By John Berry
The seemingly unthinkable prospect of the dissolution of Ballymacoll Stud moved one step closer at the end of last week when longstanding manager Peter Reynolds admitted that time is running out for a 'lock, stock and barrel' sale of the property and its horses. It was announced last year that the stud's owners, the Weinstock family, intended to sell, thus providing a golden opportunity to buy one of the best breeding operations in the world. Sadly and surprisingly, it seems that no likely purchaser has come forward, with Reynolds last week telling the Irish Field that, “I've been trying to sell the stud and horses as one lot, and there is still a little bit of time for that to happen. If we don't receive an acceptable offer for the farm by mid-February, then we will have to consider public auction. We have about 50 horses to sell -some of them as of yet unborn – and would be likely to go down the dispersal-sale route with them. By the end of the year, we will most likely be closed down. We just need to get things moving along now on behalf of the owners.”
It is incredible that Ballymacoll Stud, ie the property and its horses, has not already been snapped up, bearing in mind that recent years have seen the emergence of several major international investors who seem keen to make an impression in the higher tiers of the racing game. Buying Ballymacoll Stud would be akin to landing on the longest ladder on the board in a game of 'Snakes and Ladders', giving its new owner an almost instant entrée into the upper echelons of the sport.
Ballymacoll Stud, situated four miles from Dunboyne in prime horse country in Co. Meath in Ireland, has been a wonderful nursery for horses for over 200 years. However, it was taken to a new level subsequent to its purchase by the Hon. Dorothy Paget in 1946. Miss Paget, daughter of Lord Queenborough and grand-daughter of William C. Whitney, ranks as one of the most notable racehorse owners in history. She is arguably best remembered for racing the mighty steeplechaser Golden Miller (Ire) (Goldcourt {Ire}) who is likely forever to remain the only horse to win five consecutive runnings of the Cheltenham Gold Cup (1932 to '36 inclusive) as well as the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same year (1934). A further interesting link to the Cheltenham Gold Cup legend came when the peerless steeplechase Arkle (Ire) (Archive {GB}), winner of the great race in 1964, '65 and '66, was born at Ballymacoll Stud in 1957 while Miss Paget owned the property, although she was not his breeder.
Miss Paget also owned two other Cheltenham Gold Cup winners as well as three winners of the Champion Hurdle. She was also very successful on the Flat, most notably securing the greatest prize of all as owner/breeder of the Walter Nightingall-trained Straight Deal (GB) (Solario {GB}), winner of the New (ie wartime, run at Newmarket) Derby S. in 1943. Although Tommy Carey was on board in Straight Deal in the Derby, Miss Paget's favourite jockey was always Gordon (later Sir Gordon) Richards, who was claimed by HH Aga Khan III to ride third-placed Nasrullah (Ire) (Nearco {Ity}) in that Derby.
When Sir Gordon Richards retired from the saddle in 1954 he started training, initially at Ogbourne Maisey in Wiltshire and subsequently at Whitsbury in Hampshire. Miss Paget sent him horses, while another of his early owners was Mr (later Sir) Michael Sobell, who owned one of the stable's first feature-race winners London Cry (GB) (Pardal {Fr}) who won the Cambridgeshire H. at Newmarket in 1958. London Cry was Sobell's first horse and his success fired his enthusiasm to the extent that, on Miss Paget's premature death in 1960 at the age of 54, he took his trainer's advice and bought Ballymacoll Stud from her executors. Even by the standards of a man who generally got things right, this turned out to be a good move. The stud has remained in his family's ownership ever since then.
Breeding and racing horses in partnership with his son-in-law Sir Alfred (later Lord) Weinstock, Sir Michael Sobell enjoyed an extended run of top-level success to the extent that when the family celebrated its half-century of ownership of the property in 2010, they had produced 27 individual winners of 51 Group/Grade 1 races at Ballymacoll. The tally of big races which they had won with horses bred there included two Derbys (1979 and 2004), two St Legers (1983 and 2008), one Oaks (1983), one 2000 Guineas (2001), one Irish Derby (1979), one Irish Oaks (1985) and one Irish 2000 Guineas (1995). Many breeding operations have found that they need continually to bolster their studs by purchasing fillies from other breeders' families; not so at Ballymacoll, where even to this day nearly all the mares are descended from the original Paget stock.
