BREEDING horses is not an easy game. There are a lot of ups and downs, I’ve had both, but thank God I’ve had a lot of good luck.

I’ve always had a keen interest in horses. My father, Charles, always had Irish Draught mares that he worked and bred from, and my brother, Donal, who is a great help to me, also breeds sport horses.

Greenacres Stud is my farm near Kells, Co Meath, where I’ve been breeding sport horses for over 30 years now and I also keep some drystock.

My first broodmare was a thoroughbred mare named Rock House Girl, by Paddys Stream, out of a Ragusa mare. I bought her from Michael Hickey of Garryrichard Stud, Foulksmills in Co Wexford. I see that GRS Lady Amaro, bred by the Hickeys, is going very well show jumping with Mark McAuley. Isn’t it amazing how the family had some of the top National Hunt stallions and now they’ve bred such a great show jumping mare?

Most of my mares go back to Rock House Girl, Cavalier Royale and Clover Hill. I have been so lucky with both stallions and their owners - John Hughes and Philip Heenan - were both total gentlemen.

Rock House Girl bred four Clover Hill fillies, I kept them all and they got me off to a flying start, and then I started to use the legendary Cavalier Royale. I’ve always regarded him as the best broodmare sire of our time and, again, I tried to keep as many fillies as I could.

I did sell Greenacres Special Cavalier though.

Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier [ISH] (NZL) share a moment after their Badminton win\ Equus Pix

1. Congratulations, you’ve just achieved what every eventing breeder dreams of, a Badminton winner.

My dream in breeding horses over a long number of years was to breed a horse to compete in a Cheltenham Gold Cup, a horse to compete in the Nations Cup at Dublin and just to have a horse to compete at the world’s top event, Badminton. Never, ever, thinking I would be so lucky to breed one that could win it.

2. Moot question – your proudest moment as a breeder?

Greenacres Special Cavalier winning Badminton. It is most definitely my dream come true.

There were other great moments: Breeding LLC Lux Like Cavalier (Cavalier Royale – Imperious Lux) was another, as she jumped at World Cup level and was short-listed for the Australian team for the 2016 Olympics.

Last Sunday though, was the most exciting day of my life.

3. Tell us more about Greenacres Special Cavalier?

She’s by Cavalier Royale and out of Greenacres Touch (Touchdown), a daughter of the foundation broodmare Rock House Girl.

Eleven years ago, when Greenacres Special Cavalier was born, I stood and looked at her, saying to myself, ‘I think I have bred a star’ and now I have. As a foal, I knew she was that much different to any other. She just stood out.

I knew she was special and, when I was naming her, I thought you deserve that middle word ‘special’. That’s how she got her name.

Even after she went to Caroline Powell, I remember Caroline saying way back, “Michael, she is very special”.

Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier [ISH] pictured after their Badminton win \ Equus Pix

4. When did you sell this filly that lived up to her name?

There’s a story about that. She was a four-year-old, and around February time I got a call from Greg [Kinsella], Caroline’s partner, that he was having a look at horses in Ireland and they landed in the yard. I took out a couple of three-year-olds and, in the meantime, Greenacres Special Cavalier stuck her head across the door. She wasn’t for sale because, the Cavalier fillies, I would try to keep them.

And Greg says to me: “What’s that?” And I said: “That’s the four-year-old Cavalier filly.” Well, they didn’t look at anything else. I took her out, walked her around and they fell in love with her straight away. She was special, she had it from the day she was born.

So, he got on the phone straight away and rang Caroline. And he said: “Caroline, drop what you’re at, get on a plane and come to Ireland. You’ve got to see this mare.” And that’s what she did. The deal was done, they loved the mare from the start. I got what I asked for, so I was happy and wished them luck, that’s what I always do. They were good customers.

5. John Hughes and Cavalier Royale are a major part of the story?

Ah, John. Look, he would have been the first to ring me, he would be very excited about this win. Cavalier Royale was the first warmblood, really, to come into Ireland. He was by Cor de la Bryère and to have a sire by that horse standing in Ireland was fantastic.

And I said, why not take a chance at that foreign blood coming in. So I did. From the very start, I began covering mares with him. He became a popular stallion in a short few years, people all wanted to use him then.

We really didn’t appreciate it at the time, but now we know he should have been used even more.

6. How many Cavalier Royale mares do you own?

I have eight.

7. And how many Greenacres foals due this year?

This year, please God, I will have 13 foals on the ground. At the moment, I am just halfway through the foaling season. Would you believe, there were no foals up to a fortnight ago, now there are six arrived safely? The mares are in foal to several stallions, including two to Chacco-Blue, Emerald, Conthargos and Ermitage Kalone.

8. And a special arrival on Sunday?

I’ll never forget last Sunday. Greenacres Special Cavalier’s full-sister Touch Cavalier had a Pegase van’t Ruytershof colt at 11.30pm that night.

9. Paris Olympics coming up, any predictions? Maybe about the New Zealand eventing team!

Oh God, wouldn’t it be great to see Caroline and the mare on the team? They’d deserve as much after Sunday. And then our show jumping team are in with a great chance this year.

10. Just in case... is your passport up to date?

No, but I’m going to work on that right away.