ON Christmas Eve, when kids all over Ireland are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Santa, I, too, have a special visitor due.

Tosen Stardom, the foundation sire of our newly formed Zenith Stallion Station is set to touch down in this country on December 24th.

It is an exciting time for all here at Lemongrove Stud, as well as fellow business partners Ali Farooq and Hamad Al Kadfoor.

My grandfather, who bred a few horses, would have been friendly with Kevin Prendergast and his father, “Darkie”.

Over the years, he sold a couple that went on to win races. My own father inherited the interest, having legs in a few horses with Liam Browne when I was younger.

One of my earliest memories is going racing at the Phoenix Park and seeing a horse dad owned, Sky Monarch, beat the highly regarded Vincent O’Brien-trained Seattle Dancer.

Despite being quite young, two things struck me that afternoon; you could buy a horse for small money that was capable of winning races and on the odd occasion at least, you could compete against and beat the bigger names.

Pedigrees

In my teens, I developed an interest in pedigrees; seeing what worked and what didn’t. My father was friends with Jim McCartan, whose brother Paul was in charge of the National Hunt side of Rathbarry Stud at the time.

Through that connection, I got to spend a summer working at the stud and even managed a trip to Newmarket sales.

After returning home to Westmeath, I secured a weekend/holiday job working for Tony and Anne O’Callaghan at Tally Ho Stud. My third level education was completed at Writtle University College, where I studied Agricultural Science.

As part of a one-year work placement, I was sent over to Water Cress Farm in Kentucky. I was fortunate enough to shadow Dr. Phil McCarthy, who was widely regarded as one of the best equine reproductive vets in the world.

Stallions who suffered from fertility issues were sent to Water Cress Farm to see if anything could be done to save their careers at stud. Shortly after I arrived, one of the barn managers left, so I took over the responsibility of managing that section of the farm.

Cigar, the American legend who won 16 races in a row, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup, was housed in my barn. It felt surreal to be looking after a racing superstar that I had watched on television just a few years before.

Came home

After returning to college to complete my final year, I then came home to Westmeath and bought a small farm. While trying to get that business established, I went back to Tally Ho Stud, working mornings/afternoons, before tending to my own farm in the evenings.

It was actually while consigning for Tally Ho at the sales, that I bought my first broodmares; two fillies out of training. One of those purchases, Hawattef, subsequently produced Kodi Bear but unfortunately, I had sold her on before then!

I enjoyed much better luck with Greta D’Argent, a mare I bought for just €3,000. Having decided to put her in foal to Tally Ho stallion Sir Prancealot, the subsequent mating produced Beau Recall.

That filly won a Tipperary maiden for Ado McGuinness, before being sold to America, where she later won the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes on the undercard at the 2019 Kentucky Derby.

I later bred Hannon, a Grade 2-placed hurdler for John McConnell, who sadly suffered a fatal injury over fences at Galway during the summer.

Space Cowboy, a colt by Kodi Bear, is one that I have received glowing reports on. The Richard Spencer-trained three-year-old is already rated 102 and believed to be at least listed class. Hopefully, he can go on to justify expectations and further highlight Lemongrove Stud next year.

Stand a stallion

Like most people who get into breeding, it had long been an aspiration to stand our own stallion at Lemongrove Stud. However, I was under no illusions as to the enormity of that particular undertaking.

The opportunity to bring Tosen Stardom to Ireland came about through Ali Farooq. Our paths first crossed when he had been looking for fillies and mares to go abroad and I ended up sourcing the stock he required.

More recently, he mentioned the idea of standing a stallion here in Ireland, as he felt it was the home of the thoroughbred and first place one would choose to keep a sire.

Ali asked if I would be interested in coming on board with himself and business partner Hamad Al Kadfoor.

To be honest, when he revealed that Tosen Stardom was the stallion they had in mind, I was immediately drawn to the idea.

As a son of Deep Impact, he should certainly interest breeders on this side of the world, as such sires as rare.

Tosen Stardom is not a slow horse, having shown enough speed to win at a mile. Obviously, his best form came over further, when winning the Grade 1 Emirates Stakes in Australia.

Winners

He has already produced winners in that country during his first season at Woodside Park Stud. Under the terms of our arrangement, the stallion will reverse shuttle here for the 2023 breeding season, then return to Australia later in the year.

Initially, Zenith Stallion Station had planned to stand two sires at Lemongrove Stud but on reflection we decided to stick with one. Breeders have plenty of options in this country; in fact, there are two other studs relatively close to us alone.

I felt it was more prudent to learn how to crawl before trying to walk; building the business up slow and steadily.

If we get enough interest in Tosen Stardom next year, perhaps, we can consider adding a second stallion to the roster going forward.

For now, it is just hugely exciting to be awaiting the arrival of our foundation stallion at Lemongrove Stud.

Tom Wallace was in conversation with John O’Riordan