IN the past eight years, Paddy and Helena (Kennedy) Burns have enhanced the reputation of Loughtown Stud, in Donadea, Co Kildare, which was home in the past to such luminaries as Red God and Ragusa.

There are no stallions now, just a collection of well-bred mares, foals and yearlings, alongside an odd pony, and the stud’s drafts are always highly anticipated. Last year, the couple sold a pair of fillies in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale by Lope De Vega and Wootton Bassett, both going to the account of M.V. Magnier.