THERE was plenty of excitement in Co Carlow last week when The Organist sold to Frank Berry for £260,000. The five-year-old mare won a listed race at Doncaster back in March and was unlucky when falling in a similar event at Cheltenham a month later. She is another black type winner for her sire Alkaadhem who stands alongside Snow Sky at Ballycurragh Stud in Rathoe.

Run by Willie and Jim Murphy, Ballycurragh is celebrating 50 years in business and has a proud record of standing stallions and breeding high-class winners. Alkaadhem retired to stud in 2007 and his oldest runners are eight-year-olds. He went to stud with a smart race record and a stallion’s pedigree