MICHAEL HICKEY

Sunnyhill Stud

Tell us about your consignment for the sale?

Lot 22: Maxios colt foal ex Royal Claret

He is a good colt from a decent family.

Lot 164: Fifty Stars filly foal ex Grangeclare Gold

A late foal, but she is a lovely, correct filly.

Lot 319: Way To Paris colt foal ex Young Leya

This is a first foal from the dam. Her dam is a blacktype half-sister to Altior. He is a lovely, correct, quality foal.

Lot 329: Shirocco colt foal ex Allthewhile

He is a grand quality, free-moving colt out of a full-sister to Kicking King, by Old Vic. Shirocco has a 66% strike-rate with Old Vic mares, so this is a lovely cross.

Lot 380: Poet’s Word filly foal ex Creation

She is a gorgeous filly. The mare is blacktype herself and a half-sister to El Barra, another blacktype horse.

Lot 419: Jukebox Jury colt foal ex Herbal Lane

He is the finest Jukebox Jury I have had to date, a lovely foal.

Lot 426: Fifty Stars colt foal ex Jer’s Dawn

He is an absolute cracker, a beautiful foal. On looks and movement alone, he is right up there with the best of them. A lot of the family that I have myself are related to Kicking King and he is a homebred. It is the first crop of foals by the stallion, and I highly recommend this foal.

Lot 467: Blue Bresil filly foal ex Magic Maze

Even though the filly is a May foal, she is a very quality, correct, lovely filly. Magic Maze has had three winners from three runners and the dam herself in a multiple blacktype winning mare.

Lot 505: Poet’s Word filly foal ex Pixie Lane

A gorgeous filly, she is from the family of Kalashnikov and Kalane, whom we bred. Their dam was a full-sister to Kicking King and she was a young mare when she died at only 13. But she left six fillies behind her, which was great.

Lot 669: Hillstar colt foal ex Frankly’s Last

This is a good pedigree too! He is a nice foal, a first foal and from a blacktype family.

Lot 889: Lucky Speed colt foal ex Fairy Way

Fairy Way is a half-sister to Kalashnikov and Kalane. It is a good family.

Lot 953: Old Persian filly foal ex Magic D

The dam is a half-sister to Magic Daze.

Margaret Brophy draft

We are consigning some lovely homebred foals on behalf of breeder Margaret Brophy. Lot 37 is an Affinisea colt, a lovely, big brown colt. Lot 170 is a Vadamos colt. Lot 512 is a lovely correct foal by Blue Bresil and Lot 750 is another Blue Bresil colt, whose dam is a daughter of the fabulous race mare Voler La Vedette. It is a great family, and he is a very correct colt.

Myerscough family

We also consign foals for long-time clients, the Myerscough family. Lot 582 is homebred, a Yeats colt out of Wood Lily. This pedigree goes back to Best Mate. Lot 657 is another super pedigree, the dam Emily Moon herself is a blacktype performer and again goes back to the great Best Mate. We have been very lucky with this pedigree.

Who are the other members of the team helping you at this sale?

Triona McLaughlin from Donegal, well-known amateur rider Helen Mooney, and I have a new girl this year, Monica from Poland. I am looking forward to having all these at the sales. My son Mike helps as well, he is a big part of the operation. Our team at home is Mary Somers, a Wexford girl who has been with us for eight years, and Chloe who also rides out. All these are equally important in getting the 18 foals ready for the sale. I still have to do a little bit myself!

What was the best result you have had from this sale in the past?

We had a fantastic year in 2007, the height of the Celtic Tiger. Our best five foals we consigned that year grossed €680,000. We consigned some foals for Philip and Jane Myerscough that year and they still hold the record for a National Hunt filly foal of €210,000. We also hold the record for a colt foal that same year of €180,000.

We sold an Old Vic colt out of Katday and that was a funny story. David Minton was bidding and didn’t his wife Juliet step in at the last minute and bought it. I think Minty took off his cap and threw it on the ground! J.P. McManus bought three of our foals that year too.

We sold Kicking King as a yearling at the November NH Sale to Tom Taaffe in 1999. He is the best racehorse we have sold. You win two King Georges and a Gold Cup – it is hard to match that. It is a once-in-a lifetime thing. He was a super horse. Barry Geraghty rode him in all his races bar his two bumpers and you would want to see the ride Barry gave him in the Gold Cup. He just gave him a brilliant, brilliant ride.

OLIVER LOUGHLIN

Tell us about your consignment?

We have 10 foals going to the November NH Sale and all of them are homebred, seven colts and three fillies.

Two of the colts are by Walk In The Park. Lot 509 is out of Posh Trish, herself a six-time winner including three listed races. This is her second foal. The second colt is out of Blue Jacaranda (Lot 356) who is out of an own-sister to Lord Windermere. Both are good-walking, correct foals.

I also have a great-moving Crystal Ocean colt (Lot 407) out of an unraced mare named Flowers On Sunday who is a Presenting half-sister to Grade 1 winner Quick Grabim. The colt by first season sire In Swoop (Lot 500) really takes the eye and shows himself very well.

