Springhouse Farm

The Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation awarded two recipients the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Experience Scholarship, the program announced Thursday. The award, open to graduates of Irish equine programs, grants one year placements at leading Kentucky farms to provide the next generation of young people with an opportunity to further develop their horse skills. For 2025, the board selected Ciaran Phelan who will work with Springhouse Farm in Lexington and Lola Queck who will work with Hunter Valley Farm in Versailles. Ciaran worked at Coolmore Stud and Lodge Park Stud, graduated...

A colt by Nyquist (hip 984) became the first of Thursday's session to break seven figures when selling for $1.3 million. WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden signed the ticket on the yearling in the names of Maverick Racing, CHC, Inc. and Siena Farm. The bay was consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services. Out of Spa Treatment (Bernardini), the bay was bred by Springhouse Farm and Hunter Valley Farm. He sold for $385,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. The colt became the 35th of the September sale to sell for $1 million...

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...

Sean Berns, Sarah Pepper and Larry Mulvany are the recipients of the Gerry Dilger Equine Foundation Kentucky Experience scholarship, which places the winners on Kentucky farms for a period of one year beginning in January 2024. Like the late and beloved Dilger, Berns graduated from the prestigious Irish National Stud and will be placed in Kentucky at Springhouse Farm. Though not originally from a horse background, Berns has studied equine business at Maynooth College and has worked at Derrinstown Stud and Coolmore in Ireland and at Newgate Stud in Australia....

A trio of weanlings shared top price of $150,000 during a day of vibrant trade at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale Monday in upstate New York. By the close of business, 136 horses had sold for $4,533,200. The average of $33,332 jumped 48.5% from the 2021 auction and the median doubled to $20,000. With 46 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 25.3%. It was 29.7% a year ago when 163 horses grossed $3,657,800 for an average of $22,440 and a median of $10,000. "The market up here was...

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...

Foaling season is already underway at Springhouse Farm, where breeder Gabriel "Spider" Duignan says they are expecting to see around 50 new foals on the ground this year. On Saturday, Duignan enjoyed a brief respite from his work on the farm to celebrate a successful day on the racetrack. Forbidden Kingdom, a son of American Pharoah bred by Springhouse Farm, stamped himself as one to watch on the Triple Crown trail after he upset a trio of Bob Baffert runners in the GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita. Trained...

The board of the Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation announced the recipient of a one-time scholarship, with Shelby DeVita, a senior majoring in Equine Science and Management at the University of Kentucky, receiving a grant of a semester's tuition. DeVita has worked for Calumet Farm and is currently working as a tech at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. She is Vice President of the UK rodeo team and participates in roping and barrel racing competitions. In addition, the board announced a one-time scholarship to the Irish National Stud. Full tuition...

The under-tack show for next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training continued Tuesday with a livelier track that saw six horses break the :10 flat mark and a filly by Classic Empire turn in the fastest quarter-mile work of the week so far. Working early in the day's first set Tuesday, a chestnut filly from the first crop of juvenile champion Classic Empire (hip 317) zipped her quarter-mile in :20 2/5. The juvenile is consigned by Keiber Rengifo's Golden Rock Thoroughbreds on behalf of breeders...

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...