ONCE described by author Nicholas O’Hare as “the cradle of performance for the Irish Sport Horse industry,” Slyguff Stud is the ideal setting to bring the current golden horsewomen series to a close.

The kitchen table is the command centre in this Carlow farmhouse. Countless people, from the late Swiss buyer Max Hauri, agreeing on a price for his latest purchase, to a breeder having a cup of tea before the drive home, have sat around it through the years. If this table could talk, it could tell its own tale of the Irish horse and the people who built it.

The walls are full of memorabilia from the 80-year history of Slyguff Stud. There’s the Master Imp-sired Da Vinci Code’s green rosette, brought from Bromont CCI*** by Kylie Lyman Dermody and various award trophies. And that magnificent oil painting of the equine household names produced by their stallions, whose boxes are just steps away from the back door.

In charge of it all is Frances Hatton (nee O’Neill). She is another of those wonderful Irish characters who effortlessly oversees the busy farm, wields phone calls and produces home baking. You soon learn there is zero intention of this article ever being about Frances herself as questions are politely steered back to another story about a Slyguff horse. And once the gospel of ‘let your horses do the talking for you’ is abided by, the stories keep coming.

THE PRAM HURDLE

Stallions and musicians often have the same dilemma: consigned to being a one-hit wonder or find the next hit. The O’Neill family led the way in finding the next stallion for their customers and King of Diamonds was the catalyst of the Slyguff story. His own rise to fame and statistics are well recorded. For example, he left 547 registered progeny. What’s not so widely known are the little anecdotes, such as how his owners first realised there was a jump in the young chesnut colt.

“My brother David was sitting in his pram, just outside the kitchen door and two colts were being turned out into a field, when one of them ran into the yard and jumped his pram!” says Barbara, Frances’s eldest daughter. The colt was none other than King of Diamonds, accompanied that day by his full-brother, Slyguff Hero.

Slyguff Stud began in 1938. “The first stallion was True Boy, now that’s going back a long time. He was a lovely, grey roan that stood with Jack O’Neill, who owned Whitemount Stud in Dunamaggin. Jack was moving more into thoroughbreds, the most famous stallion they had was Stowaway, and when True Boy arrived, that’s the beginning of the King of Diamonds story,” begins Frances.

“Daddy [Tom O’Neill] bought a thoroughbred mare called Biddens, covered her with True Boy and that was Ruby. When she was covered with Errigal, he stood with Paddy Byrne at Park House Stud, King of Diamonds was that foal in 1962.

“He was always very proud of himself and the day he jumped David’s pram was the first indication he could jump,” adds Frances wryly. Broken in and competed by John Hutchinson, King of Diamonds jumped up to Grade B level.

Before his progeny made their own Dublin main arena appearances in Nations Cup, Puissance and Grand Prix competitions, ‘King’ jumped twice at Dublin Horse Show. “That picture is taken in Abbeyleix the day he jumped against Dundrum as a four-year-old. He divided the competition that day. People said that year was a flash in the pan and so King was brought back as an 11-year-old.

TRAFFIC-STOPPER

“He was stabled across the road where the AIB building is now. My dad and I used to walk him over to the RDS and the Guards would stop the traffic on Merrion Road to let us pass,” Frances recalls, producing King of Diamond’s original SJAI registration card.

By 1997, King of Diamonds was ranked seventh amongst the world’s leading show jumping sires. Amongst his progeny were household names and medal winners such as Carrolls Royal Lion, Carrolls Young Diamond, (“They bought him back from Sweden for Paul Darragh”), Lough Crew, Mill Pearl, Mill Ruby and Special Envoy.

The latter was the Pessoa ‘family horse’ with Nelson winning the 1989 Dublin Grand Prix on board the broad-blazed chesnut. Rodrigo competed at both his first World Championships at just 17 years of age and then the Olympic Games in Barcelona two years later, courtesy of the Irish-bred he credits for launching him on the international circuit.

