedigree too, so he has the whole package.”