JOE Foley was named chairman of the Irish European Breeders’ Fund at the beginning of September, stepping into the seat vacated by his good friend John O’Connor, who had held the position for 10 years.

The Ballyhane owner is a close friend of the Ballylinch Stud managing director and they share similar views on the racing and thoroughbred bloodstock industry.

Many of the most successful innovations in that sphere have at least involved the duo and invariably resulted in a brainstorming ‘session’ between the duo in the Lord Bagenal Inn.

In the case of Irish Champions Weekend, it was Foley had the bones of an idea and we now have a fixture established on the calendar as a global showpiece for Irish thoroughbreds and horse people.

Foley is a stallion master, pinhooker, Clipper Logistics’ racing manager and breeder and a former chairman of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association who now holds the honorary role of president.

So while he demurs, convinced he will bore the behinds off readers, when in pursuit of a landscape view of racing and breeding, it invariably pays to take a trip down to Leighlinbridge.

The bowl of stew was just one of many highlights.

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The conversation has begun flowing before the recorder is placed on the table, like so often the way with Foley, organically evolving from an initial query as to potential topics. The visitor has been caught dozing in the stalls and given away too much ground to ever catch up.

So before I know it, we’re talking how drugs has become a topic in relation to Irish racing – “all your fault” (said in jest) – as first raised to this writer by trainer Jim Bolger (who has said the same, we think in jest) in these pages last October.

“It was disheartening to see racing’s reputation questioned around the drug issue,” says Foley. “And it became so widely discussed around the world, the whole question over potential drugs use. That was damaging and damaging to the market which is important to us as breeders.

“That’s why you would welcome the system whereby people get assured that there isn’t a drug issue. Be assured that it’s being extremely well policed and policed to the best of everyone’s ability.”

He feels the IHRB and in particular, the chief veterinary officer and head of anti-doping, Lynn Hillyer, performed very well in two sittings of a Joint Oireachtas Committee hearing and is hopeful that the considerable increase in testing, the issuing of warrant cards to a dozen inspectors who can carry out testing in unlicensed premises, the belated delivering of pre-race testing as well as the focus of external forces such as non-racing media, should serve as additional deterrents and rubber-stamp confidence in the product – as long as it doesn’t unearth endemic doping of horses, which he doesn’t suspect it will.

Anyone that is caught transgressing must be dealt with in the most stringent manner he insists, quite rightly.

For his part, Foley welcomes the development of testing in stock prior to getting to the track. Quite simply, it is an additional quality mark on the product entering the market.

“We’ve a reputation of a green industry here in Ireland so a suggestion by anyone that there is drug use in the breeding sector would be anathema to everyone in the breeding industry.

“We market our bloodstock as being raised in the best climate to raise bloodstock and raised by the best people to raise bloodstock. So bearing that in mind, I think everyone in the fullness of time would be only too delighted to be able to prove that it’s a straight, clean game and clean industry.”

Traceability

He agrees that improvements can be made in terms of traceability should horses be moved from premises, though points out that legislation is there for it and accepts that with the technology in place in the Department of Agriculture, with the AIM system for cattle.

It is something that should happen sooner rather than later. He points to the impending equine census as the likely starting point for the location and traceability of horses.

“To assuage everyone, I’m pretty sure everyone will only be too happy to go along with whatever’s needed for traceability. Because as I said, we’ve good product here in Ireland and it’s recognised the world over.

“So we don’t want people from Australia liberally saying, ‘Oh there’s a drug problem in Irish horses,’ because it suits them, they are trying to sell their product. So I think everybody would be very happy to.”

Traceability is critical around the area of welfare too, which was brought into the spotlight by Panorama.“Irish people are first generation agricultural people, even townies as we call them, they’ve often worked on farms or whatever. We are a generation closer to the land and to the horse and the animal than maybe Britain is.

“While there was revulsion in Britain to the Gordon Elliot picture, I suggest there wasn’t quite the same revulsion here in Ireland because people understood that he didn’t do anything wrong to that horse. There was no welfare issue with that horse, it was just a perception of it. It was bad taste obviously, that Gordon regrets.

“The level of care that horses get is practically second to none. So I don’t think there’s a big welfare issue but I’m glad to see that the subject is being addressed much more than it was in the distant past.

“Irish Horse Welfare Trust, Equi-Ed, Treo Eile, a start-up welfare entity that looks to have a lot of potential for retraining ex-thoroughbreds, are all doing important work and it’s great to see the support that those bodies have been getting and look like they are going to get into the future. So I think we are in a good place with welfare now.”

Sport horses

He notes that with prices of ponies and sport horses increasing through Covid-19, retired racehorses, or horses that didn’t make it to the track for a variety of reasons, are cheaper options as well-trained animals who can be ideally suited to showing or especially eventing.

