Strudwick hoping Irishcorrespondent can make headlines for Ballygallon

Just as the Nore knows its eventual path, as it meanders through County Kilkenny, so the aim of Roy and Belinda Strudwick of Ballygallon Stud - on the banks of the river near Inistioge - is to breed and race Classic horses.

And, over ten years after renouncing a more commercial approach, that is just what they appear to have done with Irishcorrespondent, who lines up for the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday.

"Horses like Irishcorrespondent don't come along every day of the week," says Belinda Strudwick. "We're a small operation, currently breeding from about 14 mares. That probably narrows our chances considerably - but as long as we keep the quality there, and the mares are well mated, then I think it gives us every chance."

The Teofilo colt is out of the Mark Of Esteem mare Contrary, a nick that also produced this year's Investec Derby hopeful Permian.

"We liked the look of the mare with him," explains Strudwick. "One thing about Teofilo is that he shows a very good temperament, and that quality has really come through with Irishcorrespondent.

"Honestly, his temperament is just amazing. It's a huge help to horses in training, because they have to deal with quite a lot. It helps them in every aspect. If they've got ability on top, then you've a very good chance."

Teofilo has already made a big mark on the Irish Classics, through 1,000 Guineas winner Pleascach, Derby hero Trading Leather and St Leger scorer Voleuse De Coeurs.

His latest contender hails from a family long cultivated by Strudwick. "I bought Irishcorrespondent's third dam Jumilla, an El Gran Senor mare, at Keeneland, and from her bred Contrary's dam Crystal Gaze. It's a family I've been working with for quite a long time. It's not a top-drawer pedigree, but Contrary throws such good-looking stock.

"Contrary had lots of ability. She was trained in France and won her maiden by a length at the first attempt. We were then going to aim her at a Listed race, but unfortunately she injured a tendon on the gallops.

"When she started producing such good-looking stock, I thought we had a good chance of getting a good one from her. Irishcorrespondent looks like the first one.

"What we aim to do is breed from good quality mares, rearing them to the best of our ability and just giving them every chance. We didn't run Irishcorrespondent at two, for various reasons. He was over in France for a while, where he picked up a virus. A lot of these horses need time, and that's what we are prepared to give them. He certainly needed that time, to develop to his physical best."

Irishcorrespondent has a rather unusual pedigree in that it features both five-furlong bullets and also classy jumps horses.

Contrary, who also has a two-year-old Mastercraftsman colt, has produced three other winners from as many runners. She is a half-sister to Spirit Quartz, winner of the Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene over 5f, and last year's Epsom Dash scorer Caspian Prince, who also won a Listed race at Dundalk.

That trio are out of the unraced Rainbow Quest mare Crystal Gaze, a sister to Desert Quest, winner of the 2006 County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and third in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton; and a half-sister to the Listed winner Jonquil and classy hurdler Stocktons Wing.

One major change for the Strudwicks in recent times has been to have their horses in training with Johnny Murtagh and Mick Halford, an hour's drive away at the Curragh.

"We don't have anything trained in France now," Strudwick says. "I think it's suiting us better because we have more control over what's going on. For example, if one of our fillies needs a break we can just bring her back to the farm.

"Having said that, if a horse was showing ability, and the trainer said that it would be better off trained in the US, then we would consider that. The reason we sent Aragorn there is because he was a fast-ground horse."

Aragorn, from the first crop of Giant's Causeway and a dual winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile, inspired the Strudwicks to start keeping and racing more of their Classically-bred stock.

Ballygallon had previously had its name in lights when a Fairy King colt sold at the Houghton Sale in 1999 for 1.7 million guineas. He turned out to be Beckett, winner of the National Stakes for Aidan O'Brien.

"We've had a few sales toppers," Strudwick says, looking back at the stud's commercial years. "When I joined the farm - which was about 22 years ago now - we were selling pretty much everything. What we didn't sell, we kept. Then we decided, because we had such success with Aragorn, that we would pretty much try to keep everything.

"Every now and again we have to sell, because we need to keep numbers at a level we can manage. If we had too many fillies with the same pedigree in a particular year, we might decide to sell the odd one - but really we want to give everything a chance and keep them under the Ballygallon Stud banner."

As to whether that resolution will pay off on Saturday, Strudwick says: "It's a big step up in class but Mick [Halford] thinks he's improved again. We've gone gently with him and nursed him along, and he's improved physically. He's got that fantastic temperament, and Mick's just nurtured him extremely well.

"I hope there's a lot more to come from him this year, because he's so lightly raced. He hasn't the experience of Churchill and others in the race - but he does seem to have a huge amount of ability."