A LOVELY day was enjoyed by all the lucky guests invited to the wedding of stallion master Micheál Orlandi of Starfield Stud and Compas Stallions and Síle Hayes, UK market manager of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing.

Taking place two weeks ago, the ceremony was held at Rockwell College and the reception at the newly refurbished Cashel Palace Hotel.

Síle tells their story: “We have been together for about seven years. We met in Newmarket when Micheál was setting up his agency there. There has been a lot of hard work in between establishing the stud and managing all aspects of the business.

Wonderful

“We had a wonderful day with family and friends in the Cashel Palace. Everyone had a great time and I couldn’t speak highly enough of the staff and they way they looked after everything to make it a perfect day.”

No chance of a getaway honeymoon with all the yearlings about, but there is a family wedding in Perth in March so that should be the ideal time to jet off.

Congratulations to both!

Sharpen your pencils

THE second year of the Longines Young Designer Award takes place at Longines Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown on September 10th and the Curragh on September 11th.

Courtney Smith is photographed wearing a design from last year’s winner Lia Cowan.

This year’s design entries will be shortlisted by a panel of judges headed up by Courtney Smith with three designers asked to create their design to showcase at Longines Irish Champions Weekend.

Prize package

The overall winner will receive a €10,000 prize package, a Longines Time piece, a profiling piece, and a €1,000 cash prize.

To enter please submit your sketches to youngdesigner@irishchampionsweekend.ie by 12pm on Tuesday, August 16th.