Aisling Duignan

Extending the activity that has been building through earlier sessions, the eighth day of selling at the Keeneland November Sale offered more of the same as witnessed by gross receipts closing at over $184.6 million (through the ring), well ahead of the $173,925,300 sold through this point in 2023. Heading Tuesday, Music City Stables acquired a weanling filly (Hip 2935) from the first crop of stakes winner Nashville for $85,000 to record the highest purchase of the next-to-last session. Consigned by Buckland Sales (Zach Madden), agent, the filly is out...

The Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation was established in 2020 in memory of Gerry Dilger, the beloved and well-respected breeder and pinhooker of such horses as GI Kentucky Derby winners Nyquist and Always Dreaming, who passed away on Feb. 24, 2020. The Foundation awarded three scholarships for 2024 for the Kentucky farm experience to Sean Berns and Sara Pepper to go to Springhouse Farm in Lexington, and to Larry Mulvaney, who was placed at Hunter Valley Farm. A pair of 2023 scholarship recipients--Ivanna Dempsey and Elle Sorensen--who did their farm...

Year after year, the thread of his horsemanship snags another big prize in the web of his many different interests. And this spring Gabriel Duignan is back on the GI Kentucky Derby trail—this time as breeder, his Springhouse Farm near Lexington having started Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) along the road that has already taken in two of the big Californian trials, latterly the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita last weekend.  Before you ask: disappointingly, there's no real story behind the nickname. When he started as a kid at...

The cream of Irish Thoroughbred breeding was recognised on Sunday night, with the headline act being Tally-Ho Stud's Tony and Anne O'Callaghan, who were inducted into the ITBA Hall of Fame. Last year's ITBA National Breeding & Racing Awards provided one of the bloodstock social media events of lockdown, but after two years of virtual presentations, the prestigious awards ceremony returned to its rightful home of The Heritage hotel in Co Laois. The O'Callaghans also took home one of the main Flat awards when being named the joint-winners of 2-year-old...

The Board of the Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation has awarded two further scholarships for 2021 to a pair of Irish students studying Animal Science Equine at University College Dublin. Rachel Doran and Ciara Russell have each been awarded with placements at Gabriel and Aisling Duignan's Springhouse Farm in Lexington. "I am honored to have been chosen alongside Ciara for this scholarship and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get something like this," said Doran, who works in a racing yard while studying towards her degree. "I...

Keeneland has announced four new additions to its Advisory Board of Directors: Gatewood Bell of Cromwell Bloodstock, Coolmore's Aisling Duignan, Juddmonte Farms' Garrett O'Rourke and Sarah S. Reeves of Stoll Keenon Ogden. Nick Nicholson, Keeneland President and CEO from 2000-12, and J. David Smith Jr. of Stoll Keenon Ogden are retiring from the Keeneland Board. All four new Directors began their service at the recent Advisory Board meeting. Reeves replaces Keeneland President-Elect Shannon Arvin as Secretary of the Board. "Gatewood, Aisling, Garrett and Sarah each provide the board with unique...