Lowry’s luck is in as colt’s value quadruples at sale

Michael Lowry’s incredible ability to bounce back from misfortune has been underscored by his lucrative association with a bumper horse sale yesterday in France.

A foal he sold for €57,000 in December saw its value quadruple.

This trade immediately set a benchmark for all future horses from a mare Mr Lowry bought at the height of his tax problems in 2007.

The sales precedent at the weekend came just as it emerged the independent TD had failed in his appeal against a legal cost’s ruling in his unsuccessful defamation action against journalist Sam Smyth.

Susan Ryan, the Dublin county registrar, ordered that Mr Lowry was liable for all costs associated with the action. The bill came to €47,500.

If he does not pay, he could be declared bankrupt.

However, that figure now pales alongside a bonanza, conservatively expected to exceed €1m, which Mr Lowry is now likely to yield from breeding Wedding Morn — his only thoroughbred mare.

She shot to prominence in June when another of her offspring, Probably, won the respected Railway Stakes at The Curragh.

The win marked Probably down as one of this season’s best emerging two-year-olds and sparked a weekend rush to snaffle up his younger sibling, who had the same mother and father.

This unnamed colt went to auction at the Arqana yearling sale in Deauville, yesterday and was bought by the Qatari prince, Sheikh Mohammed, for €220,000.

The sale price was more than 55% above the average for lots sold at Deauville during the weekend.

The upsurge will continue if Probably lives up to expectations and performs well at next year’s classic races.

Mr Lowry bought the mother of both colts from the Tipperary powerhouse Coolmore in late 2007, just after he settled a €1.4m bill with Revenue.

This tax bill accrued due to his failure to properly declare income highlighted in the first Moriarty Report.

At the time, Mr Lowry said he had to sell assets and remortgage his home to settle his affairs. He has still to find out if he will be forced to pay his legal costs for his involvement with the tribunal.

The 2007 Coolmore deal was private so it is not known how much Mr Lowry paid for the mare. Annual breeding returns suggest she was in foal with a filly at the time. After Wedding Morn changed hands in 2007, she remained in Coolmore as a boarder.

The aspiring breeder has elected to send her to one of Ireland’s most expensive stallions, Danehill Dancer, also owned by Coolmore, every year.

It is not known how much Mr Lowry has paid Coolmore for housing her for the past four years and for sending her to Danehill Dancer on an annual basis.

On the open market, Danehill Dancer has commanded covering fees of up to €115,000 for each mare that visited him. But this year his fee fell to €60,000.

The success the north Tipperary TD has had as a thoroughbred breeder has come despite an apparent lack of experience at this level. Weatherby’s return of mares has revealed that Mr Lowry does not have any other thoroughbred mares to his name.