Rathasker Stud's Maurice Burns is the latest subject in Racing Post series

25 Jul 2017

Age 21 plus VAT (VAT getting bigger every year!)

Occupation Stud farmer at Rathasker Stud

How and when did you become involved in racing? I was born into the business. My father owned Corbally Stud in County Down, then we moved to Lodge Park Stud in County Kilkenny and now we have Rathasker Stud in County Kildare where we stand stallions.

Who has been the greatest influence on your career? Having grown up in a horsey family, the main topic of conversation over the kitchen table was always horses, so I would have to say that my family were my first main influence.

Then I attended the Irish National Stud course, where Michael Osborne was at the helm and that broadened my circle. After the course I worked in America, and both Bill O'Neill of Bwamazon and Circle O Farms and trainer Shug McGaughey had a big influence on my career.

What aspect of your job do you most enjoy? Foaling mares - that is the core of the business as without the foals you have no produce to bring to the market and race.

And least enjoy? Losing an animal that you have spent time and effort looking after, whether it be a foal, yearling, mare, stallion or racehorse.

Best day in the business? One of the most enjoyable was when Es Que Love won the Group 2 Lennox Stakes in my wife Theresa’s colours, and my daughter Madeline led him in. Es Que Love was bred at Rathasker and that made it an even more satisfying day.

What would you like to see change in the industry? Better prize-money, as that would allow trainers to charge more and that would then let them pay their staff better. That in turn would make it easier to retain staff in the thoroughbred business.

What has changed most during your time working in the bloodstock industry? The amount of horses for sale. Everyone wants to sell a horse but fewer want to have a horse in training.

Advice for someone hoping to get into the industry? This is a business for hardworking, dedicated people - if you don't have those attributes you won't survive in it.

If you weren’t working in bloodstock, what would you be doing? Well, my wife always tells me I keep building things, so I suppose something in that sphere!

Give us a dark horse to follow for the Flat season? Flying Sparkle, a two-year-old filly who won first time out for Michael Bell at Windsor.

Rathasker stalwart Clodovil enjoyed a big win with Bengali Boys on Saturday. What has been your highlight of his stallion career? He had two stakes winners from his first crop, Beacon Lodge in the Horris Hill and Nahoodh in the Lowther. That proved he could get good horses. He never had very big crops but the amount of stakes horses to runners has always been high. 

How did you come to stand Clodovil? We bought him around the time the Lagardere family were selling all their stock. I went with the auctioneer John O'Kelly to look at the horse in Andre Fabre's yard. He wasn't very big but he was a good walker, very athletic and of course he's by Danehill. And I like Linamix, who his dam is by. 

He's a horse I'm sure a lot of people looked at but we were lucky and were able to get a deal done. We syndicated half of him to breeders in Ireland and studs like Kildaragh, Barouche and Pier House all got into him and have supported him. 

He's had his fertility issues - he got his first mares in foal but then went a bit quiet and has been up and down - and we've had to figure out how to work with him. But he's always been a sire that can get you a good racehorse and we're very lucky to have him. 

How has Coulsty been received in his first season at stud? Did he cover any important mares in particular? Coulsty proved himself to be very fertile and good at his new job. He was supported by my regular clients and hopefully will produce foals like himself, with presence and style. One of the best mares he would have covered is one of our own, Fanditha.

You have three stallions with their first yearlings going to the market in 2017 – can you tell us more about Bungle Inthejungle, Es Que Love and Gregorian? Bungle Inthejungle's yearlings are strong, well made two-year-old types with a sprinter’s walk and should be early. Es Que Love’s are elegant, light on their feet and should be mid-season six-furlong horses. Gregorian's are all bay or grey, have good bone, are lengthy with good movement and should be mid-season seven furlong horses.

Es Que has produced for you Es Que Love as well as Hong Kong Group 1 winner Dominant and recent Royal Ascot winner Zhui Feng and Prix de Malleret second Listen In. She's quite a mare... As people know, you'll always find me near the acorn at Tattersalls mare sales. We look at mares in the morning before the sale starts but once the bell rings we try to stay close to the ring. I had picked her out early in the day - she was a tall, elegant mare from a good family in foal to a horse I liked in Cacique and when she came into the ring she oozed quality and style.

We bought her for 25,000gns and her resulting colt realised 95,000gns when bought by John Warren for Highclere. Named Dominant, he was resold to Hong Kong for £1 million and became a Group 1 winner and Hong Kong champion.

Es Que then produced Es Que Love, Zhui Feng, Listen In and so on. We put her in foal to Galileo and Moyglare Stud bought her off us. We have two of her half-sisters, Aloisi, who's in foal to Starspangledbanner, and Lake Nona, who's in foal to Zoffany.

Es Que Love raced in the colours of Rathasker, can we expect to see more runners in these colours in the future? I'm a believer that if you breed horses you shouldn't be afraid to have some in training. If a yearling doesn't make what I think it's worth I will put it in training; this has been very lucky for us and we'll continue with this policy.

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