Irish National Stud

A total of 28 students celebrated June 26 after successfully completing a comprehensive six-month programme designed to prepare them for careers in the thoroughbred industry. The ceremony feting the 2024 Class of the Thoroughbred Breeding Management Course took place at the Irish National Stud, Co Kildare. The event, hosted by Leo Powell, began with formal addresses from Irish National Stud Board Member Clodagh Kavanagh, who delivered a speech on behalf of Chairman Dan Flinter and CEO Cathal Beale. Grace Hamilton (USA) and Tadgh McGuinness (Ireland) delivered a keynote speech on...

Wathnan Racing's dual Classic-placed acquisition Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}--Hard Walnut {Ire}, by Cape Cross {Ire}) went postward for Saturday's G3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot lumbered with a three-pound Group 3 penalty and defied that impost in game fashion to register a narrow victory in the seven-furlong test. Haatem was swiftly into stride and settled into a comfortable rhythm slipstreaming fellow Wathnan contender Native American (Ire) (Sioux Nation) in a prominent fourth from the outset. Tanking forward on the bridle to lead approaching the quarter-mile pole, the 7-2...

He has been here longer than just about any of them, albeit he arrived in 1978 presuming himself to be only breaking a longer journey. One breeding season in Kentucky, and then it would be off to Australia. Having instead become a pioneer of a remarkable Irish diaspora, Robbie Lyons is a perfect template for the many compatriots who have meanwhile flourished in the Bluegrass: an innate flair for trading, a fierce work ethic, and the willingness to take a gamble. He wasn't particularly raised to the horse game--his father...

"A man of my kidney." All the way back to Falstaff, this curious expression has tokened a particular kinship in temperament or personality. In the case of Adrian Regan of Hunter Valley Farm, however, it has an uncommon resonance--both literal and figurative. In the former sense, he was fortunate that his brother should have turned out to possess not only a matching kidney when Regan needed a transplant, but also the big fraternal heart to go willingly under the knife. Regan will never forget Dr. Erickson at the Mayo Clinic...

Cathal Beale, the current CEO of the Irish National Stud (INS), will serve in the role for another three years, the Board of the INS announced on Wednesday. "The Board of the Irish National Stud is pleased to announce that our chief executive, Cathal Beale, has accepted an offer of a contract extension for a further final three-year period, following consultation with the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Marine and the Minister of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform," the INS said in a statement. Beale became the INS CEO...

Paddy Campion has joined Paramount Sales, the operation announced Wednesday. Campion, who grew up on Dundrum Farm near Midway, Kentucky, graduated with a dual degree in Accounting and Spanish from the University of Kentucky in 2020. After University, Campion completed the Irish National Stud course in Co. Kildare, Ireland. Campion said, "Since graduation, I've held a role where I was able to use my Spanish in a business setting and also had the opportunity to get some skin in the game doing a couple of pinhooks and having a small...

"Stud Medicine--Back To Basics" is the next event in the Irish Equine Veterinary Association (IEVA) CPD Series and will be held at the Irish National Stud (INS) on Tuesday, Apr. 2 beginning at 11 a.m. CVI points are pending for the lecture, which follows the "Stud Medicine--Following the Evidence" course that took place in February. Veterinarians with expertise in equine stud medicine will present a programme of lectures on a variety of topics including mare management to foaling and foal care. There will also be a panel discussion on career...

Irish 2,000 Guineas winner and Group 1-winning two-year-old Mac Swiney (Ire) has relocated from the Irish National Stud to Anngrove Stud for the 2024 season.  Mac Swiney lit up the 2021 season for trainer/breeder Jim Bolger when beating his stable-mate, the 2,000 Guineas winner Poetic Flare (Ire), to land the Irish 2,000 Guineas. A three-time winner as a juvenile, he had ended his debut season with victory in the G1 Vertem Futurity having also landed the G2 Beresford S. Mac Swiney's dam Halle Na Saoire (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) is a...

Princess Vega (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}), a winning daughter of six-time Cheltenham festival scorer Quevega (Fr) (Robin Des Champs {Fr}), proved to be worth the wait at the Goffs February Sale when selling as one of the last lots through the ring [431G] on Thursday evening for €150,000 to agent Gerry Hogan on behalf of Swanbridge Bloodstock .  It was Liz Lucas's Swanbridge Bloodstock who signed for the Order Of St George (Ire) filly out of Princess Vega at the November National Hunt Sale at Goffs for €48,000 last year....

The Irish National Stud has joined forces with the EM Normandie business school in France to offer a certified course in equine industry management.  Aimed at professionals who wish to acquire or perfect their general management skills, the 'Equine Management Executive Certificate' takes places over eight months, mostly online, but with two weeks spent in Kildare and Normandy with visits to businesses and farms, particularly involving Thoroughbreds. The €8,000 course will have a maximum of 15 to 20 students who will be coached by academic and equine industry experts. A...

The 2024 seven-strong stallion roster at the Irish National Stud will parade daily while the Goffs February Sale is going on, the INS announced on Saturday. Parades, featuring stallions like Group 1 sire Invincible Spirit (Ire), Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) who has his first 3-year-olds this year, and Classic winner Mac Swiney (Ire), will take place at the stud on Feb. 6-8 from 11-3 p.m. each day. Please contact the stud office to arrange your time at +353 045-521251.

Jim Bolger has encouraged breeders and racing fans alike to pay a visit to his Classic-winning homebred Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) at the Irish National Stud and promised 'they won't be disappointed' by what they see.  The two-day Irish Stallion Trail kicks off on Friday and Bolger is backing Mac Swiney to go down a bomb. The legendary trainer also revealed that he plans on supporting the Group 1-winning two-year-old and Irish 2,000 Guineas hero with 20 mares in his first season at stud. Bolger said, "He's the...