“PASSIONATE about horses”, that is how Anthony Doherty describes his late father Anthony, who was the owner and breeder of the ‘horse of the moment’, multiple National Grand Prix winner Crystal Tom.

“We aren’t a horsey family really. My dad was a butcher by trade here in Clonmany in Donegal, but his real interest lay in breeding sport horses. My abiding memory will be of him never being without the studbook in his hand, researching the best stallions to put his mare to,” Anthony Jnr told The Irish Field.

“It all began back in 1985, on a day I remember quite clearly. Myself, Dad, two of my brothers and my mum Anne all headed down to Mayo, to Walter Hughes’ farm, to see a mare by Ginger Dick called June Marie.

“Dad paid £800 for her, and she remains the only horse he has ever bought; all the many others are ones he has bred.

"She was three years old at the time and Dad set about straight away researching the best stallion to send her too.

“This was a real science for him, he would spend hours examining all of the different aspects. Temperament was always paramount in his choice. He was a firm believer that the dam played a huge role when breeding a sport horse and over the years he has been proven right again and again.

“He put June Marie to many different stallions over the years and the quality of her progeny has remained impressive.”

The late horse breeder Anthony Doherty Snr

Impressive family

About the mare who started it all for his family, Anthony commented: “June Marie was by Ginger Dick out of Steady Rose. She is a full-sister to the gelding Windgates General who competed at 1.40m for owner Edward Cawley, as well as the mare Rose Lynch who has, in turn herself, produced a number of talented horses.

“June Marie had a number of foals, most of which were colts, she only had five fillies. She was a prolific breeder producing a foal every year until she was 28 years old. Dad was very conscious of her welfare and she was as lively and healthy at 28 as she was as a three-years-old.

“Most of the foals ended up being sold abroad and because record keeping standards weren’t as good back then as they are now, we have unfortunately lost track of many of them.

“He kept just two fillies, one of them is Lady Graf, by Graf Magna, the dam of Crystal Tom. She is also the dam of Lincourt Gino, a gelding by Gino III, who competes at 1.65m internationally with Alejandro Karolyi for Venezuela.”

Now 17, Lincourt Gino’s top placings include a sixth place finish in the team competition at the 2019 Pan-Am Games, and top-10 team placings in the 2018 and 2019 Nations Cup in Wellington. He competed at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, and this year recorded a 1.50m win in Lexington, Kentucky.

Another of Lady Graf’s progeny is Cassan, by Silvano, who competes at 1.35m level under Robert Smith.

June Marie is also the dam of Peter Smyth’s former 1.40m mount Marie Douglas, and also the mare Crystal Marie who, in turn, is the dam of many decent jumpers.

For sale

“Dad’s relationship with Richard Smyth, Jonathan’s father, goes back a long way. When Dad retired he wanted to dedicate more time to his first love, horses, so he sent a then three-year-old Crystal Tom to Richard to produce for competitions,” Anthony explained.

“Dad fully trusted Richard to make the right decisions with regard to the education of the horse and understood that some horses may take more time than others.

“The entire crew at Mulvin Stables have always been fantastic with our horses and Dad had great admiration for Richard and Jonathan’s skills. The real shame is that Dad didn’t live to see the fantastic results that Crystal Tom is achieving at the moment. We went out to Vilamoura recently while he was competing and that was a great experience, I know Dad would have loved it.

“Crystal Tom is looking like he still has plenty of untapped potential, and while we love seeing him compete, we are not in a position to continue ownership as he moves on to international competition, and therefore he is for sale,” Anthony explained.

“This was my dad’s passion, and although we are happy to keep it going by producing youngsters for the national circuit we can’t commit to the time and expense of owning an international horse.

“We also have Crystal Graf with Jonathan, he is a seven-year-old gelding by Lux Z out of Lady Graf, and is one of her last foals. She died six years ago. He is doing really well and most recently has earned a number of placings in the seven-year-old stud book classes.

“June Diamond, by Glidawn Diamond out of June Marie, has taken over as our main broodmare. Her most successful foal to date is Millioninmind by Ard VDL Douglas.

“Ridden by Britain’s Emily Ward and Joseph Clayton, they have both recorded wins and placings up to 1.60m in Samorin, Vilamoura, Stockholm, Wellington, Chepstow, Keysoe and Oswestry.

“She also has a four-year-old by Mermus R waiting to go to Richard when he’s ready for him, and a three-year-old, two-year-old and yearling by other stallions to follow.

“Myself and mum are doing our best to ensure Dad’s legacy continues.”