MARK Gittins and Aisling Kinane have just returned from holidays to recharge the batteries before launching into the hectic onslaught of the end-of-year sales circuit.

They do so with a spring in their step that isn’t based entirely on the much needed recreational time.

Shalaa has been advertising the credentials of the couple’s Castlefarm Stud in Narraghmore all year, most recently when waltzing to victory in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville last month.

Prior to that, the John Gosden two-year-old had claimed Group 2 prizes at Newmarket and Goodwood, with the trainer comparing his charge to six-time Group 1 winner, Oasis Dream.

Even more stunning were the comments of Frankie Dettori after the cakewalk in France, when he described Shalaa as “the best two-year-old I’ve sat on in my life.”

So as a horse representing the first cycle of graduates from Castlefarm under the Gittins/Kinane Mogeely Stud banner, you could not ask for a better advertisement.

“You can never look at a foal when he’s two or three months old and say ‘That’s a Group 1 winner in the making’,” says Gittins of Shalaa now. “You never dream of that happening. But there was always something. He was always a very smart looking foal. He had a great attitude.

“He did everything right in prepping, bringing him to the sales. Great walk, lovely stamp of an individual. Everything you were looking for when you were breeding a horse, he had. He ticked all the boxes in that sense.

“We never would have thought it in a million years… it’s great to breed a Group 1 winner but the comparisons that have been made to Oasis Dream by John Gosden, and the stuff Frankie Dettori has been coming out saying, it looks like he’s on the payroll here!

“Myself and Aisling, we always have hopes and dreams. We went out and spent a lot of money buying the dam Ghurra but you never think you’re gonna be breeding a horse who’s showing that much at the moment. He hasn’t even been off the bridle properly yet.

MORE PERSONAL

“I’ve been lucky enough to own Lord Shanakill, who won a Group 1. We’ve been lucky enough to have had great days out, playing the owner but I think it’s a bit more personal as a breeder. I know you’ve only had him from the day he was born in February until November, December, but when you’ve had the mare, you have to choose the cover, you’ve seen him every day for the time he was with you. There’s a great connection when you see the horse win, especially a Group 1. You would be nervous and emotional because you’re attached to the horse.”

Gittins and Kinane were in attendance at Newmarket and Goodwood but sales duties at Doncaster ruled out a trip to Deauville. There will be other opportunities and while Gosden has stated that the horse will remain sprinting, Gittins is holding out some hope that they might have a crack at Classic glory over the road from where the Invincible Spirit colt first came into the world.

“The key to him was that John never ran him in Ascot because he thought he just needed a bit of time in his mind. He seemed to be a bit immature and seems to be learning every day as he goes forward. I’d love to see him being taken off the bridle to see how good he is.

“I think he has enough scope and size about him to train on as a three-year-old. I wouldn’t be in any doubt at all that he’s going to do that.

“It sounds now that they’re gonna keep him sprinting. The opportunities for three-year-old sprinters in Europe as everyone knows are terrible apart from the new Ascot race. Where do you go after that? You have one day and then you’re up against the older, hardened sprinters.

“I see he’s entered in the Irish Guineas and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did decide to run him in that because real top class horses can win six furlongs up to a mile; because they have so much speed and it doesn’t mean they won’t stay. But that’s up to John and his team.”

Next up is the Middle Park Stakes next month. It is a race that was won by Ghurra’s half-brother Hayil 18 years ago. Gittins is delighted that the considerable investment he made in the mare has paid off.

PEDIGREE

“She has a lovely pedigree (and) there’s obviously speed in the family. Eamonn Reilly and Mick Donohoe from the BBA would have been a huge help in all the selection processes we’ve ever done really with mares and horses in training. We went round and bought a few in America, a few in England and she turned out to be one of them.

“She’s a great family, loads of speed and is a beautiful individual herself. I bought her half-sister for 20 grand two or three years ago because Ghurra was always going to produce a good horse. She hit the post with a few Montjeus that were just a bit tricky so as soon as you put speed into her, it seems to have clicked.”

Shalaa is the product of a union with Invincible Spirit. It goes without saying that the selection of stallion is a vital part of the breeding process, but it is delicate too, with the lines between speed, value and fashion (you need to attract buyers) having to be straddled.

“You wouldn’t put it 100% down to luck but you have to be lucky in trying to breed to a horse that’s on the up which is the key I think. The likes of Dark Angel was a 10 or 12 grand cover (initially) and he’s obviously gone on to do great things. If you can find that, fantastic.

