ballylinch stud
Loop the Lope
Not many will look back at 2020 with pleasure, but the Flat racing year has given John O’Connor of Ballylinch Stud plenty to smile about. He chats with Aisling Crowe about the progress the farm’s stallions have made as they propel the farm to the highest echelon Photography courtesy of Ballylinch Stud
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HIS YEAR has been a momentous one for Ballylinch Stud as both a stallion station and a breeding farm. The young stallion roster, headed by Lope De Vega, is developing it into one of the most influential independent farms in Europe, while the farm recently celebrated its third Breeders’ Cup winner as a breeder. At the helm remains John O’Connor, quietly steering the historic home of The Tetrarch into its current prime position as the home of some of Europe’s most exciting stallions. Lope De Vega is the leader and established head of a quintet of very young stallions. Next to him is Make Believe, who has had just two crops of racing age, then come first-season sires New Bay and Fascinating Rock. Last year’s Arc hero Waldgeist joined the team and covered his first book of mares in the spring. Lope De Vega hit the ground running with his first crop, and has been on a steep upward trajectory ever since, explains O’Connor. “I suppose the big thing for him is that he kicked off really quickly – he was European champion first-crop sire and sired a European champion in his first crop [Belardo] so it gave him a very quick launch into his stallion career,”says O’Connor.
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“His fee has steadily risen since then, but every year he has been over-full so he has always justified the fee rises. While they have been rising steadily, we have never jumped him by a big proportion so while his fee has been rising the market has always agreed that the figure was fair so we are happy with that. “I think his sales average reflects the quality of mares that he is now covering. “The list of mares coming to him in next spring includes some stellar names that I am delighted to see. When you see the list of mares covered in 2020, and particularly the ones coming in 2021, there are a lot of household mares amongst those mares. “I think the big thing about Lope De Vega is that, as the quality of mares has risen, his results have in parallel. He started off very well obviously, but I think you will see that he will keep improving because he can handle a wide variety of pedigrees and stamina attributes.” It’s no wonder that O’Connor is excited by the calibre of mares visiting Lope De Vega and the limitless potential for the future. A quick glance through the mares who were in his 2020 book reveals stars such as the 2019 Oaks winner Anapurna, Talent, Thistle Bird and Wuheida, and Group 1-producing dams such as Anna Law, Blanc De Chine, Lava Flow and Yummy Mummy.
Now the sire of 12 individual Group 1 winners after Lucky Vega’s success in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf triumph of Aunt Pearl, a second winner of the race for her sire after Newspaperofrecord in 2018, and still just 13, what factors lie behind Lope De Vega’s ascent from a very good sire to the ranks of elite stallions? O’Connor, always an engaged and thoughtful conversationalist, pauses to consider for a few moments. “I think it is the level of athleticism he transmits,” he says. “When I make yearling notes, and I look at lots of Lope De Vegas, consistently I will write, ‘Great mover, very good walker, great easy walk’. That will be a consistent theme. He just tends to get stock with very athletic movement, a good physique as well; he can breed a good-looking yearling and that’s now being reflected as he climbs through the ranks in bigger and bigger prices. I think it is his consistency in delivery of athleticism that makes him so good. “The other thing he does is transmit a lot of speed, it was probably an unprecedented thing – I don’t think I’ve seen it before – that a French Derby winner sired a Cornwallis winner [Royal Razalma] in his first crop, it’s a bit unusual. “He can get a very fast horse out of a very fast mare – he has a number of Group 1