Sir Michael Sobell, whose parents moved their family from Galicia to England when he was a boy to escape anti-semitism in their homeland, was an electronics genius who founded Radio & Allied Industries Ltd. Working alongside his son-in-law, he developed the company to the extent that when it merged with the General Electric Company Ltd in 1961, the family became the largest share-holders in GEC. As GEC's managing director from 1963 until his retirement in 1996, Lord Weinstock masterminded the firm's massive commercial success which saw its annual turnover stand at £11 billion at the time of his retirement. He subsequently proved that his diplomacy matched his acumen: he was tactful enough to keep his opinions to himself as his successors managed to bring the company to its knees within a few years of his retirement.
Happily, Sir Michael Sobell enjoyed a long life, passing away at the age of 100 in September 1993. Lord Weinstock also exceeded his 'three score years and ten', dying in July 2002 at the age of 77. Tragically, however, Lord Weinstock's son Simon, who shared the love for racing of his grandfather and father, predeceased his father, dying in May 1996 at the age of only 44. Through the 21st century the stud has remained a major force in the upper tiers of the sport under the wise guidance of its long-standing manager Peter Reynolds, but the depth of passion of its former principals has not been passed on to the subsequent generations of the family. Hence the decision has been taken to sell it. Thus is ending one of greatest chapters in the annals of the modern-day bloodstock world.
The list of Ballymacoll champions is truly remarkable, the majority handled by one of three trainers. On the retirement of Sir Gordon Richards (who subsequently remained active as the family's racing manager) from the training ranks in 1970, the string was mostly handled by Major Dick Hern, the resident trainer in the West Ilsley stable which Sir Michael Sobell and Sir Arnold Weinstock had just bought from Jakie Astor. From the 1990s onwards, Sir Michael Stoute has been the family's principal trainer. This trio collectively has prepared a galaxy of home-bred stars headed by the mighty Hern-trained Troy (Ire) (Petingo {GB}) who followed up his wide-margin win in the 200th Derby in 1979 by taking the G1 Irish Derby, G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond S. and G1 Benson & Hedges Gold Cup (now Juddmonte International S.).
The pair's first top-class horse had been the Sir Gordon Richards-trained Reform (Ire) (Pall Mall {GB}), winner in 1967 of the St. James's Palace S., Sussex S. and Champion S. He was closely followed by the Hern-trained top milers Sallust (Ire) (Pall Mall {Ire}) and Sun Prince (Ire) (Princely Gift {Ire}). Subsequent stars included Troy's elder half-brother Admetus (Ire) (Pall Mall {Ire}), winner in 1974 of what was then the most prestigious turf race in the USA, the GI Washington DC International, from the French stable of John Cunnington jr. Sun Princess (Ire) (English Prince {Ire}) won the G1 Oaks and G1 St Leger in 1981, and her ill-fated son Prince Of Dance (Ire) shared the honour of becoming Sadler's Wells' first Group 1 winner when dead-heating for the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket in 1988. The stars of the 1990s included Pilsudski (Ire) (Polish Precedent) who landed Group/Grade 1 races in six countries; the Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained Spectrum (Ire) (Rainbow Quest) who completed the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas / G1 Champion S. double in 1995; and Sun Princess' Sadler's Wells half-brother Saddler's Hall (Ire), winner of the G1 Coronation Cup in 1992. Champions for the stud this century have included the British Classic winners Golan (Ire) (Spectrum {Ire}), North Light (Ire) (Danehill) and Conduit (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}). The last-named won the GI Breeders' Cup Turf in both 2008 and '09, while the outstanding filly Islington (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) numbered the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in 2003 among her four top-levels triumphs. Even farther afield were the successes in Australia of Glass Harmonium (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}) and Fiorente (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}) who began their racing careers in the 'light blue, yellow and white checked cap' Ballymacoll livery but who had been sold by the time that they enjoyed their finest hours. The former took the G1 Mackinnon S. at Flemington in 2011, while the latter landed the G1 Melbourne Cup in 2013 and the G1 Australian Cup in 2014 at the same course.
The option to purchase Ballymacoll Stud in its entirety still exists. Anyone doing so would be doing a massive favour to the bloodstock world, because operations of this quality ought not to be disbanded. Too many of the great owner-breeder operations have gone already, much to the detriment of the sport. More pertinently, however, anyone doing so would be doing a massive favour for themselves. In one hit, an introduction to the bloodstock world's top table would be secured, just as was the case when Michael Sobell and Arnold Weinstock bought Ballymacoll Stud from Dorothy Paget's executors 57 years ago.
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