King of Diamonds, or ‘KOD’ as he was often referred to in breeder’s shorthand, was sent around the world in 1980. That was the year he was selected by An Post to represent the Irish Draught breed on a series of commemorative stamps.

Since his first crop to this day, to see the words ‘King’ or ‘Diamonds’ included in a horse’s name is another sign of his legacy. A hugely commercial sire, who produced profits for many farmer-breeders, he continues to appear in many pedigrees today. “In the book the RDS published about traditional mares, 67 out of the 100 have King of Diamonds breeding,” notes Frances.

NEXT GENERATION

And still it could all have ended there. One great stallion. One ‘claim to fame’ story. Until along came Highland Flight. The four-generation dynasty of Imperius, Master Imp, his sons Golden Master and Kings Master, and now Masters Choice; Slyguff Joker, Balda Beau and the current thoroughbred residents, Pointilliste and Nazar.

“Dad was anxious to get a thoroughbred horse next after King of Diamonds and went to England where he bought Highland Flight, Johnny Hughes went with him. Imperius was bought from Con Collins, he had raced on the flat and retired sound as an eight-year-old. The sport horses came next with Highland King, Kings Servant and ‘the Joker’, as Slyguff Joker was known as,” she says, listing the next successors.

“Back in the 1980s, there were many horses by them that went all over the world. We sold Slyguff John Boy and Highland Diamond from the Guinness and six-year-old classes at Dublin,” says Barbara. “Both were jumped by Michael Hutchinson, who rode many of our horses. He rode Young Diamond as a youngster too.

“John Boy was renamed Slygoff, he went to Bruno Candrian and they were fourth in the Los Angeles Olympics. The other went to Max Hauri’s sister, Heidi Robiani and was first reserve for the Olympics.”

What was the late legend Max Hauri like as a customer? “The best. He bought many good horses here, he always rode the horse, then vetted them himself and handed you your cheque. He was our best customer,” Frances recalls.

Another favourite memory is of a famous Spring Show double when Tommy Brennan won with Highland Lad, by Highland Flight. Fiona Bennett won the other class that day with Rough Diamond, who was by King of Diamonds and out of a pony mare – she later became the Bennett family’s foundation mare.

PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS

Pride of place in the kitchen is that painting, a gift from the late Henry Graham. “It tells the story of Slyguff Stud. Henry presented it to Loftus [O’Neill, Frances’s brother] at the 2002 Cavan International Show. George Allen had a vintage car and Loftus was driven into the arena for the presentation.”

Sadly, both Loftus and George have since passed away. “George was well known for his Mullentine horses, a lovely man who enjoyed the simplicity of life. He would often come here with a box of apples or plums from his orchard.”

Loftus received the very first Outstanding Contribution to the Irish Sport Horse award at the 2007 Irish Horse Board annual general meeting in Athlone. A natural choice for this inaugural award, this soft-spoken gentleman, known for his trademark tweed trilby, passed away the following summer. Master Imp, bred by Loftus, was lost to Irish breeders in November, 2009.

“Loftus bought Tranquilla from John Hutchinson. She was a thoroughbred by Hul A Hul, he covered her with Imperius and got Master Imp,” says Frances. She has a keen eye for a pedigree and liked the fact that Owen Tudor, rated by her as a good National Hunt sire, featured in the family tree.

Foaled in 1990, Master Imp was approved as a three-year-old and proved instantly popular with breeders. “He hit the ground running as a sire because his first crop produced Master Of Moments,” Barbara explains. The top-priced foal at the Goresbridge sales, where the Slyguff heir’s first foals sold well, Master Of Moments was bought there by Henry Graham from local breeder Michael Doyle. He went on to jump at Grand Prix level with Conor Swail.

OLYMPIC RECORD

Another international show jumper was the Army Equitation School’s good servant Lismakin, competed by Capt. Shane Carey. However, it was as an event horse sire that Master Imp truly shone and holds a remarkable record as the only sire of four horses compete at the London Olympics.

