Exciting Times Ahead For Tara Stud

As autumn gave way to winter, the farmer within Tara Stud's Derek Iceton was appreciative of the unseasonably balmy weather that allowed him to coordinate the multitude of tasks that are part and parcel of running a 1000-acre beef, tillage and stud farm. However, it wasn't the price of beef or grain yields that were the topic of conversation when the TDN caught up with Iceton recently; rather, it was the resurgence of a stallion and Thoroughbred breeding farm that has been a focal part of County Meath for over half a century. The Icetons are in fact blow-ins, although they did blow in quite a while back, around 70 years ago when Iceton's father Billy arrived to Tara Stud from Lincolnshire to manage the farm and stud on behalf of Clifford Nicholson. Although Iceton senior passed away in 2010, his son had been part of the business since the mid-eighties, although his focus during that period had been on the agricultural side of things. As time passed Derek became more involved in the Thoroughbred side and he recalls a time back in the nineties when Tara Stud housed a thriving stallion business. “We had five or six stallions in those days and then in the early nineties we were lucky to have had the likes of Key Of Luck who was very good to us,” he said. “After that it became so difficult to get a stallion that you could actually justify standing. I actually stood a few stallions that I probably shouldn't have. I stood them for other people and I probably learned some of the biggest lessons I will ever learn. The market was on the slide and the stallions weren't really commercially popular so I was determined that when I eventually got back into the market I would make sure that I found the right stallion and that I would own the majority of him myself.” Iceton would have to be patient and it wasn't until 2014 that he felt confident he had the right horse to re-establish Tara Stud as a stallion farm.

The former Richard Hannon-trained Alhebayeb (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) was the horse that Iceton felt had the credentials to succeed in an ultra -competitive environment and the first foals for the G2 July S. winner have hit the market this winter. So far the vibes are good and Iceton is pleased with how the stallion has been received, having covered 142 mares in 2016. Last year Tara Stud acquired a second stallion in Aljamaaheer (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who unfortunately turned out to be infertile, and Iceton said, “Alhebayeb has been fantastic for me, but we were unlucky with Aljamaaheer last year who had a big book of well-bred mares to cover, so that was unfortunate. I haven't been able to buy a stallion this year even though I have been offered plenty of horses. The market has become very polarised to what it requires so I'm not going to jump back in until the right horse comes along again. It's a pity, though, to just have the one horse facing into next year as we have all the facilities to cater for more stallions; the boxes, the staff and the ability to manage them.” Iceton is confident the patience he showed in waiting for a stallion that ticked all the right boxes will bear fruit in the coming seasons. “I'm delighted with Alhebayeb, and I'm not just saying that. Having been out of the stallion game for a while I didn't know how many of my old customers would return so I built a fantastic syndicate around him. Even though he's only a €5,000 horse he's owned by some very powerful breeders who have supported him with a lot of nice mares and I hope that will be the key.” Alhebayeb won't lack for in-house support either. Tara's commitment to the breeding business is evident in their policy of upgrading their resident broodmare band both in quality and quantity in recent years, while also maintaining some select boarding clients. “Between my own mares and Tara Stud mares we have a band of about 50. We do keep mares for other clients but pretty much for only two valued overseas clients, one from Bahrain and the other from Singapore.”

Despite the large herd Iceton is conscious of maintaining the highest quality of animal as possible and is philosophical if a mare is not commercially viable to cover, especially in these selective times. “We continue to do a lot of culling, but we still try to buy nice fillies out of training every year. It's always a tricky process moving mares along that you feel aren't going to produce what the market wants. Undoubtedly you get it wrong from time to time but that's the game we are in.” As a former chairman of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Iceton naturally has his views on the current state of the industry and he has definite concerns for the future. “The biggest worry I would have is the plight of the small to medium sized breeder,” he said. “The fact is around 90% of Irish breeders own five mares or fewer and a lot of them can't compete anymore. Historically the stallion industry has been dependant on the smaller breeder to patronize a horse until it is proven. Then once that stallion is proven successful it is usually priced outside that breeder's budget so they might only get one or two hits out of it. I'd worry about the health of the industry for that reason.” He continued, “The production of Thoroughbreds is not like, say, Toyota producing cars. Thoroughbreds are a boutique product and it's important to have a broadly based industry. For example if you look at the ITBA awards, a lot of those awards are won by smaller breeders; they're the ones producing a lot of the good horses. It's a similar situation to the stallion farms; I think it's a pity to see it becoming too polarized. The number of actual farms standing stallions is dropping and I think it's important for the fabric and the diversity of the industry that it doesn't continue down that route.”

A familiar trend has emerged in recent years of horses being snapped up for stud duties before the end of their 2-year-old career, and while Iceton isn't a fan of such a policy he said he can see that the commercial realities facing a lot of farms require them to adapt to changing times. “It's probably regrettable that it happens but I can understand that it happens,” he said. “I bid for a 2-year-old stallion recently and I didn't get him and I'm sorry I didn't get him. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would do it I'd probably have gone on a rant and said it was a disgraceful thing to do, but when you're trying to keep a business alive it's perfectly understandable why it's done.” While Iceton is well aware of the challenges the industry faces he is also conscious of ways to improve the health of the sport, even if the obvious solution is one of the most bandied about topics within racing. “We need a reason for middle-market people to get more involved in the game and the level of prizemoney, particularly in the UK, is certainly a factor that is hampering that development,” he said. “Ultimately the selling of racehorses, be it foals, yearlings or 2-year-olds, fuels the breeding industry so if there isn't demand from the end user, i.e. racehorse owners, then breeders will ultimately suffer.” Iceton is also keen to focus on the positives and believes the second-hand market for horses is a great reflection on the Irish and British industry even though he said he thinks it has even more scope for development. “Looking on the bright side there is a very vibrant industry particularly as we have seen in the resale market in Ireland and Britain. 2-year-olds that show a good level of form here can command huge money to go to America or Hong Kong and that is all direct investment into the industry. I also think that Irish trainers are particularly adept at tapping into those markets and many have built thriving businesses on those principles. I think that is something that is lacking a bit more among British trainers and I have witnessed that personally from having horses in training in Britain.” With 47 foals catalogued in Goffs this week, Alhebayeb is one of the most prolific sires of the sale. Between monitoring the progress of these and overseeing the sale of Tara Stud's own 10 foals and mares Iceton will have to postpone being concerned about the well-being of the industry, for one week at least.