tally-ho stud
Tally-Ho Stud talks...
Photography courtesy of Tally-Ho Stud and by Amy Lanigan
sire power
Aisling Crowe chats to the O’Callaghan family about the farm’s current roster
I
T IS OVER 40 YEARS since Tony and Anne O’Callaghan put down roots near Mullingar in County Westmeath. Over the intervening years the couple, along with their sons Roger and Henry, have striven to build a family business now in its fifth decade. Synonymous with fast, precocious and successful sires, Tally-Ho Stud has enjoyed success right around the world producing such horses as the Group/Grade 1
winners Fairyland, Sky Lantern, Desert Encounter and Bushranger. Many of those are the result of the support and dedication to building the careers and reputations of the stallions that the O’Callaghan family stands; Tally-Ho Stud now a leading producer of top-class Flat sires. Crowe chats with Tony, Anne, Roger and Henry about the stallions currently resident at Tally-Ho Stud.
INNS OF COURT: the new name at the County Westmeath farm THE LATEST SIRE to receive the O’Callaghan backing is Inns Of Court, a son of Invincible Spirit who was trained by André Fabre for Godolphin, and has retired to the farm for this spring season. He was a Group winner over 5f, 6f and 7f and finished second in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois and Prix de la Forêt. As well as an exciting race career that saw him win his sole start at two and go on to win at three, four and five, he also has an excellent pedigree – his dam Learned Friend is a Seeking The Gold half-sister to Fierement, a son of Deep Impact, who has won twice at the highest level in Japan. Roger: Inns Of Court is going well, people are very interested in him. He was a Group 1 winner in everything bar name. We had been following him for a few years, heard he was finished racing and went from there. It was his race performance that caught our eye, and he is a good-looking horse. He’s tough and sound from a good family and had an exceptional rating. Tony: He put in a good time for his two-year-old race, ran 14 times and has a good mind. He has good size and scope, he is
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16.1 with good bone, and very competitively priced! We are always looking for the next one and the next one... It could take 20 years, but we have been lucky
Inns Of Court: the son of Invincible Spirit was a dual Group 1 runner-up
Photo: PA
enough with Danetime, Society Rock and, of course, Kodiac. R: We have to replace Kodiac, and it won’t be for the lack of trying! Henry: And don’t forget Zebedee and Sir Prancealot – they had their Group 1 winners as well...