Included amongst the quartet are Master Crusoe and Aoife Clarke. The pair recorded Ireland’s best Olympics eventing result with their seventh place, one notch above High Kingdom and Zara Tindall for the home team. ‘Paddy’ as the now-retired Master Crusoe is known, was bred in Oylegate by Phyllis Doyle and her son, show jumping course builder Michael.

‘Trevor’ was bred in Enniskerry by William Micklem, another great fan of the Slyguff team. High Kingdom continued to do his connections proud for several more years, being the highest-placed Irish-bred at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy (11th) and finishing third at the 2016 Rolex Kentucky CCI4*.

Another of Master Imp’s progeny to have competed at Greenwich in 2012 was the Team USA horse Ringwood Magister with Tiana Coudray. His background story features a most amicable arrangement with official breeder Adrian Bourke waiving all the breeding rights credit to Lily McGowan.

“It was lovely to see Lily’s article in The Irish Field, she is a lady,” says Frances. They say water always finds its own level and if you added in the equally gentle Phyllis Doyle you find a trio of ladies linked to Master Imp’s London horses.

Nearly a decade after his death, Master Imp continues to fly the flag in event sire rankings, including an unprecedented treble in 2014, when he was the leading sire in the WBFSH, United States and British Eventing rankings.

He could produce a ‘pretty face’ too, in the form of the working hunter Zin Zan, the 2003 Horse of the Year Show supreme champion and Dublin hunter mare champion Banglestown Imp, bred by Richie Bolger and Loftus respectively.

“Sure, you’re proud for the breeders, they deserve all the credit,” insists Frances, when asked about their stallion’s success. ”We’ve had loyal customers, too many to mention, coming here for generations and you love to see them do well.”

PURE GOLD

There are two Master Imp sons at Slyguff now. Golden Master is his only thoroughbred son and who occupies the corner box in the yard. His pedigree is traditional gold. “Barbara always had a longing to buy a Prefairy mare as he had such wonderful old breeding. She finally managed to buy Marand locally and she was by Prefairy, out of an Autumn Gold dam. She produced Golden Master, or ‘Gold’ as we know him. It’s important to keep the old thoroughbred bloodlines going.”

Baffled when asked who Prefairy was by one inspector when Golden Master was presented for inspection, Barbara was initially disappointed when he was classified in the old Supplementary 1 (S1) category. “Since the end of the ‘blue book syndrome’ he has become increasingly busy,” Frances points out.

Golden Master was a welcome addition in the 2015 Dublin stallion parades with Noel Skelton, Slyguff’s stallion man, proudly at the helm. It was in the same arena that his great-grandsire Autumn Gold won the Croker Cup in 1967 and 1968.

Golden Master was a welcome addition in the 2015 Dublin stallion parade with Noel Skelton, Slyguff’s stallion man, proudly at the helm.

“When Master Imp died, it took a good while to find a thoroughbred replacement with different bloodlines, and that was Pointilliste. Barbara and Noel went to look at him and they were like two children after seeing Santa Claus when they came back! They were so pleased with him,” says Frances, smiling.

“I’d like to thank Eoin Banville who told me there was a horse for sale in Noel Meade’s yard. There’s only six-year-olds by ‘George’ at the moment,” points out Barbara about the now 15-year-old, by the ‘Iron Horse’ himself, Giant’s Causeway.

“We’re looking forward to the two five-year-olds by him competing in the young event horse final at Dublin, Master Point and RNG Vantage Point. Both of them are out of Kings Master mares,” added her mother.

Kings Master is of course the other Master Imp son at Slyguff. The traditional-bred sport horse has produced numerous Dublin winners, including the young event horse champion Stellor King; Connswater River, the supreme hunter champion and Kings Marshall, a three-year-old loose jumping champion, plus a host of Limerick Lady and All Ireland champions. Known for her droll sense of humour, a phone call from a familiar contact innocently enquiring if their pride and joy Kings Master was for sale, elicited an “Are you feeling well? Do you have a temperature?” response from an amused Frances.

