Conor O’Brien: November NH Sale Q&A

1. How long are you breeding National Hunt foals?

My parents Donie and Pat would have always bred National Hunt foals. They would have had a couple of broodmares and usually sold on the offspring as stores. Dad would have also bought foals and brought them back as stores. We would also have had point-to-pointers, and my uncle Brendan O’Brien raced horses under the Desertmore prefix. I have fond memories of going to the November National Hunt Sale as a young lad. I remember the kick we would get out of getting a good price for a foal or a store. It is similar to having a winner on the track or in a point-to-point.

2. What inspired you to get into the game?

Myself and my wife Bríd now breed horses and we have three kids. It is a great upbringing for the kids. We have the family farm here. We don’t milk cows anymore, it is nice that we have a broodmare that is going to have foals. It’s great for the kids to grow up in that environment, and to see and feel a part of the whole journey. When you taste success there’s a great sense of satisfaction and enjoyment. The kids are showing an interest, although they are not too keen on mucking out stables ! They have a couple of ponies and are members of Limerick Pony Club.

3. You are selling Lot 422 in next month’s November NH Sale. Tell us about her?

She’s a smashing filly and we are delighted with her. She has plenty of size, with a lovely temperament and a nice loose walk. There will be plenty of people at the November National Hunt Sale, and they will be a far better judge of a foal than me. I’ll let the market decide what she is worth and how good she is. Her pedigree speaks for itself. Her dam Churchfield Sunset is a half-sister to the four-time Grade 1 winner Ballyburn and the Paddy Power Chase winner Noble Endeavour. We bought her dam as a foal and she would definitely remind you of her mother. She has that kind nature that was a real trait of her mother. The kids have been involved in taking her in and out for her walks, and she’s been so easy to handle. I had been chasing this pedigree for quite a long time. There was no Ballyburn in the family when I was initially trying to get into it. Old Moon had bred six winners from seven runners, and her dam had a high winners to runners strike rate too. Old Moon is by Old Vic out of a Strong Gale mare. I actually tried to buy Churchfield Sunset’s half-sister at the 2019 November National Hunt Sale, and that day I came home disappointed.

4. Your foal is being consigned under Sarah Rohan’s Ballytrasna Farm. How does that arrangement work? 

We would have done a lot of the ground work ourselves, and only last weekend I dropped the foal to Sarah. From my perspective it is far better to hand that over to someone with that level of expertise. She knows how to prepare and present them at the sales, and she will know what the buyers are looking for. She’ll spend three weeks at Sarah’s, and they will improve her walk and how she looks. Sarah has had a good year with her stores, and she comes from a great family. Her father Richard would have bought horses from my father, and when we saw that Sarah was going out on her own, we thought it would be nice to support her. Richard had me well informed on what needed to be done before I handed her over to Sarah.

5. She is one of 10 foals in the sale by Blue Bresil. What was your thought process in choosing him to cover her?

The Blue Bresil cover gives us an out cross to Churchfield Sunset. If I was looking at this foal to buy here, it gives a great range of possibilities for this foal later in life. You can breed her to most of the National Hunt sires in Ireland now that she’s been crossed out. While I hope she goes on and makes it on the racecourse, from a buyers perspective, I think that the Blue Bresil out cross will stand to her.

6. Her dam Churchfield Sunset is a dual bumper winner. Did you ever consider going hurdling with her given the achievements of her siblings?

Yes it was discussed over the kitchen table. She won her two bumpers and she got black type early. She had significant value at that stage, and we wanted a foundation broodmare. We now had that, and I felt going over hurdles was risky and we would never forgive ourselves if something went wrong. Her pedigree is so strong  and we didn’t think that another listed or Grade 3 win was going to make that much difference. So we decided to put her in foal. She was a five-year-old when she was covered. You would think it all happened quickly, but I have her since 2020. It has been a long road. Everything has gone right so far, and we have been lucky. We got her black type, and she got in foal first time. It has taken six years, and by no means a quick turnaround.

7. Did you cover her again this year?

She is scanned in foal to Maxios. He has been doing great things over the last few years. He has worked well with Sadler’s Wells-line mares, producing horses such as Cousin Kate, Aramax, Chasing Fire and Dee Capo. Given Churchfield Sunset’s pedigree, I felt he was an interesting option for her.

8. The exploits of Ballyburn through the 2023/24 season must have given you some fun? 

It was a fairly exciting time and there was a few phone calls going around! There was huge around Ballyburn after he won the three successive Grade 1s. The biggest kick for us though was heading to Cork Racecourse to see her winning on her racecourse debut. That was a brilliant day for the whole family.

9. What advice would you give to someone like you six years ago buying a National Hunt foal?

To take a look at Lot 422 !