HORSES have been a big part of my life; all my life. A way of life you could say. My father John, rode in point-to-points when he was younger. By the time I came along, he was retired from riding but worked first for Gerard Hogan and later John Power in Bruff. He was a natural horseman, who just had a wonderful way of dealing with them. I like to think that I have managed to instill some of what he taught me into my own two daughters, both of whom are also working within the industry.

My father would have taken myself and my two older brothers point-to-point racing. While both of them went on to follow in this footsteps, by riding in points, I was always more interested in the breeding side of it. I didn’t have any summer or weekend jobs working in racing while I was in school. It was only after I left, that I went to Mellon Stud where my older brother John was employed.

I was only supposed to go down there for a few months but ended up staying 10 years! In those years, in the early eighties, Mellon Stud was one of the largest yearling consignors in the country. I learned an awful lot from John and stud owner Bobby Barry about how to prepare foals and yearlings for sales.

In 1994, after a decade at Mellon Stud, I came here to Croom House. From the beginning, I more or less did the same thing that I do now; prepping the yearlings. Over the years, I did a lot with mares and foals but the yearlings have always been the main job. There are two farms here in Croom; the main farm run by Joe Hartigan and a second which is three miles away, run by myself.

Sales prep

The mares and foals come over to me in July and the yearlings go back to the main farm at the same time, where we all work together to prepare them for the sales. The whole aim from that point on is to get enough feed and work into the young horses to have them at their peak and looking the best they can for the sales. When I started at Croom House, Denis (Brosnan) didn’t have a lot of mares but every year since then he has strived to improve the farm and broodmare band. Many group winners and blacktype horses have been bred here over the years.

Two fillies that stand out to me are Damson and Maybe. Amongst the colts, the pair that I remember most fondly are Zoffany and Mehmas. Zoffany was always an outstanding-looking horse physically. You had to be very hopeful that he would go on to make a racehorse, although that doesn’t always prove to be the case.

Fortunately, he proved us right. Mehmas, on the other hand, was just quietly there in the background. He never stood out but always did everything right. He is now one of the leading sires in the game. It’s nice to be able to say I played a small part in his early life from a foal to yearling.

Topping the sale

Last year was a great one for Croom House Stud. We topped the yearling sale at Goffs with a Frankel colt that was sold for €2 million. It will be exciting to follow his progress and hopefully he will develop into a future star.

I also enjoy buying an odd foal myself, which I then sell on as a yearling. A number of years ago, I bought an Orpen filly who went on to win a listed race, before finishing fourth in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. Named Clare Hills, she went on to become the granddam of Quiet Reflection. That horse was a dual Group 1 winner before going on to breed Lake Victoria.

Thanks to Denis and Joan (Brosnan), myself and my wife Sheila have raised our two daughters, Eilish and Mairead, here on the farm. It has been great to see the next generation grow up around horses and take an interest in my work, just as I had done with my father. Both our girls went on to do the Irish National Stud course and have been lucky enough to work in places such as Australia, New Zealand and America. Croom House is a wonderful place to work.

The staff are a tight-knit bunch and we get on well together. Apart from owners Denis and Joan, the farm manager Joe has always been a great support. It was Joe who nominated me for the recent Godolphin Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. I was delighted to be named one of the winners. Godolphin and the Irish Stable Staff Association deserve credit for their support of such a great initiative.

Peter was in conversation with John O’Riordan.