Bittersweet Year For Classic Breeder

Peter Kelly (right) | Amy Lynam

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Not many 31-year-olds have the distinction of breeding a Classic winner, but Peter Kelly of Ballybin Stud has achieved that professional milestone quite early in his career. When Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) got the better of Cartier Horse Of The Year Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in this year's G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas, however, it was a rather bittersweet moment for Kelly, as he had sold Mean Lae (Ire) (Johannesburg), the dam of Jet Setting, to a colleague of his two years previously. Kelly isn't one to dwell on these things, though, having had his fair share of luck in the ring over the years, and he is very much looking forward to offering a smart, 18-strong draft of foals at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in Newmarket this week, a sale that has been especially kind to the young breeder in the past.

Ballybin Stud, a five minute drive from Fairyhouse Racecourse in County Meath, is very much a family run operation with Kelly's father Paddy–a renowned equine veterinary surgeon–at the helm. Kelly junior harboured early ambitions to follow his father into practice, but the long hours of study required to even gain a place in Vet College altered his sights, and upon finishing school the university of life beckoned, with his education tailored towards the ultimate aim of breeding horses on a professional and commercial basis. The Irish National Stud course followed before he crossed the pond to Coolmore America at Ashford Stud, where he spent three seasons.

“I worked with the stallions, with yearlings and in the foaling unit. I learned a massive amount there; I think everyone does when they go to Coolmore,” he said. Kelly also added a spell with Haras des Capucines in France to his CV before returning home with his future wife Vanessa, whom he met in America, to begin work at Derrinstown Stud, where he still works part time.

Describing his current routine, Kelly said, “I do the breeding season in Derrinstown and help out at home also when our own mares are foaling. Then from summer onwards I'm at home full time. The Galway Races [late July] is usually the marker we use to begin the yearling prep. We don't have many yearlings of our own, they would mostly be for clients. Between myself and my father we have around a dozen mares of our own and we aim to breed to sell at the Newmarket Foal sales. That would be our principal focus. We've been selling at Tattersalls for about 16 years now and we've had some great days there.”

Back in 2004 Peter Kelly made an inspired purchase at Tattersalls when paying 7,000gns for a then 4-year-old mare called Mythie (Fr) (Octagonal {NZ}) from Haras de Quesnay. Unfortunately the first foal from Mythie died, but since that initial piece of bad luck the mare has proved quite an asset for Ballybin. Her next foal, a colt by Verglas (Ire), made €64,000 and the following year in 2007 Kelly hit the jackpot with a filly foal from the last crop of Indian Ridge (GB).

“I was a student at the Irish National Stud at the time and John Clarke kindly arranged for me to do a foal share with Indian Ridge,” he explained. “We ended up getting 170,000gns for the resulting foal at Tattersalls so between the Verglas and her we were well ahead.”

A few years later Mythie proved she could produce racehorses as well as sales horses when her daughter Esentepe (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) won the G3 Nell Gwyn S. at Newmarket in 2012 for trainer Richard Hannon before selling for 525,000gns to Justin Casse when offered by John Troy in foal to Frankel (GB) at Tattersalls in 2014. This racecourse success provided some fresh impetus to the pedigree and resulted in some more profitable foal sales for Kelly. Two years ago he brought a Harbour Watch (Ire) filly to Newmarket and was rewarded with a bid of 240,000gns from Shadwell, while his 2015 offering, a colt by Iffraaj (GB), also provided a stellar return when selling to John Ferguson for 140,000gns. Kelly is equally hopeful of his Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly out of Mythie, lot 1023, which he offers on Friday.

“She's a really nice filly so hopefully she will do well. Whatever happens this week Mythie has been a mare of a lifetime for me already so anything further will be an absolute bonus,” he said.

The Ballybin draft isn't just about one horse, as Kelly added, “I have a Pivotal filly (lot 1024) out of a new mare that I bought last year off Cheveley Park Stud. She has a 2-year-old with Roger Varian that was placed on its only run so it looks promising and she also has a Pivotal yearling colt that is apparently nice, so there is a good bit going on in the family.”

Incidentally, the Pivotal yearling will be offered by Baroda & Colbinstown as lot 122 in the December Yearling Sale on Monday.

Kelly continued, “We have a really nice Cape Cross (Ire) colt selling on Friday evening (lot 1029). He belongs to a friend of the family, he's a star colt. We always consign a few for the Kent family's Knockenduff Stud as well and their foals are all by popular stallions–Kodiac, Dark Angel and Iffraaj–so you'd imagine they will be well received. My father then has a Tamayuz colt, lot 1028, who is a three-parts brother to G Force (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). It's a good speedy, happening family so between these we'd be very hopeful.”

“The previous day myself and dad have a War Command colt, lot 731, he's quite nice. I like the War Commands, they look like runners and this lad is the first foal out of a new mare we bought that won twice. She was rated in the high 80s and is a real good-looker and so far is throwing them nice, the pedigree just needs to fill out a bit but hopefully the mare will provide that in due course. ”

The above statement offers clues as to the Kelly modus operandi when it comes to adding mares to the Ballybin broodmare band. “I usually forsake some pedigree for looks when I'm buying mares,” he explained. “I also try to buy ones that have shown a decent level of racing ability, at least a rating of 80. Mean Lae would be an example. She was a real good- looking mare, I bought her at Goffs out of Jim Bolger's draft for €3,000 and she was a smart enough racemare, rated in the high 80s at one stage. However, you could definitely say she was the one that got away. I sold her to a pal of mine, Brian Duffy, but I don't begrudge him the success in the slightest as he puts a lot of effort into it and I've had my share of luck with other mares so that's the way it goes. Somewhere in the history books I'm down as breeding a Classic winner so I guess it's not all bad.”

Kelly's pragmatic approach to life should serve him well in the roller-coaster industry of breeding Thoroughbreds, and he said he feels fortunate to have a great team around him between family members and a long-standing team of staff at Ballybin.

“I count myself very lucky to have had Dad there growing up, I couldn't have asked for a better mentor,” Kelly said. “A lot of people around the sales would pay for his advice while I got it for free. He's a great judge and has taught me the fundamentals on conformation. It's so important in this game to get the basics right to give yourself the best chance possible of being successful.”

He continued, “Vanessa keeps me calm, I'm probably known as a bit of worrier, which is hardly a surprise in this game, so when I'm about to derail she gets me back on track. It's a big family effort, my sister Louise is a great help, she loves the sales, my cousin Ed McKenna is a brilliant asset and my mum keeps the show on the road when we're all at the sales. Everyone pitches in when it comes to walking the foals and things like that. I'm also conscious of maintaining a fun atmosphere. It's hard work so you need to enjoy it and when you have a happy team it makes a difference.”

Kelly's nerves will be tested on Friday evening when nine Ballybin lots in a row come under the hammer, but given the quality of the draft there should be very little cause for concern.

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