Mating Plans: Lodge Park Stud

The Burns family have been breeding Classic winners at their Lodge Park Stud in Kilkenny for three generations and while some bloodlines have come and gone in that time many others have flourished, including the dynasty spawned by Park Express (GB) (Ahonoora {GB}), one of the foundation mares the stud is probably best known for. The mare defied the theory that old mares tend not to breed their best stock in their latter years by delivering subsequent champion New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at the  age of 22. Before that though, she had left behind a Green Desert filly called Alluring Park (Ire) and it is this 20-year-old 'blue hen' that currently sits atop of the Lodge Park pecking order of mares and it is easy to understand why.

Her progeny are headed by Coolmore's 2012 G1 Epsom Oaks winner Was (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and GSW Douglas Macarthur (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), however it is her stakes-placed daughter Al Naamah (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who will go down in history as a record breaker when she sold for 5 million gns as a yearling to Al Shaqab Racing at Tattersalls in 2013. Her most recent offspring to grace a sales ring, a colt by Galileo (Ire), didn't do too badly either when selling to MV Magnier for 1.3 million gns at Tattersalls three months ago and it was interesting to learn that a different approach was adopted for her last mating and again for 2019.

“Alluring Park is in foal to Dark Angel (Ire) at the moment and will be mated back to Kodiac (GB) this year,” Lodge Park's Damian Burns told the TDN earlier this week. “We went to Galileo five times with her and we have a 4-year-old Galileo filly out of her at home so we were hoping that perhaps at some stage down the line that we could be breeding out of a Dark Angel or Kodiac daughter of Alluring Park.”

While the pedigree certainly has a middle distance look to it up top, Burns is quick to point out that Alluring Park was a stakes placed 2-year-old herself and both her half-brother and her dam were champion 2-year-olds so her 2018 and 2019 partners should not come as too much of a surprise.

“There is an awful lot of speed in the family as well and if she had a Kodiac colt it could even turn out to be a stallion prospect, given how commercial the sire is,” he said. “Also Kodiac has shown, with the likes of Best Solution (Ire), what he can do when he gets a more Classic type mare, so it will be interesting to see what transpires.”

While many of the mares in Lodge Park are homegrown, there is plenty of fresh blood added to the team as well and one in particular is Savannah Belle (GB) (Green Desert), an expensive acquisition when purchased in December 2013 for 335,000gns. That move was more than justified for the dam of G2 Celebration Mile winner Dubawi Gold (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) when her yearling colt by New Approach sold to Stroud Coleman for 425,000gns at Tattersalls last October.

“She is in foal to Zoffany (Ire) and will visit Australia (GB) this year,” Burns said of the 22-year-old. “We loved the New Approach colt but with the mare getting on in years we didn't want to travel her so we'll keep her local. I've seen enough in Australia's first crop for me to believe that he will develop into a good stallion.”

Another mare who was bought by Lodge Park well into her life-cycle was Sweet Firebird (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). The now 17-year-old was purchased at Tattersalls December in 2017 in foal to Mastercraftsman (Ire) for 90,000gns. She is a half-sister to the former champion sprinter Stravinsky (Nureyev) and has already bred a pair of stakes winners, one of whom, Dawn Of Hope (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), was bought by Blue Diamond Stud for 425,000gns as a breeding prospect just over a month ago.

“Sweet Firebird is in foal to Sea The Stars and the plan is to send her to Nathaniel (Ire) this year which would be the same cross that produced Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}),” Burns said.

Another teenage mare, Baby Houseman (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), named after the star of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, was bought by Emerald Bloodstock on behalf of Lodge Park at Arqana in 2015 for €200,000. The 14-year-old was in foal to Le Havre (Ire) at the time and that resulting colt foal made €310,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2017. Lodge Park followed up with another good sale at Goffs last September when her New Approach yearling colt sold for €120,000. Baby Houseman has already bred the stakes winner Baby Foot (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and is currently in foal to Lope De Vega with a visit to Mastercraftsman in the offing.

There are also plenty of younger mares coming through the ranks at Lodge Park and one of those is the stakes winner Alonsoa (Ire) (Raven's Pass) who was trained by Henry Candy to win a listed race at Sandown in 2014 for Damian's mother Patricia Burns. Alonsoa's breeding career got off to a good start when her first produce, a colt by New Approach, sold to Shadwell for 70,000gns at Tattersalls last year and is currently in training with Mark Johnston. Another mare who had her first foal last year was Stellar Glow (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a maiden winner at Leopardstown who also added two valuable black-type placings. She is also a half-sister to Group 1 winning 2-year-old Alfred Nobel (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

“Alonsoa is in foal to Kodiac and she will be covered this year by Sea The Stars,” said Burns. “Stellar Glow had a Frankel (GB) filly last year, she is in foal to Fastnet Rock (Aus) and will visit Lope De Vega (Ire) this year. We will offer the Frankel yearling for sale this year, we tend to offer all the stock from the young mares for sale, it's only when a mare is getting to a certain stage when we want to maybe hold onto a filly out of her for the future.”

The quality of mares residing at Lodge Park is such that even some top-level track winners and proven producers just about make the cut for a mention. Fraulein (GB) (Acatenango {Ger}), won the GI E P Taylor S. back in 2002 for Ed Dunlop and has bred three stakes winners. Her latest sales offering, a colt by Camelot (GB) fetched €110,000 at Goffs Orby Sale last year.

Burns explained, “She is in foal to Kodiac but she is due quite late in the season so we will probably rest her this year. She is interesting in that she stayed quite well herself but she has bred stakes winners over six and seven furlongs. Another mare here called Vow (GB) (Motivator {GB}), she won an Oaks Trial at Lingfield but she hasn't quite got going as a broodmare yet. She wasn't covered last year but will go to Sea The Stars this year.”

Plenty of challenges lie in store for everyone in racing and breeding in 2019 and while some challenges are constant others are unprecedented.

“As regards Brexit we are just ploughing on regardless,” Burns said. “We aren't going to do anything different, we'll just try and continue to put the right stock on the ground, everything else is out of our control.

“Stallion fees are often a contentious issue and we tend to use proven stallions as much as we can. We are trying to produce racehorses and I think the business is more sustainable in the long run if you stick to those principals.”

That philosophy leads to the oft debated topic of breeders sometimes aiming to produce a 'sales horse' rather than a racehorse. In theory the two should go hand in hand and while obviously that isn't' always the case the mission statement at Lodge Park is definitely to produce racehorses.

“Pretty much everything we breed here is for sale, but the primary thing we set out to do is breed racehorses and for long term sustainability that is also the way to go,” Burns said.

Buyers at sales have a habit of gravitating towards pedigrees and vendors that they have enjoyed success with in the past and in that respect Burns tends to see a lot of familiar faces returning to inspect the Lodge Park drafts every autumn.

“Absolutely, it's so true,” he said. “For example John Quinn [purchased Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) off Lodge Park in 2017] was underbidder on two of our yearlings last year, okay he didn't buy one but he tried hard. Repeat business is so important though, I can look someone in the eye at this stage and tell them 'this one is alright' or alternatively say 'this one has a little issue'. It may cost you there and then but in the long run it will pay off as people know they can trust you.”

More often than not pedigree comes to the fore and Damian Burns is only following his own deep lineage by breeding top-class horses at Lodge Park Stud and he looks set to welcome another blue blooded crop of foals in 2019.