New Speed Stallions For West Cork
15 January 2021
Paddy McCarthy aims to put his hometown of Bandon on the map
as he strikes into the stallion market and expands his family's Meelin Stud in
West Cork to stand two new Flat stallions for the 2021 season. McCarthy is well
known in the industry through his work as sales manager to 2020 Breeder of the
Year Derek Veitch and his Ringfort Stud. He has looked after numerous top-class
horses for Veitch such as Minzaal, Miss Amulet, Ubettabelieveit and Threat
amongst many more, while he has also successfully stood National Hunt stallions
at the stud in the past and has bred sports horses.
The new roster will be headed by Gr.1 sprinter Son Of Rest
(Pivotal), a lightly-raced but talented juvenile who placed in the Gr.1
National Stakes for Fozzy Stack. He broke his maiden on his return at three and
landed a Premier Handicap before going on to run third to Carravaggio in the
Flying Five Stakes, while the following year he was a close second in the race
to Havana Grey, when it was upgraded to a Gr.1, and also landed the valuable
Ary Gold Cup. Bred by Cheveley Park Stud, he is out of the winning Danetime
mare Hightime Heroine and is from the family of Champion 2YO Forest Flower.
He will be joined at Meelin by Group-placed sprinter Flash
Gordon, a son of sire on fire and exciting sire of sires Kodiac. Trained by
Jessica Harrington, he was placed in the Gr.3 Lacken Stakes and Listed Tetrarch
Stakes as a three-year-old and was also placed in the Sprint Stakes at Naas
last year. He was a 220,000gns yearling and is out of juvenile winner Oasis
Sunset (Oasis Dream) who is a half-sister to Champion 2YO and Gr.1 Cheveley
Park Stakes winner Seazun (Zietan) and is from the family of Gr.2 Molecomb
Stakes winners Brown Sugar and Classic Ruler as well as Champion 2YO Toormore.
Commenting on his new acquisitions, McCarthy said: "Son
Of Rest is absolutely gorgeous, a magnificent horse. He stands about 16.2h and
is a great stamp of a horse. He won the Ayr Gold Cup with 10 stone on his back
and gave the second horse a stone and two pounds. He was second to Havana Grey
in the Flying Five up the Curragh with Sioux Nation behind him. He retired
sound and will stand for a fee of €3,000.
"Flash Gordon is a gorgeous, very athletic horse. He is
a Group 2-placed son of Kodiac that won first time out. He cost 220,000gns as a
yearling and is obviously a good-looking horse. He is a great walking horse and
stands about 16h and will be offered for €1,500.
"They are two great stamps of horses and I am delighted
to have them for my first enterprise into Flat stallions. I have been working
to offer speed horses that could produce precocious types for some time and am
excited for the future."
The farm is well equipped having previously stood a number
of stallions, as McCarthy explains: "We stood Kadeed who produced Moss
Bank who was the highest-rated chaser in Ireland. He was trained by Michael
Hourigan for Michael O'Leary and was second in the Lexus Chase and second in
the Ryanair at Cheltenham, while he was also the sire of The Hollow Bottom who
won a Graded Chase at Aintree for Nigel Twiston-Davies.
"We also bred Smith's Corner (Kadeed) who is still
running for Michael Kennedy, a brother of Jack Kennedy, in West Cork and he has
earned over in €56,000 prize-money, so we are no strangers to producing
top-class horses."
Paddy can be contacted on 00353 87 0608617 or email [email protected].