INFLUENCE

“Speed has become a huge influence on the whole sale fashion. Keeping a horse in training is an expensive pastime and if you’re not getting results as a two-year-old or at the latest, as an early three-year-old, it becomes very expensive.

“We try to keep as good as we can afford on the farm and then make it viable as a business plan as well. It has to add up.”

The wheel keeps turning. Gittins travels to Keeneland today for the yearling sales with a Speightstown filly out of Lemon Kiss, a mare he sold “for good money” last year. She has previously produced a Group 1 winner in Lochte so the profile is right for the US.

“When we’re back, we have three horses going to Goffs. A Sea The Stars we bought as a foal, a Pour Moi filly and a Canford Cliffs. They’re three nice horses.

“Then we have one for the Book 1, a Lope De Vega colt, half-brother to Irish Rookie who was second in the (French 1000) Guineas this year. We bought him as a foal in Goffs last year to pinhook so hopefully he’ll be lucky for us.”

None of this would have happened without the interest of Watkin and Maura Gittins, Mark’s parents.

“My old man was a huge influence at the start. He went out initially just to try and buy the best mares we could afford. Some of them did cost a lot of money and didn’t work out and then some didn’t cost that much and worked out quite well. We always try to breed to the best horses we can and try and get the fast ones right for the sales.

“In the past few years we’ve tried to find something a bit different, where we have very well-bred foals and bring them to the foal sales in Newmarket and sell them.

“A lot of people like to hang onto these well-bred horses for Book 1 and Goffs Orby Sale, so we found it’s easier to sell a foal than sell yearlings. There seems to be as many people for them now, owner-breeders, people who are buying to race who are in the market for well-bred horses.

“Then on the side of that, last year we bought a few well-bred foals ourselves to pinhook as yearlings, just to keep the business evolving. So we’re not just relying 100% on foals.

“My Mum and Dad would always be pushing to keep a few in training, especially well-bred fillies, to try and make a broodmare. It’s very difficult to go out and find a blacktype performer at the broodmare sales as they’re in high demand and the supply isn’t there. We find if you can have luck on the track, which we did with the likes of Lady Springbank, who was a homebred we kept and ended up winning two Group 3s for us and has turned into a lovely broodmare for us now, it pays off.”

BOUGHT CHEAPLY

Lord Shanakill was the highest profile victor for the family as owners, a Prix Jean Prat victor who accumulated more than £560,000 in prize money. You sense that Lady Springbank means more though, having bred her out of a mare they bought cheaply.

The Gittins family used to have mares in America but their breeding operation is now based exclusively in Ireland. They bought Mogeely Stud in East Cork originally but when the business outgrew the 50-acre site they purchased Castlefarm. In time, it made sense to move everything to Kildare, lock, stock and barrel.

At the moment they have 15 mares and 12 foals, with six yearlings for the sales. They bought four fillies from the breeze-up sales for racing, two of which are in training with Ross O’Sullivan. The other two are in Castlefarm, as they do all their own pre-training.

There are also two geldings that they couldn’t find an owner for and one of them, Tetraites, was trained by O’Sullivan to win a maiden hurdle at Galway on Tuesday with the handler’s brother-in-law, Ruby Walsh in the plate.

So the mood is fairly good around the place at the moment. There are no guarantees of course, but success isn’t a huge surprise given the high level of expertise involved on all levels. Apart from those already mentioned, Gittins’ partner also plays a significant role, while her father helps out from time to time as well. Then there are the people on the ground.

“Aisling would be a massive part. She’s done all the groundwork. She worked with Coolmore Australia, she’s worked in America, so she’d be very clued up on everything that goes on in the farm. She’d be very helpful at sales time especially.

“So is her Dad. Mick has been a huge help with advice, especially with horses in training. He’d sit on the odd one for me. He’s been a very lucky man as a breeder, breeding a Derby winner (Authorized in 2007, two years before he rode his third one.) We’d have the odd mare or two in partnership as well.

“The people that make the farm are the staff. The ones that do the day-to-day work. There wouldn’t exactly be a manager here.

“We just take everyone’s opinion on. Everybody would get a say. We’ve had the lads here four or five years now and they’re all doing it for the good of the farm. And when we have a success it’s their success.”

The collaborative approach clearly pays off.

“You can breed great horses but at the end of the day you still have to pay the bills. The big thing is you need luck and if you don’t have that you’re up against it.”

Better to be lucky than good as they say. If you’re both, you’re laughing.