THE O’Neill family has always bred sport horses, with Ger’s father Jim having an eye for quality mares. Castlefield Gucci, who is qualified for the 2016 Dublin Horse Show, is the fourth generation to be bred at home in Kilkenny.

Castlefield is currently home to six broodmares along with some select youngstock that O’Neill will produce for competition. He also keeps some young horses with Ronan Rothwell, Jonathan Fitzpatrick, Peig Van Amerongen, Brian Hutchinson and Olympic-bound rider Greg Broderick.

“Breeding horses is a part of the business that I enjoy. There is nothing better than breeding a good horse and watching it go on to great things. This year I plan to take more embryos from the competition mares,” he explains.

“Breeding a future star does not happen by chance, there are many factors that come into play. For me you need a performance mare or one very closely related to a performance mare. Little Miss Puissance is one of our broodmares and she jumped internationally with me.”

He adds: “I think Irish breeders are on a par with European breeders. Irish breeders now have high standards and they are doing their research, with more intelligent breeding happening out there.”

He believes the success of Greg Broderick’s Rio mount MHS Going Global has had a huge impact on Irish breeders.

“It shows that it is possible to breed a world-class horse at home. The success of the Irish breeders such as Tom and Ita Brennan can only serve to encourage breeders to keep going. I really feel that they are a good example as they are up to date in the breeding trends and have a great record of success,” he says, adding: “The availability of frozen system has helped, as there is more now more choice.”

“I think that when choosing a stallion, they must have a brain and their offspring must be rideable. Breeders should look of the traits of the stallion before choosing to use them. I would also urge breeders to talk to riders and ask them what they are looking for in a horse. Riders are quite open about giving advice,” he continues.

Looking to the future, O’Neill lists his future hopes.

“We have some exciting prospects such as a half-brother to MHS Going Global and a half-brother to Zigali PS out of an Air Jordan dam. The half-brother to Zigali PS is an exciting prospect, he is a full horse and will be available for AI in the next month.”