STEVE Parkin has dropped the guide price for his Curragh stud by €1 million.

Parkin, the man behind Clipper Logistics, is selling the 206-acre Rathbride property he acquired in 2019. In June he placed it on the market with a price tag of €5.75 million. Now the land is to be auctioned on October 2nd and the guide price is “in excess of €4.7 million”.

The sale is being handled by Will Coonan of Coonan Property and Stephen Barry of Raymond Potterton.

Parkin has drastically reduced his Irish racing and breeding interests this year, following the breakdown of his long-standing business relationship with Joe Foley of Ballyhane Stud.

His stallion Soldier’s Call has moved to Dullingham Stud in England and he has sold the handful of jumps horses he had in training here. He also sold his Irish 1000 Guineas winner Fallen Angel to Wathnan Racing and Clipper Logistics no longer sponsor at Irish Champions Festival.

The Curragh property is accessed via a quiet road just off the R415 Kildare/Milltown Road near the Rathbride Junction. The lands rise gently from the entrance gates continuously to the rear of the farm, resulting in the majority of the farm having a south-easterly aspect with spectacular views over the Curragh plains to the Dublin Mountains.

This modern stud farm with a recently reseeded pasture is laid out into 19 stud-railed paddocks, all of which are served by six-metre-wide gravel roads running from the very front of the farm to the rear. The road network is set back almost two metres from the beech hedging and stud railing. There is approx. 9.5 acres of forestry on the northeastern boundary of the farm.

The first yard, located nearest to the entrance, is home to two separate American barns, a six-bay L-shaped hay shed, two lunging rings, as well as a horse walker, loading bay and a staff carpark.

Both barns are of similar steel-framed construction, finished with non-drip sheeting and concrete block walls boasting c.15% Perspex sheeting in the roof and 70% on the large entrance doors. The first barn is built as a H-block and provides 38 loose boxes with a mare inspection room including plentiful storage, staff canteen and bathroom facilities accommodated in the central block.

The second barn provides a further eight loose boxes with even more natural light and both barns are fitted with excellent ventilation.

Immediately behind the first yard lies three turn-out paddocks that are all keep-safe railed and are of fibre and woodchip laid over a tarmac base. A further five small convenient paddocks adjoin and surround the yard.

A multi-purpose yard and four-bay shed stands towards the centre of the farm are ideal for an isolation block and is convenient to the main body of the farm. All divisions and yards, as well as the house are served by water from the farm’s own well. The property is guiding in excess of €4.7 million and is for sale by public auction at 3pm on Wednesday, October 2nd, in the Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge, Co Kildare.

Contact: Will Coonan (01 628 6128) or Stephen Barry (046 9027666)