LAST July breeder David Moran took his family to the Dublin Horse Show for a day out, the same as he does every year. 2016 wasn’t an ordinary year however, as the Limerick man sat in the stand and watched a familiar looking horse enter the Main Arena.

Moran wasn’t aware that his home-bred Limestone Grey was competing at Dublin, but under Italian superstar Lorenzo de Luca, the Try Time gelding won the class, as well as two others, in front of his eyes.

“We were all above in Dublin and we had done the usual rounds with the girls and we said we would watch a bit of jumping. We walked into the Main Arena, I didn’t even know the horse was there, and next thing he came into the jump-off and won the class! It was unbelievable,” Moran told The Irish Field.

Every breeder dreams of breeding a good horse, but not everyone hits the jackpot. “It’s like winning the lottery, something you would always hope for or dream off, but you’d never think it would happen. I feel very lucky to have bred Limestone Grey, there are so many variables for a horse to get to that level.”

Indeed there are many variables, but none can argue the most important ‘variable’ lies with the dam line. Most of the top ranked show jumpers these days can be traced back many generations, but unfortunately Millpark’s Courageous Lady’s breeding is not recorded. She is however believed to be by Diamond Lad.

Moran brought her back from Scotland when her jumping career ended and before that she was sold through the Cavan sales and passed through dealing yards in England where she jumped a bit before losing an eye due to melanoma.

“The mare was getting on a bit and they wanted someone to retire her and fortunately she ended up with me!”

Her first foal, DS Alice, was by the thoroughbred stallion Ajraas (Northern Dancer), and is now eventing up to three-star level in England with Alex Postolowsky. Her second foal was Limestone Grey, the crown jewel.

Moran had previously used the KWPN stallion Try Time and thought he would suit the mare, so he drove to Cahir (Lissava Stud) and took his chances. Limestone grey was born on St Patrick’s Day in 2006 and he stayed in Deelside Stud until he was sold as a three-year-old to Jim Roberts.

“Jim Roberts bought him and they took their time with him – none of the Try Times were simple – they took their time and played around with him and minded him and did everything right. If he had been in a more experienced yard at the time people would have gotten fed up of him. He went to Peter Leonard for a while and then to Francis (Connors).”

LUCKY

Limestone Grey went to the World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken as a seven-year-old with Connors and it was there that Stephan Conter of the world renowned Stephex Group clapped his eye on the grey gelding.

“He was very lucky, the breeding was only part of it, the cards fell right for the horse,” Moran explained.

He was certainly lucky to end up under the direction of de Luca. The 30-year-old has shot to fame in the last 12 months and is now ranked number four in the world. Together the combination won every class they entered at last year’s show, and went on to win at five-star 1.60m level all over the world.

Those successes, which included wins in Spruce Meadows, Calagary, St Moritz and Paris, to name just a few, led to Limestone Grey being the highest placed Irish horse in the WBFSH rankings, and Moran received an award at the 2016 Horse Sport Ireland Breeders Awards.

“Again the rankings weren’t something that I followed, I wasn’t aware of the award and next thing they rang me and told me that he was the leading show jumping horse, so that was another super day, happy days again.”

Millpark’s Courageous Lady went on to breed two more foals, a colt and a filly by the Irish Draught stallion Derg Cruise (Cruising), who Moran stood himself. The filly, Candy Cruise, turned out to be 14.2hh and is currently jumping 1.10m in England.

Unfortunately, Moran doesn’t have anything left of the line in Deelside Stud but considers himself lucky to have gotten what he did.

At his small yard in Askeaton, Co Limerick, he stands just one stallion, Derg Showtime (All The Diamonds x Clover Hill). A keen rider himself, Moran competes the 11-year-old Grade A jumping stallion at 1.35m regional Grand Prix level.

“He gets 10 or 15 mares a year but if he was a foreign horse doing what he is doing he would probably get loads of mares. People are crying out for Irish horses but they don’t want to breed to them then, it’s a real problem. I think he will have his day yet though.”

The chairman and field master of the Stonehall Harriers also has some interesting dam lines currently his stud. One mare goes back to the line of Ballaseyr Twilight, winner of the Dublin Grand Prix in 2000 under Ireland’s Cameron Hanley. The Sir Shutterfly mare, whose grandam Candy Coin is a full-sister to Ballaseyr Twilight, had a filly foal by Derg Showtime and is scanned in foal to him again this year.

He is also breeding from a daughter of Touchdown, who has a filly foal by Wido W at foot, and is in foal to Maximum Joe.

While he strives to breed the next superstar, he will continue to enjoy the success of Limestone Grey, and although he sadly won’t witness the gelding at the RDS this year, he will keep following his hoof prints around the world.