TEAGASC chairman Dr Noel Cawley has had a busy few weeks keeping tabs on progeny from his Kildare-based sport horse breeding enterprise.

Last month Glimmering won the seven-year-old Irish Sport Horse Studbook Showjumping Series at The Meadows under Darragh Ryan of Ballypatrick Stables, while last weekend her half-brother Ballypatrick Flamenco won the Irish Breeders Classic in Barnadown.

Both animals are out of the Cruising mare Cruise Leaf, whose family includes several Grand Prix winners. Cruise Leaf is a full sister to Golden Exchange, Cruise On Clover and Atomic Mouse.

Glimmering, who is still owned by Cawley, is by Loughehoe Guy and was an Irish Breeders Classic (IBC) top 10 finalist as a five-year-old and finished second in the IBC Consolation class as a six-year-old.

Ballypatrick Flamenco, by Je T’Aime Flamenco, is now owned by Greg Broderick, who has put his faith in stable jockey Ryan to jump him (as well as Boleybawn Actor and ESI Star Struck) in the world championships at Lanaken.

Cawley was joined at Barnadown last weekend by his daughter, and fellow breeder, Lisa and her husband Joe Hynes, who recently celebrated the arrival of new baby David. Irish weather being as unpredictable as it is, the couple entrusted David to the care of his doting grandmother while they made the trip to Barnadown.

Also featuring on the Irish Breeders Classic start list were the Cawley-bred and owned Flexability (Flexible x Diamond Lad) and Jack Diamond (Jack of Diamonds x Cruising), who was bred by the Cawleys and now owned by McLoughlin Brothers.

Back at home, Ballypatrick Flamenco’s dam Cruise Leaf has several younger progeny who have yet to make their mark in the competition sphere, including a four-year-old by Chacco Blue, a two-year-old by Plot Blue and a foal at foot by For Pleasure. The mare is currently in foal to Casall.

Cruise Leaf is one of eight mares Cawley has bred from this year and Golden Exchange, Cruise Leaf’s full-sister, has two embryo transfer foals on the ground in the past month, one by Emerald and the other by I’m Special De Muze.

The title of elder stateswoman of the herd, however, must go to Irco Rain, the dam of Touchable, Mullaghdrin Gold Rain, and Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars. Aged 23, she has a 14-day-old embryo transfer foal on the ground by Tyson.

The Kildare farm also has an elder statesman in the shape of the recently retired Cruise On Clover, the mount of Swiss-based Irish show jumper Thomas Ryan.

The gelding by Cruising out of Ballinakill Clover (by Clover Hill), was retired after winning his last class, a 1.35m in Knokke CSI***, Belgium in July.

Although the gelding took some time adjust to his new surroundings in the Cawley herd, he is now settled into retirement on the plains of Kildare.