Denise O’Brien, Clonbonny Stud

Denise O’Brien’s operation, which is based outside Athlone, enjoyed a career-best result at last year’s sale when selling a Kapgarde colt to Jamie Codd for €92,000. She has 26 lots catalogued in this year’s renewal.

Do you board mares and prep, or just consign?

I prep a few of them, and a lot of the owners do their own, so I just meet them at the sales.

What is the highlight of your draft?

There’s a No Risk At All colt (Lot 527) who should make a right few quid, he’s out of a blacktype Kapgarde mare. I also have three by Blue Bresil which should be popular.

Two of the Crystal Oceans are half-brothers to foals that sold well previously - (Lot 320) Katie’s Reign’s Vadamos made €52,000 two years ago and (Lot 487) Cobra Angel’s No Risk At All made the same price last year.

Lot 826 is the only one in the sale by Moises Has, a Grade 1 winner by Martaline whose stock have sold well so far.

The French-bred horses dominated the store sales this year - what’s your view on the Irish versus French debate?

It’s proven that the Irish are as good as the French. There’s only a small percentage of the French-bred horses that come into Ireland, so it makes it a tighter market for them.

The numbers are important, and the number of Irish foals had gotten a bit out of hand in the last few years, which is being corrected by the market.

What’s been your biggest learning curve as a consignor?

Communicating with owners in the run up to the sale is very important, especially those that prep their own.

As you deal with a number of breeders, what do you see as their biggest challenge at the moment?

I think people are starting to breed to the fashion, instead of trying to breed a winner, trying to breed a racehorse. People who sell them every year are breeding foals that they’re going to make money with, but not necessarily going to be a racehorse. If you keep going to first season sire, you’re not always going to win on it.

Is there a sire you like in terms of getting you a racehorse?

Order Of St George, maybe. Jet Away will improve your mare- he’s a good, solid sire who gets plenty of winners. I’ve sold loads of them over the years, and a lot of them have won.

How do you expect trade will be?

The numbers are down, so I’d say it should hold out as good as it always does. Tattersalls always manage to get a good crowd in for the sale.

Dromore-based veterinary surgeon Caroline Berry has supported the November NH Sale for over 10 years, selling a select number of foals reared with the help of her son, Chris. Recent successes in the sales ring include selling a Nathaniel colt to Ian Ferguson for €85,000 last year, while Battleoverdoyen is their best graduate on the track.

What is the highlight of your draft?

I think the Blue Bresil filly out of Hawai Tree (Lot 537). She’s big, she’s scopey, and she has a great attitude to life. She’s very like her mother, we really like her.

How would she compare to her half-brother by Nathaniel, who sold for €85,000 last year?

I think she’s a little stronger than him and she’s every bit as big and scopey.

One of the best horses you’ve bred is Battleoverdoyen. Have you kept any fillies from the family?

We have kept a sister to Battleoverdoyen by Poets Word. It’s our first venture into training one, so we’ll see how that goes.

We like the Poets Words. They’re good lookers, and they’ve got great heads, so hopefully they’ll go on to do their jobs.

John and William have been very easy to deal with over the years. They’re very fair minded, and I just hope the stallion is lucky for them.

We also had a very good mare called Full Of Birds, who bred three blacktype horses in a row - Hunters Yarn, Do Your Job and Highland Charge. We lost her quite young, which was a pity.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing breeders at the moment?

Expensive stud fees, expensive feed, expensive bedding - a lot of expenses - and we just hope that there will be a return.

Also, I see that there’s a little bit of a move from National Hunt to flat. Even some of the agents seem to be moving from National Hunt to flat, so it will be interesting to see if they stick buying National Hunt foals as well as flat ones.

Maybe it’s linked to the growing demand for more precocious horses, like the French?

Yeah, a little bit of that. Although I was at a very good presentation given by the ITBA - I’m a member of the National Hunt Committee - and it looked at the stats where - compared like with like - in National Hunt foals from France and from Ireland, our foals were more than holding their own.

The only difference was, when they were bought after performing in France, they then did appear to outperform our National Hunt horses. But I feel we’re holding our own.

How do you predict trade will be?

It’s very hard to predict. We’re obviously a little anxious, but we feel we’ve got four nice foals for the sale, and we’ll just do our best with them.

This marks Alne Park Stud’s second year consigning at the November NH Sale, as they bring foals from their Warwickshire base, where they stand Dink, Ocovango, Midnights Legacy and Subjectivist.

2023 was your first time consigning at the sale. How did you find it?

I got to see a lot of our Irish colleagues and counterparts and clients. It’s one of those jobs that everybody’s there. We got to see a lot of very, very good stock as well outside of our own draft and I think that’s always a positive thing. As a general rule, I think breeding on both sides of the Irish Sea is a very collaborative industry, and it was really nice to be moving and shaking in that market.

Was bringing your stallions’ stock over here the main reason for selling in Ireland?

It was one of the reasons. Dink got very, very strong stock, and to be able to show that to the Irish market was great. By the same token, we’re actually a very young stud and there was always going to be a time when we were bringing a draft over. It was just a case of that being the right draft and the timing being right. So you know, for us to be doing that with our second crop, if you like, to come through the studs, the timing was right as well.

This year’s offering includes Ocovango’s first crop conceived at Alne Park Stud. His fee went from £3,000 to £4,500 from 2023 to 2024, so presumably he has been popular?

It’s exciting to bring Ocovango’s stock back to Ireland. We were blessed timing-wise, in that he had two more graded winners since he came over here, he’s had two or three Festival winners as well. He’s having winners on both sides of the Irish Sea, all the way from points through to graded races. He’s been really well-received by British breeders, as well as being sent mares from Ireland, which is fantastic.

What is the highlight of your draft?

The Ocovango colt out of Western Breeze (Lot 213) is a standout, I think he’s pretty sexy. We’ve had a couple of people around the farm seeing them all, and he always seems to catch the eye. He’s an early foal, he’s strong, he’s well balanced, he’s got plenty of bone, he’s a real National Hunt type. So, I’m excited to see how he does. I’m lucky, because I’m surrounded by people who are not afraid to give me their candid opinions as well. I’ve got horsemen coming out my eyes around here! Dan, Harry, Nick - they’re all quick enough to tell me when they don’t think so. And like so many things, it’s a matter of opinion. You know, beauty in the eyes of the beholder. Not everybody wants the same horse. It is a subjective game.

How do you predict trade will be?

I think it’s a really difficult one to call. All of us would like to see that crystal ball. I’d be reassured that trade at this sale is usually very good, but as we all know, it’s been a difficult and an up-and-down season for trade so far. I’m optimistic, I don’t think you can be in this job without being optimistic, but equally, there are a lot of challenges in the market at the moment.