THURDSAY, JANUARY 15TH

Last Thursday Sophie Candy and I travel to London for a site meeting at The Orangery at Kensington Palace where the London Sale is scheduled to take place on the eve of Royal Ascot. The objective is to build on the exceptional results in 2014, where the sale had Europe’s top auction price for a horse-in-training, as well as the highest median price for breeze-up horses. There are a lot of protocols to sort out with the Palace and several more meetings will be held before June.

That evening I take a train to Hertfordshire for the funeral of my uncle Christopher Sporborg, who was a successful businessman, an enthusiastic Master of Foxhounds (Puckeridge) for 25 years and also a keen owner-trainer of point-to-pointers. He had over 160 winners to his name and many of them were sourced from the late Tom Costello. I rather suspect that Tom will be waiting at the Pearly Gates to show him one that cannot fail to win the celestial Foxhunter.

The eulogy is given by Christopher’s eldest son, my cousin William Sporborg, who broke his back riding one of those point-to-pointers and has now been in a wheelchair for over 20 years. William is a familiar enough sight at bloodstock sales as he runs Breeding Capital, an investment company that has made some significant bloodstock purchases since 2006.

THURDSAY, JANUARY 22ND

Last Thursday was Goffs Thyestes Day at Gowran Park. Goffs used to sponsor this race back in the 1980s and for many racegoers, particularly in the Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford areas, it is an annual outing. It is one of those peculiarly Irish racedays which is not really given the respect it deserves by the British racing media, (with the exception of At The Races,) who seem to focus more on the gloomy weather prospects in Britain and do not really treat Gowran Park’s showcase day much differently to the underwhelming cards at Chelmsford, Warwick etc.

I give my neighbour Eddie O’Leary a lift down and during the two-hour journey we discuss a range of issues from the teachers’ strike to the funding of ISIS. Alice says that we are pretty similar as the strength of our opinion does not always reflect our knowledge of the subject but I am kept highly amused the whole way.

Eddie does an incredible job managing the Gigginstown House team and they have two winners, both in races won in memory of people known to Eddie. Dedigout wins the John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle in a pulsating finish and Stone Hard wins the P.J. Foley Memorial INH Flat Race; this gives Eddie particular pleasure as we have both been lunch guests of his son Joe Foley.

Joe does not actually make it to Gowran Park until after we had finished lunch as he has been in England and is delayed on his flight home. When he arrives with Steve Parkin, owner of classic prospect Agnes Stewart, Eddie does not miss the opportunity to tell them that they should have flown on Ryanair if they wanted to be on time.

In Joe’s absence we were looked after by his wife Jane who, in addition to having over 40 horses in training, pre-training, or being prepared for breeze-ups, is also mother to three small girls.

Regrettably the visibility on the day is appalling and it is definitely best to watch the races on the television. However, I try to watch the beginners’ chase with Henry de Bromhead’s wife Heather beside the last fence and we cannot see either the second last nor the winning post but happily their runner Smashing emerges from the gloom well ahead and goes on to win easily.

The Goffs sponsorship team is ready to launch the inspections for the Land Rover Sale and most of the Goffs team are there. While most people are complaining of cold feet, Ronan Griffin is feeling his ankle, which apparently he injured several years ago when attempting a Frankie Dettori-style dismount at David Myerscough’s wedding. Quite what he was dismounting went unexplained but I suspect that it will recover well enough overnight for his Friday outing with the Ward Union.

Another member of the Goffs National Hunt team that I meet is Co Limerick-based Ros Easom. At our recent office party she and I were discussing country music when Gerry Hogan leant across the table and announced: “Would you believe, I once rode Sandy Kelly in Roscommon, and I rode Linda Martin as well.’’ This leaves the younger spotters at the table with their mouths hanging open until Gerry explains that he is referring to a pair of mares trained some years ago by Tony Keane.

WHITE LAND ROVER

On view beside the Gowran Park parade ring is the stunning new Land Rover Discovery Sport. The vehicle on show is white, which may appeal in Japan or the Middle East but I doubt will prove the most popular colour in Westmeath. A photo launch of the vehicle is planned for the next day at Goffs.

Land Rover has two well-known brand ambassadors, Jamie Heaslip and Amy Huberman (and I am reliably informed that The Irish Field’s Brendan McArdle is pushing hard to be given a similar role). In expectation of these much admired ambassadors (Heaslip and Huberman rather than McArdle) I suspect that all the staff in Goffs will be looking their best tomorrow and they may be slightly disappointed to discover that the launch is being done by Eddie Kavanagh, general manager of Land Rover Ireland. Eddie may be even more disappointed to discover that I am standing in for Henry Beeby who will be in Britain, though it will certainly make him look taller in the pictures.

The Thyestes itself is won by Willie Mullins for a sixth time but amazingly it is Ruby Walsh’s first victory in the race and it is great to see this exceptional rider be included on the race’s roll of honour. After racing I saw Ruby pose for a photograph with a racegoer whose delight afterwards would have outpointed that of the many punters who backed Djakadam.

JANUARY

Last week Sean Flannery in Goffs told me that a mare belonging to his father Gerry had produced the first foal by Red Jazz. January invariably throws up the first foals of the first crop stallions. As sure as night follows day, the announcement of their arrival always is accompanied by a glowing report of their quality, athleticism and temperament that even Nostradamus would have found hard to produce. Part of me longs for the day that a stallion master expresses dismay at what has arrived but I fear that the lure of the cliché is hard to avoid.

Certain expressions creep into the vernacular, many of them unprintable. For example it is only in relatively recent years that vendors describe a good-looking filly as “a queen” and equally new is the expression a “Saturday horse” in reference to something that might race at a slightly higher level than the norm.

As auctioneers we are doubtless guilty of using plenty but when speaking to vendors about reserves before a sale the words we hear most are: “Well I want to sell him but I don’t want to give him away.”

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24TH

This evening sees one of the big industry nights with the ITBA Awards in the Heritage Resort in Co Laois. It is a reminder of the importance of the industry as a source of employment and as an inspiration for significant overseas investment by some of the world’s most successful and discerning business people.

LANDSCAPE SCARRED

It is critical that our industry continues to oppose the construction of wind turbines and pylons. The proposal to scar our landscape is being driven by investors looking to profit from the subsidies and incentives that exist rather than ecological motivation. This is similar to the irresponsible speculation that has left parts of Ireland with hotels, shop units, housing estates and commercial buildings that are neither needed nor completed and now blight the country forever.

Nobody knows to what extent these huge turbines will affect the health of horses and humans but their construction will bring many problems, reduce property values and deter investors, who will turn their back on an industry in which Ireland excels. As the Manic Street Preachers sung in their 1998 number one single: “If you tolerate this your children will be next.”