Of the fillies, we have a lovely Crystal Ocean (Lot 636) who is out of an own-sister to Quick Grabim, whose full-sister realised €32,000 last year as a foal, and a Walk In The Park filly (Lot 579) out of an own-sister to Presence Of Mind and from the family of Albertas Run whose full-brother realised €68,000 just 12 months ago. Both fillies really catch the eye, they are good-moving individuals, and I am looking forward to presenting them at the sale.

I have been very lucky with the stallions I have used over the years, and I tend to go the studs that have been lucky for me, be it Grange Stud, Castlehyde or The Beeches.

Who helps you out at the sale?

It’s pretty much a family affair. Between myself and my two sons, Alan and Eoghan, along with our neighbour Liam Flanagan, we all keep the show on the road. Robert Lynch and Peter Flanagan also help us out at the sales as the numbers have grown over the last few years.

What is your best result from the sale?

Over the last few years, the November NH Sale has been good to us, overall. Last year was a really good year – we got €85,000 for Posh Trish’s colt - her first foal - and in 2021 we got €80,000 for a Crystal Ocean.

JOHN LALOR

Carrigeen Bloodstock

Tell us about your consignment for the sale?

Lot 249: Order of St George filly foal ex Queens Wild

We are consigning her for a client. The dam was a good racemare, and the two brothers have both won their point-to-points well and have been sold on to trainers. One of those was a Soldier Of Fortune who looks quite promising and, on the back of him, that was the whole idea of going to Order of St George, sticking with the Galileo cross. She is a fine, big filly foal and hopefully she should go well.

Lot 297: Vadamos filly foal ex Tanat Valley

She is a first foal but, to look at her, you certainly wouldn’t think it. She is a cracker and has a great pedigree. The brother Hidden Commander has won twice since the catalogue was printed. He is now a seven-time winner. It’s a lively pedigree. Fillies need to have a strong pedigree and we are lucky that the two we are consigning have that.

Lot 345: Santiago colt foal ex Backstop Euro

He is a very good foal. From what I hear, the Santiagos are all good foals and seem to walk well. He has a great step. With Authorized having done so well as a National Hunt sire I would be hoping that Santiago will do the same and should sell well.

Lot 365: Walk In The Park colt foal ex Carrigeen Kigelia

He is a very good foal. We have a two-year-old full-brother, and it was on the back of him that we went back to Walk In The Park. The Presenting cross has worked so well with the sire. Both Might Bite and Home By The Lee are Grade 1 winners out of the same cross. The mare has thrown some very nice foals in the past and she deserves to go to the best. People won’t be disappointed when they see this foal, he should match up to the pedigree.

Lot 983: Jukebox July yearling gelding ex Scanelle

We bought him as a foal. We liked Jukebox Jury at the time, and he is probably the hottest young sire at the moment. Normally we pinhook these foals to sell as stores but we thought, with the sire being so popular at the moment, we would roll the dice. He is a fine big yearling, great mover, so he should hopefully fit the bill.

Who are the other members of the team helping you at this sale?

Jennifer Malone, my partner, helps out at the sales. She does all the sales in Ireland, England, and France. She is probably one of the best in the game. It is my job to get them to the sales and I let her take over. She knows everyone and there is no one better to show a horse.

What was the best result you have had from this sale in the past?

Minella Indo must be the best horse we have sold at the November NH Sale. We actually have been very lucky with the horses we have sold at the sale. We sold Rogue Angel, Chicago Grey, Carrigeen Victor – it has been a very lucky sale for us.

LIAM O’DONOVAN

Cloney Stud

Tell us about your consignment for the sale?

Lot 752: Blue Bresil colt foal ex Oi Oi

He is the third foal out of the mare. We bred him ourselves. His three-year-old sister is in training for the spring point-to-points. The mare is back in foal to Maxios. He is a lovely foal, great size and bone. It’s a lovely pedigree.

Lot 921: Blue Bresil filly foal ex In Sync

In Sync is a three-parts sister to the Gold Cup winner Synchronised. I kept the mare especially for breeding. Her first foal made €25,000 and J.P. McManus has retained her as a broodmare in Martinstown. In Sync has bred two winners from two runners and the four-year-old will run in autumn point-to-points for Ian McCarthy. It is a great family and there is a lot happening in it.

Lot 947: Harzand filly foal ex Last Eclipse

The Harzand filly is out of an unraced Shirocco mare. The family has been very lucky for us. The dam’s first foal, Ballybough Aine, is in training with Paul Nolan, and she looks promising after winning her point-to-point first time out. It’s a young, very active pedigree.

Who are the other members of the team helping you at this sale?

I am a farrier by trade and the whole family help out. My wife Noreen and our three children - Mark, Orla, and Nora - all dig in. Mark and John Geraghty take charge when the foals get to the sales. Mark is studying Engineering at college, but he will make time to go to the sale. All the children have a great interest in the horses, and I couldn’t do without them.

What was the best result you have had from this sale in the past?

We sold Ballystone to Ian Ferguson as a foal for €30,000 at the November NH Sale and he is in training with Tom Gibney. He is a good horse; he is definitely a blacktype horse for the future. He was a belter of a foal, a real good athletic horse. When lads latched on to him, he was up and down the yard all day at the sales. He was very busy.