A BLESSING to the confectionery, florist and tourism trades, the historic origins of St Valentine’s Day are said to date back to either a third century Roman priest named Valentine, martyred on the 14th of February, or a pagan festival.

Chaucer’s 14th-century ‘seynt valentynes day’ romantic poetry and the tradition of sending flowers, gifts and Valentine’s Day cards (the second-greatest market after Christmas cards), have all been added through time to build up today’s multi-billion St Valentine’s Day industry.

And the horse world too has its own unusual, innovative and historic Valentine links.

1. Valentine’s Brook earned its name after the 1840 Grand National at Aintree when the leader attempted to refuse one of the obstacles: a 5’ high fence, followed by a 5’6” brook. Instead, he swivelled over the fence, reputedly landing hindlegs first and even went on to finish third with jockey John Power on board. The racehorse’s name? Valentine.

Most romantically named Grand National winner? The money is on Highland Wedding, the 1969 Grand National winner, trained by Toby Balding and ridden to victory by Eddie Harty Snr.

2. The late Valentine Lamb, was a passionate supporter of horse racing and familiar face at Irish race meetings. A former Irish Times financial journalist, he was appointed editor of The Irish Field in 1970 and retired in 2003. And if you’d like a day at the races this Valentine’s weekend, Naas (today) and Punchestown (tomorrow) are on the cards.

3. Another family outing suggestion is a visit to the Irish National Stud which reopens to visitors on...Valentine’s Day (Monday), just before the official start of the bloodstock breeding season.

4. Tomorrow (Sunday) is when America shuts down to watch if the Los Angeles Rams or Cincinnati Bengals are crowned this year’s Super Bowl champions. Over 90 million US television viewers are expected to watch the 2022 Super Bowl, hosted at SoFi Stadium, the site of former Hollywood Park Racetrack.

Amongst this year’s TV commercials is “A Clydesdale’s Journey.” Yes, the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales TV commercials are back during the commercial break (typical cost of a 30-second advert? $6.5 million). The theme this year from the Budweiser team is a ‘Down but not out’ message about American spirit during the pandemic.

5. The Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Oregon was determined to carry on serving Valentine’s Day dinners last year, offering a $50 meal for two with oysters, beef rib and sweet heart chocolate cake with raspberry champagne sauce on its takeaway menu.

6. Tryon, the host venue for the 2018 World Equestrian Games, has geared up with Valentine’s weekend specials. On-site accommodation choices include cottages, cabins and the Stable House Inn motel with comedy and jazz music shows on the entertainment menu.

7. Countless wedding proposals are made during a carriage ride through New York’s Central Park. Valentine’s Day means a welcome boost for business, according to Leitrim-born Conor McHugh, who operates out of Clinton Park Stables.

Strawberry Fields and Bow Bridge are just some of the sights along a 45-minute carriage ride ($125). “Traditionally, it’s one of the busiest days of the year and luckily, Valentine’s Day falls at a time when we’re not busy. The only thing is the weather which can be quite nasty in New York at this time of year,” he told The Irish Field this week.

The stables were closed for six months during the pandemic with carriage drivers furloughed and horses sent to upstate New York and Pennsylvania until business picked up again.

“Down through the years, I remember people lined up, waiting for carriages. One driver had four proposals, the lady said ‘Yes’ for three out of the four, the fourth said she’d have to think about it. He met the guy walking down the street a few months later and he said that it didn’t work out.”

It did for others. One couple, who got engaged during a Valentine’s Day carriage ride, returned for their wedding ceremony at the John Lennon ‘Imagine’ mosaic landmark. Where they arrived again by horse-drawn carriage.

8. Perhaps inspired by another Central Park feature – the carousel – Friends star Courtney Cox gave her then-husband David Arquette a $45,000 antique carousel horse as a Valentine’s Day gift in 2010.

9. Horses are often a feature of Indian weddings with the bride and groom arriving on horseback. A Valentine’s Day wedding ceremony two years ago in Bengaluru had a different twist as the bride and groom, Raja and Rani were… horses! The previous year, Vatal Nagaraj, who performed the ceremony, married two sheep: Jacob and Carolyn.

10. The horseshoe, a symbol of luck and fertility, was traditionally presented to the bride by the pageboy or flower girl.

11. Best Man, Leonard Cave’s well-known showjumper was by Love And Marriage. King of Diamonds and Love Tale are two more aptly-named stallions from Irish Sport Horse history to include in a Valentine’s Day feature.

12. Want to say it with flowers? Amongst a dizzying list of rose varieties are such equine gems as Desert Orchid, a reminder of the flying grey, beloved by horse racing fans and general public alike.

Riders author Jilly Cooper has a rose named after her and there’s Madrigal, a namesake of Jean Mitchell’s Blue Cliff multi-tasking mare. Not only did she compete at Badminton with Hugh Suffern, she turned her hoof to side-saddle, dressage and broodmare duties as well as flagbearer duty at the 1982 world show jumping championships at Dublin where she and Mitchell led the German team in the parade.

13. Strawberries, chocolate and cocktails are more Valentine’s Day elements and young Wexford entrepreneur Mark Kavanagh has cleverly combined all three in the latest product.

Starting off by selling strawberries on the roadside near his Enniscorthy home, he divided the profits between setting up Wexbury Spirits, a strawberry-infused vodka brand and investing in bloodstock. This other venture is with his grandfather Jim Mernagh, from Larchgrove Stud, a well-known consignor at the thoroughbred sales.

Now, Kavanagh has teamed up with artisan chocolatier Leigh Kelly to create a selection of her Zaeire-branded range of strawberry vodka and Achill sea salt chocolates.

14. ‘Guilty’ of buying heart-themed gadgets and gifts for your horses and pets? You are not alone. American households spent over $750 million on gifts for their pets on Valentine’s Day. For the 11th-hour romantic reading this on Sunday night, all is not lost.

A donation to an animal charity is sure to earn extra brownie points and the ISPCA, for example, have a choice of three e-cards in their online shop, featuring puppies, kittens and bunnies, available for instant delivery.

Happy Valentine’s weekend!