P2P Q&A - Michael Hickey
30 October 2020
Sunnyhill
Stud stallion Doyen had three P2P winners at the weekend, including a 4yo
maiden double at Loughanmore with The Mean Queen (IRE) and Undersupervision
(IRE). Tell us more about this stallion and his career at Sunnyhill.
He started
here in 2012 so his oldest stock are 7yos. He’s doing really well with his
horses on the track. He had a winner at Cheltenham on Saturday with Streets Of
Doyen (IRE), Beacon Edge (IRE) won a G3 at Galway on Sunday, and Andy Dufresne (IRE)
won his Beginners Chase at Wexford on Monday. All very good horses. He also had
three P2P winners at the weekend, including two 4yo P2P winners on Sunday. He
had the second in one of those races as well. Right through his career he’s had
good 4yo P2P winners that have gone on to make a lot of money at the Sales.
Battleoverdoyen (IRE) graduated from the P2P field and is a G1 winner over
fences. Andy Dufresne won his P2P and made a lot of money. He won a G2 Novice
Hurdle and had a high rating for his Beginners Chase too. It’s interesting to
note that two of Doyen’s P2P winners from the weekend were mares. I thought
Mary Doyle’s mare The Mean Queen was very impressive [video below].
You also
stand German Derby winner Lucky Speed (IRE). What are his main attributes?
He has a
wonderful pedigree. By Silvano who is by Lomitas, going back to Nijinsky in
that line. His dam is by Monsun and she goes back to a very good mare in the
third dam who bred Bellypha, a Champion stallion in France. He has two blacktype
half-brothers that won over hurdles and on the Flat. He’s a good-looking horse,
16.2hh and very correct. He seems to be getting very good stock. He doesn’t
have too many on the ground, but one made £35,000 in Doncaster. Another made
€30,000 at the Land Rover Sale and will be in training with Gordon Elliott. Harry
Fry has one by him, Colin Bowe has one, and there are others with good trainers
for the spring too.
Sunnyhill
is based at the heart of Irish racing near the Curragh. What is the history of
the stud and how was it developed?
We bought
the farm in 1978 and stood our first stallion in 1979, a horse called Whistling
Deer who was trained by Kevin Prendergast. The best stallions we have stood
have been Good Thyne, Montelimar, Old Vic, and Doyen. Gamut (IRE) did well too.
He sired Road To Riches (IRE) and Road To Respect (IRE), who were both G1
winners. It’s a family-run stud. We also do some clients’ foals and stock for the
Sales. We pre-train a few when we can get suitable riders.
How do
you choose your stallions?
To get
mares you must have a G1 winner with a good pedigree. The better class of horse
you can get, the more chance you have of getting better mares. You need the
best performance record possible and you need a good-looking, big horse, with a
good walk.
How has
the stallion business changed?
It has
changed a lot. Years ago you tended to build a client base and people would
stick with you. These days people have to be more commercial. Also, stallions
can be popular one week and not the next. That used to truer on the Flat, but
now it’s the same with the jumping game. If you have a popular stallion this year
and people are buying and selling his foals, in six months’ time, nobody might
want to know. Starting off with a stallion, if they get good-looking foals,
sell well at the Sales, get into good hands when they’re 3yos, and prove to be
good racehorses then that’s a good start. But it’s all about these big
blacktype winners now. A lot is geared around a Cheltenham winner, which is
unfortunate because stallions can get a heap of winners, but they can’t all get
winners at the Cheltenham Festival.
Visit the Sunnyhill Stud website: https://www.sunnyhillstud.com/
All Irish point-to-point 4yo Maidens in 2020 will be available to view on the ITM YouTube channel. Subscribe here.