Coolmore Stud is an Irish success story we should show to the world
Her royal family has long had a passionate interest in horse racing and horse breeding, so what better place to indulge that love but in Ireland?
There is tradition in that regard, going beyond the regular meetings with Irish people that the queen has had on racecourses in England. Her grandfather, George V, on the last visit of a British monarch to what subsequently became the 26 counties of the Irish Republic, went to a race meeting at the Phoenix Park track (a venue closed now just over 20 years). There has been speculation that the queen may go to races at Punchestown although whether this coincides with her schedule — or would be convenient to fit with security issues — is unlikely apparently.
But what most definitely on the agenda are visits to the Irish national stud and the Aga Khan’s Gilltown stud in Co Kildare. Gilltown is the home to valuable stallions such as Sea the Stars — the great Irish flat winner of 2009 — and has a prominent statue of Shergar, the Derby winner stolen and killed by the IRA in 1983, on display too. She may also visit Coolmore Stud and the training stables at Ballydoyle in Co Tipperary, one of the finest business ventures of any kind in Ireland.
It will be a useful opportunity to focus attention upon the excellence of an industry that unfortunately is suffering hard times during the recession. There have been calculations that the value of the Irish horse industry has fallen by close to €500 million over the last two years. The number of racehorses in training in Ireland has fallen sharply and the number of jobs in the industry is estimated to have fallen by over 5,000 from 22,000.
Despite this there are figures to suggest that Ireland remains the third-largest producer of thoroughbreds worldwide, behind only the US and Australia, accounting for 42% of thoroughbred production in Europe. In 2009, 10,617 thoroughbreds were foaled here out of a world total of just over 100,000. However, this is down from a peak of 12,633 in 2007, as demand fell, especially in the domestic market.
The supposedly rich had to be seen to own horses during the boom; it was a sign of having made it, of being able to indulge what has been regarded always as a rich man’s hobby. There has long been a strange social dynamic at play. Horse racing was simultaneously classless and extremely class conscious. While other sports have tended — until the democratisation provided by television changed this — a concentration among certain social classes, horse racing claimed a broader support. So-called poor people gambled and went to the races and were in the company of the owners and associates, albeit if those were dressed in fine clothes in reserved enclosures. For builders to be able to own and train horses and then move in those circles was a sign that they’d made it.
The money for the many syndicates to first buy and then stable horses dried up. The end of the property bubble meant that the many builders and developers who owned horses fell dramatically. The problems ran deeper however: For those not quite as well off, the existence of syndicates made it possible for some people to “own the leg of a horse”. The funding for this has evaporated too.
While there are horse racing meetings in Ireland almost every day, the numbers attending are well down and the amounts gambled have slumped too. The sport here is in crisis. We still have a major export industry though, thankfully. There were €175 million worth of Irish racehorses exported in 2010 but we need to do better.
It might be very useful if the queen was to be given the chance to visit Coolmore in particular. While it may not bring about much extra business for the stud itself — anyone with a serious interest in horse racing knows about Coolmore, its expertise and its global standing in this industry — it
would be wonderful for the image of Ireland to show an example of a genuine world leading industry that is not dependent on foreign ownership or international grants (and which no longer depends on a tax incentive).
I had the opportunity to visit and tour Coolmore Stud and then the adjacent Ballydoyle stables some years ago. They are awesomely impressive businesses, run to standards to which all Irish businesses should aspire. Coolmore Stud is like a five-star hotel where the accommodation is provided for horses. It has more than 7,000 acres of lush green fields, extending from Fethard in south Tipperary, stretching across the Golden Vale into north Cork and the Castle Hyde stud in Fermoy, employing more than 650 people. It looks beautiful, full of sculptured grazing paddocks, carefully clipped hedges that act as shelter belts from the elements as well as keeping expensive horses apart at those times when they are not wanted together, well-kept private roads and modern stables.
This is a serious business. In the busy months there can be as many as 900 mares present in the stud at any time, to be “serviced” by about 16 stallions, who cost a mare’s owner anything up to €100,000 for “use”. There are special stables where the mares are prepared for a visit from the stallion. It is a clinical business — there is enormous money at stake, so not surprisingly 10 vets work full-time from a state of the art laboratory next to owner John Magnier’s residence on the original Coolmore stud.
The same vets also monitor the fertility of the stallions and their partners, and have assisted in increasing the number of times a stallion can perform in a year, greatly enhancing their values.
The fine breeding of the thoroughbreds is obvious from their build and sheen. The young foals when they are brought out into the fields are beautiful. Each has the potential to earn vast sums of money, even if only 1% turn out to be racetrack winners or have value themselves at stud in the future.
Coolmore’s turnover and profits are a closely guarded secret but judging by what Magnier spends on new yearlings himself each year — anywhere between €15 million and €80 million, depending on his need for new stock according to estimates — it clearly is a highly lucrative venture. (Magnier has used the profits, which controversially attracted little or no tax in Ireland until a couple of years ago, to develop an enormous number of other business investments: he is reckoned to be a billionaire and is tax resident in Switzerland). The business operates on a 12-month cycle so there is also a Coolmore-owned stud in Australia, an 8,000 acre estate called Hunter Valley and a 2,500 acre Ashford stud in Kentucky, the home of breeding in the US.
Farmers throughout the EU often are paid to be inefficient but Coolmore looks after itself. The profits have been reinvested in the business and also in world-famous Ballydoyle training centre which Magnier’s late father-in-law Vincent O’Brien built and over which Aidan O’Brien (no relation) now presides. It is a fantastic success and something that would be good to show to the world, not just the queen of our nearest neighbour.
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