THE graduation ceremony for the 2024 Thoroughbred Breeding Management Course took place on Wednesday at the Irish National Stud, County Kildare.

They had a glorious day for the ceremony, where 28 students hailing from 10 different countries were joined by family members, friends, and industry peers as they celebrated successfully completing the comprehensive six-month programme designed to prepare them for careers in the thoroughbred industry.

The event, which was MC’d by Leo Powell, began with INS board member Clodagh Kavanagh delivering a speech on behalf of the board. Kavanagh passed on some advice to the graduates from INS chairman Dan Flinter, who could not be present, while CEO Cathal Beale congratulated the group on their achievements throughout the course.

With the recent RTÉ Investigates revelations still raw in the memory, the chairman reminded the class of 2024 “Always be guided by the principle ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ and you will always be a winner.”

Grace Hamilton (USA) and Tadgh McGuinness (Ireland) delivered a keynote speech on behalf of the class, expressing their gratitude to all the lecturers, staff, industry hosts and all who helped them throughout their journey on the course.

During the ceremony several graduates were recognised for their outstanding performance and contributions:

The INS ‘Jonathan Fitzpatrick Business Internship’ was awarded to Ian Hyland from Co Kildare, who will commence his internship with the INS in July, while the Goffs Internship was awarded to Orla Hassett, Co Waterford.

Shane Loughnane was the recipient of The Irish Field “Blue Hen” Award. Shane was presented with a cheque for €250 and a trophy by Leo Powell for his winning article which will be published in The Irish Field in the coming weeks.

Each year gold and silver medals are awarded to the top two achieving students and this year the prestigious gold medal was presented to Shane Loughnane, Co Kerry, who demonstrated an outstanding performance in all aspects of the course, with the silver medal being awarded to Grace Hamilton from the USA.

“Our graduates this year have shown an extraordinary commitment to their studies and the thoroughbred breeding industry,” said Anne Channon, education manager. “We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and excited to see them contribute to the future of the thoroughbred industry.”