CAST your mind back to the (relatively) halcyon days of Vincent O’Brien and you might recall a small part of his exceptional career in which he trained for the then novel ownership concept that was Classic Thoroughbreds Plc, a publicly listed company designed to purchase premium yearlings to be trained at Ballydoyle.

Despite producing the influential sire Royal Academy, the Classic Thoroughbreds venture was widely regarded as a failure. Nonetheless the level of public participation and support the idea received during a time of economic hardship is testament to Ireland’s love of racing.