IT is possible to make money breeding horses, you have to be ruthless,” said Lanaken gold-medal-winning breeder Ronan Byrne, who’s ruthlessness in his own breeding programme has seen a number of horses rise to the top end of the sport.

Walking into the main arena at the WBFSH World Breeding Championships in Lanaken last September as the breeder of Rockwell RC, the five-year-old world champion under Jason Foley, was a dream come true for the Kilkenny resident.