It is fair to say that my experience in Ireland has been amazing and I can't believe it has already come to an end. I don't know what I am going to miss more, working with such fantastic horses, or all of the people I have met over here. My next stop on the Sunline Scholarship is at Taylor Made Farm in America.
I really can’t thank all of the people at Coolmore enough for making my time there such a great experience.
I was lucky enough to attend the 2017 Irish Derby and what a fantastic time it was. The day was spent with a few fellow kiwis and with the All Blacks being beaten the on the morning of the Derby, we were the centre of a fair bit of banter. With Aidan O’Brien taking out the Derby for the 12th time, it really shows Ballydoyle’s dominance in the northern hemisphere. This year it was another son of Galileo, “Capri” beating a wide open field.
While at the Curragh I was able to take a tour around the Irish National Stud and meet all of the students doing the course there this year. I was also able to see a few retired champions that now call the Irish National Stud home. The most notable of them all was Hurricane Fly who holds the record for most Group One wins in the world with 22 Group One victories.
My last few weeks in Ireland I was based in Primus, the marketing agency for Coolmore. Primus is the home of all of Coolmore’s marketing. This includes America, Australia and of course Ireland. The Primus office is just another example of why Coolmore continues to be such a dominant force in the thoroughbred industry.
One of my main tasks while at Primus was to research the success of Coolmore stallions that have shuttled to New Zealand in the last 7 years. This includes all of the sales results and progeny race records in the Southern Hemisphere.
I was also lucky enough to spend an afternoon in Ballydoyle. Although I can’t go giving Ballydoyle’s secrets away, its fair to say that the facilities available there are like nothing I have seen before. I am sure that anyone that has an interest in horse racing, would leave Ballydoyle the same
way as I did, speechless.
Ireland you have been great to me, it defiantly doesn't get any easier saying goodbye the to the places that I have been. It’s time to bring on the next leg of the Sunline Management Scholarship. One thing I am really looking forward to is having some warm weather in America.
Until next time or as the Irish say “good luck, good luck”.
Lance Forbes
