'My ambition is to get to the top!' - Irish Emerald Stud's Gary Duffy aims high

Gary Duffy of Irish Emerald Stud has recently acquired July Stakes winner and Phoenix Stakes third Royal Lytham to stand at stud. Here we catch up with him and ask about how he became involved in the bloodstock industry.

When and how did you become involved in bloodstock?

I’m not from a horsey background, but looking back it started as a child, when I was five or six, as my father had the odd horse in training. I had my first pony aged seven and took part in Pony Club, hunting and showjumping, before getting involved in a few thoroughbred broodmares as a teenager through friends my father had in racing syndicates, and we had some success.

I then pinhooked a few store horses as a teenager before leaving school at 16 and completing a course at Cafre [College of Agriculture Food & Rural Enterprise], before working at Rathbarry Stud for a breeding season at 17. The Cashmans were excellent to work for. The following January I headed off to Kildangan Stud and completed a breeding season there - Kildangan, as you can imagine, is a beautiful place to work and I really loved it there.

I moved to Sligo and over the next number of years ran a few different businesses while also keeping an eye on the bloodstock industry. It was always my goal to set up my own stud and in early 2014 I made the decision that I’d look for a farm in Kildare and set up my own operation.

Why did you decide to buy a stud in 2017?

I'd wanted to move to Kildare for some time and set up my own stud. I was looking for a place from early 2014 and then in 2016 a farm came up that had nice facilities and was within my budget, so I moved there in 2017 and set up Irish Emerald Stud that year.

How did you manage to acquire Royal Lytham as a stallion for the stud?

Standing stallions is something I’ve always wanted to do and I'd been actively looking last year for what I believed breeders would want. Luckily I was able to purchase Royal Lytham in a private deal.

Royal Lytham (near side): 'He's a stunning individual and has a fantastic pedigree.'Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

He's a stunning individual, has a fantastic pedigree and won the stallion-making July Stakes in one of the fastest times in history, making him a really attractive option for breeders.

He was a precocious two-year-old with a lot of speed, and if you look at his races he was always professional and an extremely tough and robust individual. Most importantly, he offers breeders great value, and in the current climate that’s what they need.

How do you plan to support him in his second career? Are you sending any mares to him?

He was late to the table having been marketed only in mid-January but thankfully he’s gone down well with breeders since his recent launch and I'd encourage everyone to come and see him.

On a personal level I’m sending him a number of my own mares, and also setting up a broodmare syndicate for him. I’ll also support his foals at the sales as best I can.

What are your plans and ambitions for the future?

The plan is just to keep learning. I'm keen to know as much as I can about everything, especially on the breeding side of things, and I love looking at horses from a conformation point of view.

I'd also like to buy a bigger farm in the near future and to continue to grow the number of horses each year. I'm standing Royal Lytham at Clongiffen Stud with Robert Honner this year, but I'll be looking in the near future to have my own base, while also looking for a second stallion to stand alongside Royal Lytham next year.

My ambition is even more straightforward: to get to the top!

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