HORSEMAN’S INSTINCT

“‘Billy’ is 26 now and enjoying retirement. His successor is Masters Choice, by Kings Master, out of a Grand Plaisir-Arctic Slave mare. He’s only six but it’s just hard to get going with a young horse now,” said Barbara. Starting off any young stallion in the current competitive market is difficult for many owners, however the one constant of the Slyguff-selected stallions is they have always delivered a good one for their customers. As Nicholas O’Hare once wrote, “All the pieces of paper in the world cannot replace the instinct of the true horseman.”

“We always had faith in our judgement,” agrees Frances. In operation for three generations, the day-to-day running is now in Barbara’s hands. “It gives me great pleasure to have Barbara carrying on with the farm here and she has as much interest as I have in keeping it going, with the help of Noel Skelton.

“Noel showed John Boy as a foal at the local shows with his Highland Flight dam, Julie Anne. That’s how long he’s been here,” she added.

Another noted Slyguff mare is the KOD mare Ashling II, the dam of both Kings Master and his Highland Flight half-brother, Highland King. Burghley winner Ballincoola and Hong Kong individual silver medalist McKinlaigh were two of Highland King’s famous progeny.

How do they keep track of all these Slyguff-sired winners? “You’d read the Field and various pieces in the equestrian newspapers,” says Frances. There are no plans for high-tech websites or social media promotions. Or artificial insemination. “It’s always been natural covering with the stallions here, always will be,” says Barbara.

Old-school thinking is behind this decision as while their stallions were and are popular – Pointilliste is the busiest thoroughbred in the latest Horse Sport Ireland covering statistics – natural cover provides a balanced supply of foals, without over-saturating the market for their loyal breeder customers.

They still breed a number of foals per annum. “We have 11 foals this year, seven colts and four fillies. You’d try to sell them privately,” adds Barbara.

There are regular customers too who “often come in for the cup of tea and the chat around the kitchen table,” says Frances, who remembers another previous guest, the famous Bord na gCapall stallion inspector Dick Jennings. “He often stayed here overnight while he was travelling around the south-east on inspections.”

Although there was never a Bord na gCapall stallion at Slyguff, Frances fills in another chink in the history of Irish sport horse breeding. “Dick had bought a colt with Battleburn in his pedigree and placed him up the country. And because Dick had ginger hair and named the colt after himself, that’s how the stallion got his name: Ginger Dick!”

DUBLIN MEMORIES

Of course the focus is on Dublin Horse Show next week. Frances is quite content to watch it on television, along with National Hunt racing, a favourite TV winter pastime. “I remember the Croker Cup being divided into heavyweights and lightweights. Dublin is a great showcase, there’s nothing quite like it in the world. We brought Pointilliste up for the parade the first year, he wasn’t long out of training but there was still great interest in him.”

Frances brought home a red rosette from Dublin in 1980 with Bawnlahan Beauty. The purebred Draught mare had also won the prestigious Greenvale championship at Millstreet two years previously. Her colt foal at foot that year in Dublin was Kingsway Diamond, the stallion that immigrated to New Zealand with the late Thady Ryan.

One favourite Dublin photo is of Frances with her children, Barbara, Linda and David taken at the same spot as an earlier photo of her, Loftus and Tom O’Neill. The clock tower was the traditional meeting place and Frances had another way of making sure her young family didn’t end up in the Lost Children department.

“I’d write on the back of their hands the number of the stall the horses were in. So if they did get lost, they could just ask someone to ‘Bring me back to that box please!’”

Something that will never be lost is Slyguff Stud’s contribution to the Irish horse. And as this series draws to a close, the ever-modest Frances again gently protests about her inclusion. “I’m not fit to follow Patricia Nicholson and the other ladies you wrote about.”

Frances Hatton and Slyguff don’t follow though, - they lead.