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Posted 2018-01-22 19:45:19  
ITM races in Review

Irish racing will undoubtedly remember 2017 as the year their champion trainer Aidan O’Brien matched Bobby Frankel’s record of 25 Group 1 winners in a calendar year, and indeed surpassed it with 28 top-level victories in total. Unsurprisingly, he won the British trainers’ championship for a sixth time, with prize money earnings of £8,335,028.

Aidan’s son, Joseph, always seemed destined to follow in his footsteps and the pinnacle of his short career to date came in November, as Rekindling captured ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup. It must be the only scenario in which father Aidan would be happy finishing second in a race worth Aus$6.2million, while Willie Mullins took third in a remarkable 1-2-3 for Irish trainers.

The aforementioned Willie Mullins is experiencing increased success on the Flat and also retained his champion National Hunt trainer title for the 2016/2017 season. He was, however, pushed to the wire by Gordon Elliott during a tense Punchestown Festival, though Elliott reaped some compensation when crowned champion trainer at the 2017 Cheltenham Festival.

Irish trainers took 19 races at the Cheltenham Festival, while Irish breeders cheered home 12 winners, including five at Grade 1 level. The Flat equivalent, Royal Ascot, featured the same 12 Irish-bred winners, contributing to 20 of the 36 Group 1 races run in Britain during the year won by Irish-bred horses.

Irish breeders continued to enjoy much success further afield, too, with one of the first being Zhukova (IRE)’s six length victory in the Grade 1 Man O’ War Stakes at Belmont Park for Dermot Weld, and she in turn became the first mare since 1978 to win the prestigious contest. Irish mares have enjoyed increased success on the US turf in recent years, with Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes heroine Off Limits (IRE) being their new poster girl since her purchase from David Wachman’s stable.

Top-level success by Irish horses certainly adds to the appeal of Irish bloodstock sales and 2017 saw increased gains at Goffs, Goresbridge and Tattersalls Ireland, with the sales houses combining to generate €175,669,325 in turnover, a 7% increase on the 2016 total.

The Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale continued to set new records in May, with turnover reaching just over €6million, with the help of 13 six-figure lots. The Irish store sales continued the record-breaking trend, as the Goffs Land Rover Sale grew in aggregate by 4% and returned ten six-figure lots. Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, meanwhile, saw a 24% increase in turnover and a whopping 33 horses make six-figure prices.

The yearling sales followed suit, with Tattersalls Ireland breaking new ground in returns and buyers, with a record sales topper of €230,000, and Godolphin and Hong Kong Jockey Club joined the buyers list for the first time. The Goffs Orby also experienced landmark buys, as Godolphin purchased a Galileo (IRE) filly worth €1.2million, and the Zayat family of American Pharoah fame came away with the €1.6million top lot.

The November sales were not to be outdone, as competitive trade at Tattersalls Ireland’s November NH Sale produced a record average and median. The Goffs Foal and Breeding Stock Sale also saw increases across the board, topped by the world’s highest-priced foal in 2017 at €1.1million.

2017, for ITM, began on a high with 3,000 visitors turning out for the third renewal of the ITM Irish Stallion Trail. The stallions in question continued their domination throughout the year, as Galileo (IRE) was crowned Champion Sire for the ninth time, while Kodiac drew plaudits for his 60 juvenile winners, surpassing Sunday Silence’s previous record. Irish stallions accounted for eight of the top ten sires in Europe by winners in 2017 and with 12 Group 1 winners joining the Irish stallion ranks in 2018, there is much to look forward to.  

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