Treo Eile made a presentation to the Irish EBF board recently and their voluntary work in serving as a conduit between people looking to find safe, new homes for racehorses and those looking for horses to compete in other disciplines created a sufficient impression that secured the promise of financial and promotional support and the presence of the Treo Eile Apprentice Handicap at Fairyhouse on Monday, right after the Soldiers Call@Ballyhane Fillies’ Maiden (Foley is a regular race sponsor himself) and Irish Stallion Farms EBF Claiming Race is an early delivery on that pledge.

It is just further evidence of course of the Irish EBF’s commitment to Irish racing, though that is carved in stone now as the largest sponsor by some distance.

“It’s a voluntary sponsoring body for Irish racing and I think it does a great job. €2.6m sponsorship this year, 480 races. €52m in 40 years contributed to Irish racing.

“We sponsor all those median series, auction series, auction final, Ballyhane race, all those big handicaps throughout the year, practically all the two-year-old races, loads of stakes races.

Positive impact

“We have a good positive impact on the programme in Ireland to help everybody; owners, trainers but the breeders as well from the point of view of blacktype races. So you know it’s a very positive influence and it’s an honour to be chairman of it for a little while representing all of the stallion contributors. And every stallion farm in Ireland contributes to it. So it’s a real positive self-help entity. The ship is on a good course under Jock’s chairmanship and it’s only a matter of just keeping the show on the road.”

Unless your head has been buried in the sand, you’ll know prize money is a significant problem in Britain and that has an obvious impact on Irish breeders, given that Britain is their largest market. But despite that, Foley has seen signs for optimism with regard to a greater demand than in pre-Covid times.

With crowds now allowed to return to the track, he agrees that it is a fantastic opportunity for racetracks to establish themselves as an ideal environment for a family to enjoy a day out in terms of amenities, hospitality, pricing that isn’t prohibitive and exposure to the equine and human stars.

By doing so, the regulars are being looked after in a way that hasn’t always been the case, and the newcomers may return as loyal racegoers. One or two of the children may sell a start-up to Silicon Valley billionaire in time and become owners or breeders.

There has been a lot of discussion about who the target of promotion should be and what the hook should be. For him, it was Brigadier Gerard.

“I’ve always said we should concentrate on the horses instead of the best dressed awards and the periphery stuff. Last Saturday in Leopardstown, you got Tarnawa, Poetic Flare, St Mark’s Basilica (in the Irish Champion Stakes).

You have the best three horses in Ireland running against each other and I think that should be splashed all over Dublin. THIS IS THE CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS!

Superstar

“I think that’s what gets most people into racing in the first place. It’s one superstar, an iconic racehorse; not because they went racing and saw some well-dressed lady or they had a heap of pints or there was a good band after racing.

“That’s grand, but the lifelong race fans are the people that got hooked on Nijinsky or Brigadier Gerard or Red Rum or Moscow Flyer, Hurricane Fly, Sea The Stars.

“I remember as a little kid seeing the list of ones after Brigadier Gerard’s name and I was fascinated by this. ‘He just keeps winning.’ I remember when he got beaten by Roberto in the Benson and Hedges, I nearly cried because his perfect record was finished.

“I was in Ascot the day Frankel was having his last run. I remember I was talking to the team the night before at a dinner and they were really worried about the ground, it was gone very soft for him. And I remember thinking back to Brigadier Gerard going, ‘My God, if he gets beaten on his last start, it’s going to ruin his perfect record.’ It was great that he didn’t.

“Sea The Stars at three, he just won everything. Tiger Roll is the modern-day one really that people are in love with now. And Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore. Rachael came to our kids’ pony camp and the time she put in to all those kids as a superstar of our industry. She gave two hours answering all the questions and signing everything for all the kids and you could see the hero worshipping.

“So we still have all those heroes. And they are all brilliantly willing to give their time to support the industry.

“Davy Russell is brilliant too. The great thing about this game is nearly everyone tries to help the business. An awful lot of people are trying to think how to make it better.

“Another great thing is that in the last long number of years the standard of facilities at racetracks has improved fantastically. And that’s to Horse Racing Ireland’s credit, that it provided capital and finance and help and support in allowing that to happen.

“But they were built for people go racing. Now the facilities are in place it’s important that those facilities are available to everybody to use, that costs aren’t significant enough to deter people from going racing.

“Now that the facilities have been helped to be paid for by Horse Racing Ireland, that the cost of going racing is family friendly, people friendly.

“You are better off getting 10,000 people going racing at a tenner a head than 5,000 people at 20 quid a head. And when racetracks are talking about catering contracts etc, I think they need to keep that in mind. You are better off getting the people in to have a good value day out, to enjoy their day out. And then that they come back and they might fall in love with the racing game.

“But if you deter them on day one with pricing or not enough facilities or whatever else, then we’ve no chance of getting them.”

Irish Champions Weekend had a good spread of winning trainers as has been the case from the outset. The number of international raiders, particularly from across the water was reduced but Charlie Appleby was rewarded once more for making the trip with another Group 1 prize. And Steve Parkin, owner of Clipper Logistics, who have been sponsors from the inaugural year, left with a slice of the pie too, as Romantic Proposal bagged the Group 1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes.

