Brian Hennessy

CANADIAN woman Lee Kruger of Caledonia Stables, owner of Greg Broderick’s stable star MHS Going Global, spoke exclusively to The Irish Field about why she keeps her horse with a young man thousands of miles away in a small village in Co Tipperary.

“We had dealt with Greg for quite a while and we had a great deal of faith in him already before he introduced us to Going Global when the horse was a five-year-old,” she recalls. “I actually don’t know to this day what it was about this horse that made me buy him. When I see a horse I either like it or I don’t like it, there is no middle ground. I liked Going Global the minute I saw him and my husband, who is not into horses that much, really liked the horse too and that was probably the biggest determining factor.”

She continued: “Along with Going Global, I have had many Irish-bred horses over the last 15 years. I also own Alberta Mist, who won the five-year-olds in Dublin last year, and some young horses and broodmares. We bought the mare Maja that Greg won his first Grand Prix on.

“I always wanted to breed from her. She is back now breeding in Ballypatrick and she had a beautiful Presley Boy colt foal born in the last few weeks.”

When asked about the difference between the sport horse industry in Canada and in Ireland, she said: “There are much more shows to go to here in Ireland, young horses have much better routes to develop and Ireland has a multitude of riders, but I am pretty sure I picked the best one in Greg. I don’t think there is a rider anywhere in the world right now better than him.

“We don’t have the facilities in Canada to match what you have in Ireland. I have a large farm at home but I have never seen the mares and foals out in lovely conditions. Here you have lots of babies growing up together in the field, not just one or two which is good for their development. The professionalism in breeding here is so high and you have much better access to top stallions, we are quite limited in Canada.”

Asked how she feels, as a Canadian, about her top horse competing for Ireland, Kruger said: “I don’t look upon it as a matter of national pride for me, I get on with a lot of people in Ireland very well and my horse would not compete with anyone else except Greg. Ireland is a nation of horse people - when I am travelling around the country and I talk to someone, even if it is just in the local shop, they almost all have some knowledge of horses, it’s in the blood I guess.”

SPECULATION

MHS Going Global’s recent performance has inevitably promoted speculation about his possible sale but his owner is firm in her response: “I have told Greg that the horse is simply not for sale, not only that, but I have told Greg I don’t even want to hear about it if someone asks to buy him, I’m just not interested.”

With Broderick named in the Aga Khan squad and in the frame for the Aachen European Championships, Kruger added: “I would love to see the Aga Khan team happen for Greg because it is his dream. The Olympics is always a dream but that is out of our hands. It would be wonderful to go to the Europeans, he is a young horse so after that would probably be the end of the year for him.

“I have told Greg if he gets a place at Dublin, the Europeans and maybe in the future the Olympic Games, the horse is there for him, but that is way down the road.”