I HAVE knocked Irish Thoroughbred Marketing in the past for not doing enough to support jump racing but ITM deserves a pat on the back for organising the Irish Stallion Trail last week. I suspect the new boss Charlie O’Neill is a closet National Hunt man as I have noticed a bit more ITM activity on the jumps scene in recent months. The fact that Charlie was at Willie Codd’s open day was noticed and appreciated.

The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association have been doing their bit too for jump racing and for mares in particular. However, I still feel we are well behind our British counterparts on this one. The UK racing programme for mares have evolved to the point where it makes financial sense to buy a filly relatively cheaply in Ireland and put her in training in Britain where there are races to be won.

A large proportion of my clients at Ballincurrig House are doing exactly that. But we have a real opportunity to turn this around. The euro is so weak against sterling right now that buying Irish horses – and having them trained here – has never been better value for the British investor. If only we had a more comprehensive racing programme for these National Hunt fillies we would have it sewn up.

One final gripe – our foal registration fees are still out of kilter with Britain and with reality. I am embarrassed trying to explain to British-based clients why the fee here is so high – these owners see no benefit to them in contributing towards the Irish Equine Centre or ITM when they are bringing these fillies back to the UK. Surely the system can be tweaked to reflect this.