Iconic

“Champions Weekend has done brilliantly, it’s become an iconic part of the Irish racing scene. You can see people, it’s their big target for the autumn and in the year.

“I remember reading an article from Ger Lyons years ago in the early days of Irish Champions Weekend saying, ‘I’d love to have a runner in the Irish Champion Weekend.’ He’s a very bright fella. He was thinking about the business, to have runners and then to have winners. And it is to Ger Lyons’ credit and his owners’ credit that within seven years he had a four-timer, on the Saturday at Leopardstown. And you got to doff your hat to him for that.

“Irish Champions Weekend has done what we hoped it would do. It was a showcase for people within the industry. While a lot of people think Coolmore and Ballydoyle dominate our industry and in some cases people from abroad are afraid of coming over because of their alleged domination within the industry, Champions Weekend every year has proven that there’s a lot of other brilliant horsemen and jockeys and trainers and owners and horses in Ireland. It’s properly competitive, world-class racing.

“The Irish Champion Stakes; it was the second highest-rated race last year in the world. Must be up there again this year. It’s a stallion-making race now so St Mark’s Basilica doesn’t have to do anything else, he’s proven himself to be the highest-rated horse in the world, which he currently is after his victory in Leopardstown.

“Irish Champions Weekend has provided the template for all that to happen. For St Mark’s Basilica to be rated the best horse in the world, for Jessie Harrington, Johnny Murtagh, Ger Lyons to showcase their talent and ability to train high-class racehorses.

“Now those races were already there but the fact that they are all packaged together means everyone is watching and nobody misses.”

Brexit and Covid-19 are the two key factors in the reduction of British runners and he expects an improvement in this facet in the future, with communications with British-based trainers since the weekend already promising as much. The absence of a French entrant over the weekend was disappointing too.

Competition

“It’s an area we need to work on because we need international competition, it’s not supposed to be a domestic champions’ weekend. That’s why it’s brilliant to see Charlie Appleby coming with his best two-year-old colt every year for the Goffs National Stakes.

“As a result, whoever wins that race is a proper one. You need the international runners for that to happen so it’s important that we keep our eye on that.”

As Parkin’s racing manager, he has been fortunate to enjoy victory over the weekend before. Romantic Proposal was especially sweet though.

“It was brilliant. When we started Champions Weekend all those years ago, our ambition was to move the Flying Five from Group 2 which it was then, up to Group 1. So Eddie Lynam won it when it was a Group 2 (in 2015) with Sole Power, ridden by Chris Hayes.

“And so then it became a Group 1 with the help of Derrinstown as sponsor. And I think it’s fair to say that it never really quite got to Group 1 level. It was a long-term plan with myself and Eddie to go for it and the one year that we were targeting it ourselves with Romantic Proposal, the likes of Glass Slippers and Dragon Symbol and Winter Power show up and it’s a proper Group 1! So that was a little bit ironic.

“But she did what we hoped she would do. The race ran exactly as we planned it, she got a magnificent ride from Chris Hayes and it was brilliant for Eddie Lynam and the family to be back at that level. Amy and her mother, Aileen pinhooked her. Sarah rides her every day. It just shows you, in Ireland, it’s a family thing and to watch the joy they got out of her winning the Group 1 was great to see. It was very cool.”

The targets are all now of golden hue.

“She’s been brilliantly trained by Eddie; he has minded her career the whole way. She’ll go for the Abbaye, all going well. We have other options as well, the Champions Sprint at Ascot and the Breeders’ Cup but I doubt she’ll go. She stays in training so I’d say she’ll have one more run this year, more than likely in the Abbaye.

“The King’s Stand will be our first early-season target. And we’d like to think that she will end her career next year, all being well obviously, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in Keeneland. She will retire to Steve’s farm then. But we have been developing her career, hoping she was going to get to this level.”

Small scale

Ballyhane Stud is the bread and butter of course, established and developed on his father PJ’s cattle farm. When PJ bought a mare for £600 that was trained by neighbour Paddy Mullins to win lots of races, he was set on a path that developed into small-scale breeding.

Young Joe took to swotting pedigrees and his career path was mapped out.

Challenges don’t cause him to pause. He grew the business during the recession of the ‘80s, buying River Falls, who proved successful for breeders without a lot of spare change. So Covid and Brexit have left their mark but Ballyhane continues to thrive.

“Dandy Man is just going from strength to strength, I’m looking forward to everyone seeing his stock at the foal sales. Sands Of Mali was extremely popular in his first season, Elzaam keeps rocking.

“It’s been heartening to see the market recovering quickly post-Covid. We have some very nice yearlings to sell this year and our yearlings last year have had a great year on the track.

“The Lir Jet (by Prince Of Lir) won a Grade 2 in America last Saturday night, when we were out celebrating the first day of Irish Champions Weekend. He was pinhooked here. So we have no cause for complaint.”

Same can be said for the contents of the conversation.

And the stew.