Frank Motherway: Yellowford & Drumlin

How long have you been consigning at the November National Hunt Sale?

I was consigning in Ballsbridge in the 1970s before Tattersalls took over the sale. I haven’t missed a year since the sale moved out to Fairyhouse. The catalogues were much smaller back then, and the sale would be complete in one day.

Your family are heavily involved. Tell us a bit about them?

I have four kids – Deirdre, Marie, Colin and Paul and they are all involved in some way. Deirdre and her husband Conor Cashman have Drumlin Stud, based just outside Killeagh. Marie is in Galway, and while she isn’t hands on, she is involved in the ownership of some of our stock. Colin rode successfully as an amateur rider, and is involved in point-to-pointing and pre-training, while Paul and Michelle are at home on Yellowford Farm where we are farming and have the mares.

My grandchildren have a huge interest in bloodstock, and they are hunting, riding ponies, and they prefer sales catalogues to school books! My nine-year-old granddaughter has told me that she’s not going to school next week – we’ll have to do some Maths lessons in the barns !

I often have to refer to them to update me on pedigrees, and it gives me great satisfaction that they are so interested. I have no fear that we have capable hands to carry on the show in years to come. We have built a strong band of broodmares, and what we have now is all for the next generation.

You’ve bought some good mares over the years. What do you consider to be your best buy?

Scandisk the dam of Hurricane Fly was our best buy. I bought her in the November National Hunt Sale mares section in November 2009. ‘The Fly’ had won two Grade 1s as a novice, and was about to start his second season. Some people were making out that it was a stroke of genius to buy her, but prior to buying her we underbid three mares earlier in the sale. If we bought any of them we probably would not have purchased her. She had a stout Italian pedigree, but Hurricane Fly’s potential at the time put her on our radar more than anything.

We bought her before he hit the headlines and he took us on a great journey. It was an amazing few years, and we tried to go and see as many of his runs as possible. She had six foals subsequently, and we have three fillies out of her by Yeats on the farm. We had Avichi in training and she was placed in three bumpers. Ballybow is the first of that next generation to get black type. I’m looking forward to the coming years with this family.

Other mares we have at Yellowford Farm include Lackaneen Leader who was a Grade 3 winning novice hurdler for Gordon Elliott. I bought the graded performer Rapid Response in 2022, and we will offer her second foal next week. I bought a mare called Fairy Native as a foal in November 1998, and she produced the five-time Grade 1 winner Bellshill, who I sold as a foal in November 2010. We have three daughters of Fairy Native on the farm.

What are the key attributes when you are buying a mare?

I like to buy a strong pedigree with a good top and bottom line. I would be very hesitant to buy a mare whose page includes a modest stallion on either side of the pedigree, on the first or second line. I like to see former leading National Hunt sires Strong Gale or Deep Run in there as it adds strength to the pedigree. I like to buy a mare with a good walk, that has some depth to her, an open ribbed mare that can have a sizable foal. Personally, buying filly foals with good pedigrees has been the route we have taken to build a strong broodmare band here at Yellowford. I buy the fillies as foals, and cover them at two or three depending on what time of the year they were born. It means when those mares hit seven years of age, they have four-year-olds out there racing. They are young mares and their stock are working for them. It might not work for everyone, but for me it has worked well.

I bought a daughter of the Grade 2 Lismullen Hurdle winner Rose Of Inchiquin as a foal for €55,000 in November 2013. I sold Itsalark at the Derby Sale in 2009, and ended up purchasing her privately after her racing career ended – she is the dam of eight-time winner Party Central. I also bought a half-sister to the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Back In Front, and I have an unraced half-sister to the Grade 2 winner Jetara. They are just examples that if the family is solid, then I’ll be happy to buy into it.

Tell us about your draft for next week’s November National Hunt Sale?

We have 26 foals selling across the three days. It’s a good solid draft, and every year a few stand out more than others. I’ll select a few that should attract plenty of interest. We have an outstanding Walk In The Park colt out of Rapid Response (Lot 444). As mentioned earlier the draft also features a Crystal Ocean colt out of an unraced half-sister to the Grade 2 winner Jetara (Lot 428). Timmy Hillman purchased his full-brother in November 2023. We have a Jeu St Eloi half-sister to Grade 1 placed West Balboa (Lot 704). We will also offer two colt foals by Hurricane Lane out of unraced half-sisters to the two-time Grade 1 winner Conflated.

Tell us about some of the good horses that you have bred down through the years?

Bellshill is one of the standouts. I sold him in November 2010 to Ian Ferguson. He won five Grade 1s and was the top horse of his generation through bumpers, novice hurdling, novice chasing and then won Irish and Punchestown Gold Cups.

I had the granddam of Conflated called Saucy Gale. West Balboa won a Lanzarote Hurdle, and was second in a Challow Hurdle. Listentoyourheart is a first foal out of the dual bumper winner Illwalktheline and she won a Listed novice hurdle last season. We raced Party Central ourselves and she won a four-year-old bumper under Jamie Codd, and subsequently won at Listed level and was Grade 2 placed. I referenced Ballybow earlier and he is the next generation of that Hurricane Fly family. He was a Grade 3 winning novice hurdler last season, and should develop into a smart staying novice chaser. Shoot First was a Grade 3 winner last year, and his five-year-old half-brother Neon Dream is name to watch this season.

The Yellowford & Drumlin foal graduates from the November National Hunt Sale 2022 sold well for pinhookers at the Derby Sale earlier this year. That must have given you great satisfaction?

We were thrilled to see some of our clients get well rewarded at the Derby Sale earlier this year. We sold a Walk In The Park colt foal to Glenvale Stud for €100,000, and he went to Olly and Aidan Murphy for €210,000. A Crystal Ocean colt foal was sold to George Case for €50,000 and he was purchased by O’Neill Racing for €115,000.

A son of Crystal Ocean was sold by Yellowford & Drumlin as a foal in November 2022, and purchased at the 2025 Derby Sale for €115,000.

Tom Howley’s Brook Lodge Farm purchased a filly foal by Maxios for €21,000 and she went to James Doyle’s Baltimore Stables for €62,000. I find repeat business is important, and if you are open and transparent then people will trust you.

What advice would you give to the younger generation looking to enter the industry?

In any walk of life when you surround yourself with good people that is a big help. Read as much as you can, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. I’d advise any young person to travel, because you pick up different perspectives and it opens your mind too. And build up your contacts too during those early years, because it is a small industry and you never know what door might open along the way.