Moyglare Moms

bi Aisling Crowe

When Rich Tapestry (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) bursts out of the stalls at Santa Anita in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint tomorrow afternoon, the 6-year-old gelding will have brought his family full circle, all the way back to the state and track where an Irish dynasty took its first steps. 

Although he now represents Hong Kong, Rich Tapestry also carries the Breeders’ Cup hopes of Moyglare Stud, the Co. Kildare farm whose reach has become global. One of the leading hopes for the Sprint springs from one of Moyglare’s most successful–and influential–families, being descended from Grenzen, a mare purchased by the farm in 1977 after racing on California’s tracks. 

Her granddaughter Genuine Charm (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), the dam of Rich Tapestry, is a full sister to Moyglare’s 2003 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Refuse To Bend (Ire) and a half-sister to Media Puzzle (Ire) (Theatrical {Ire}), who won the G1 Melbourne Cup. Grenzen is also the dam of Twilight Agenda, the runner-up to Black Tie Affair (Ire) in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. 

On Tuesday, two more Moyglare-bred horses will bring the farm’s name into the full glare of the global spotlight once more as the Johnny Murtagh trained pair of Royal Diamond (Ire) (King’s Best) and Mutual Regard (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}) contest the Melbourne Cup. 

According to Fiona Craig, the farm’s breeding and sales consultant, the one person who would have got the greatest thrill from this is the stud’s founder, Walter Haefner, who passed away in 2012. 

“Walter Haefner was the original internationalist and he wanted to race worldwide,” Craig explained. “He was one of the first Europeans to come to America to buy horses and he sent mares [to Kentucky in the late 1960’s to Ribot and Sea Bird] before others. He would have got the biggest kick out of this weekend. It sums up what he was trying to achieve, to go back almost 40 years [to a foundation mare] with a family, and race on the [world’s] biggest stage.” 

None of the Moyglare-bred runners competing in two of racing’s most prestigious international events will carry their colors. That is a reflection of the farm’s policy of quality over quantity. Currently, between their Kildare base and a small number based at Ashford Stud (Coolmore), Kentucky. Moyglare has 35 in its broodmare band, a little higher than normal, and about 100 horses in all. 

Royal Diamond went under the hammer at Goffs’ yearling sale in 2007, the year the farm resumed offering yearlings for sale at public auction after a 27 year break. Mutual Regard and Rich Tapestry both raced for the farm but were sold on to new owners, for whom they have ,prospered. That is a guiding principle of Moyglare’s attitude towards selling their stock whether they are yearlings, horses in training or broodmares. 

The transition from Walter Haefner’s stewardship to that of his daughter Eva-Maria Bucher Haefner has been seamless, and the next generation already has their Moyglare interest piqued, ensuring a secure future rooted in the success of the past. 

“Eva is brilliant and knows the horses, she is very knowledgeable and is learning the families and the traits that run through them,” Craig added. “She rode horses herself and has an empathy with them, just like her father, who she took the time to speak with and learn from. 

“Her son Mischa led in Katimavik (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) who won at Fairyhouse last month and her daughter Chiara has a Big Bad Bob (Ire) 2-year-old filly to run for her next year. We have also re-registered two sets of colors that we used to use–the blue and white stripes of Zurich football club and the orange and cream silks that Sarah Haefner had in the seventies–for Mischa and Chiara,” said Craig, who has worked for Moyglare for 25 years. 

The longevity of her career with the farm is not unusual with many of the employees spending decades with Moyglare. That continuity of care and dedication is one of the reasons Craig believes that the generations of foals born and raised on the farm continue to bring global success to Moyglare horses whoever they represent. 

New blood is also vital, and two winning fillies purchased by Eva in 2012, the stakes winner I’m Yours (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Pirita (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) will retire to the broodmare band, while this sales season has already seen the arrival of daughters of Dream Ahead, Dark Angel (Ire) and Medaglia d’Oro. 

Before Santa Anita and Flemington, and the glory they may bring, 2014 has already brought champagne sparkles for Moyglare Stud. Six homebreds have won eight stakes races this year and 20 horses carrying the farm’s black-white-and-red silks have won 26 races worldwide, while a further seven Moyglare bred horses have won stakes races in other silks. On top of that mares bred by the stud but sold on, have produced nine more stakes performers in 2014. 

“It has been a year of dreams and I suppose we will have to get used to normality again, but it is all down to a fabulous team,” she reflected. 

Despite the addition of a new stud manager, Malachy Ryan a year ago, little changes at Moyglare and what remains constant are the mares, who gave founder Walter Haefner the greatest joy. 

After Refuse To Bend’s success in the 2000 Guineas, the Swiss businessman visited the stud and went to see his dam, Market Slide, and for him that was his satisfaction. He walked down to the field where she was grazing, and stood, his arms leaning on the gateway watching. That was pure joy for him, to able to stand and watch and say, ‘That’s the mare.’ 
In a Kildare field this weekend, as their sons grace racing’s main stages, there graze the mares. For Moyglare, it has–and always will be–about the mares.