Coolmore Stud

Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary in Ireland, is headquarters of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. The operation is owned and run by the Magnier family, which has been associated with a long sequence of top-class stallions since the 1850s, originally in Co Cork, Ireland where stallions still stand as part of Coolmore today.

Coolmore was home to champion sire Sadler's Wells and currently to the phenomenal stallion Galileo.

Coolmore itself was originally a relatively small farm dedicated to general agriculture, but came into the Vigors family in 1945 when a training operation was established there. It was inherited by Tim Vigors, famous fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain and in the Far East. Having left the air force, he firstly joined Goffs bloodstock auctioneers before setting up his own bloodstock agency in 1951. He moved to Coolmore in 1968 and began transforming it into the well known stud farm it is today.

Vigors went into partnership with his friend Vincent O'Brien, a leading racehorse trainer, and Robert Sangster, the Vernons pools magnate. He later sold his interest to O'Brien and his son-in-law, John Magnier. Eventually, Magnier became sole owner, and built the farm into a multi-national, multibillion-euro operation.

The original farm is now known as Coolmore Ireland, and has three branches—Ashford Stud, which operates as Coolmore America, near Versailles, Kentucky and Coolmore National Hunt (or Castle Hyde Stud) in Ireland, which specialises in breeding for National Hunt racing. Coolmore has many "shuttle stallions" that cover mares in either Ireland or Kentucky in the northern breeding season and are transported to Argentina and Australia for the southern breeding season.

In May 2015, it was announced that Ashford Stud had purchased the breeding rights to American Pharoah from Ahmed Zayat in late 2014 for a reported $13.8 million.[1][2] American Pharoah went on to become the first racehorse in 37 years to win the American Triple Crown.

In Australia

Coolmore Stud is near Jerrys Plains in the Hunter Region of New South Wales is a 3,340 ha farm that has approximately 1,000 horses, including 600 mares that produce about 300 foals there during the spring. Thirteen international quality stallions stand here each spring.[3]

Stallions standing at Coolmore (2015)

Flat

National Hunt

References

  1. ↑ McGrath, Maggie. "Why American Pharoah, The First Triple Crown Winner In 37 Years, Is Worth $50 Million". Forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Rovell, Darren. "American Pharoah breeding rights sold to Ashford Stud". ESPN. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Farr, Bronwyn (8 September 2011). "Horses vital to Hunter". Land Newspaper.

External links

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