I WONDER how long it would take to turn an €8,500 bank deposit into €75,000. You would not live long enough to see it happen.

Well, Eoin Banville, Ken Bolger and Peter Parkhill invested well when they spent €8,500 at Goffs in November 2019 on the first foal out of the dual winner Bittern (New Approach). This was a Tinnakill House-bred daughter of Farhh (Pivotal). While Plan A was obviously to turn a quick profit, the trio retained her for £20,000 as a yearling, and that proved to be a wise move.

Put in training with Noel Meade, the filly was obviously highly regarded. After running sixth on her debut at Gowran Park, she was fourth in a listed race on Irish Champions Weekend, and she made her third start a winning one, landing a big pot in the Irish EBF Auction Series Race Final at Naas. It was a sweet win for Tinnakill House’s Dermot Cantillon as he is chairman of Naas racecourse.

The win will also prove to be a boost to the sale prospects of Lady Of Inishfree’s Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) half-sister who has been catalogued for the Goffs November Foal Sale. Bittern also has a yearling colt by Tamayuz (Nayef). Meade predicts that Lady Of Inishfree will graduate to stakes class.

Ten graduates of the Irish EBF Auction Series have won at group level, four of those at Group 1 class. Three of the winners were successful in 2021, Noel Meade’s Helvic Dream, the Ken Condon-trained Laws Of Indices and Ado McGuinness’ A Case Of You. These three were acquired as yearlings for €12,000, €8,000 and €3,000 respectively, highlighting the value that is available at public auction.

Very useful

“Lady Of Inishfree is belonging to three guys I’ve been mixed up with a long while. The idea has been to bring the horses on, make them worth more money and sell them,” said. Meade. “We’ve had the final in our heads for quite some time with her. I’ve always felt she was very useful. I think she is a stakes filly in the making, and I thought if everything went right for her she would be hard to beat.”

Banville (Arctic Tack Stud), Bolger (Redmondstown Stud/Spring Field Farm) and Parkhill (Castletown Quarry Stud) are immersed in the racing and bloodstock industry.

“She has more than paid for herself,” said Bolger. “We bought her as a foal for €8,500. Peter did the main selecting. When we returned her as a yearling, we liked her a little bit more than everybody else, so we actually bought her back in – which looks now a great idea seeing as we grabbed the 70 grand.”