John Bleahen lives in Clontuskert, outside Ballinasloe and is one of the Bleahen Brothers bloodstock agents. He has four children with his wife Elaine.

“I was introduced to thoroughbreds by my late father Mark, who was a farmer first and foremost. Dad was great friends with a trainer called Pat Hogan from Toomevara. Pat was responsible for breaking a young horse called Solfen and before he went point-to-pointing, my father hunted him with the North Tipperary hounds.

“Solfen was owned by my grand-uncle Barney Naughton and went on to win the Broadway Steeplechase, now the RSA, on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, and the Spa [World] Hurdle the next day, trained by Willie O’Grady.

“I suppose that gave dad the appetite for thoroughbreds. Pat was a very good trainer and he basically taught dad how to train racehorses.

“Dad’s first horse to train was a mare called Debonair Dolly, he bought her for 650gns at Tattersalls in Ballsbridge and she ran in four bumpers. I rode her twice, the two times I didn’t, she won, which didn’t bode well for my illustrious amateur career.

“After school, my first job was with Gay O’Callaghan at Yeomanstown Stud, I went to Gurteen Agricultural College and then did the National Stud management course. I was very lucky to be with a great bunch of guys from all over the world, many who went on to be very successful in the racing and breeding worlds. But one was to have a major effect on the path of my life, Alastair Pim [I met Elaine, my wife, at his wedding].

“Then I went to Australia and worked for trainer Colin Hayes in Lindsay Park Stud.

“From there I had a job with Dalgetty Bloodstock Agency in Melbourne. I came home to renew my visa and was offered a job in Ballysheehan Stud. I worked for Philip and Jane Myerscough for four and a half years. They were smashing people to work for. They bred and pinhooked high-class horses and stood champion sire Fairy King.

“It was always on the agenda to come home and set up on my own. I was in the privileged position to have a farm to come home to. I was trading a little along the way and was very lucky with the vital first few I bought."

'For each other'

“Bleahen Brothers is the three of us: Niall, Hugh and myself. We are all independent of each other and have our own farms, Niall’s Liss House, Hugh’s Clifton Farm and myself at Lakefield Farm. Niall and I started trading at the same time and Hugh joined at a later stage, having worked in banking in London for many years.

“There are times when we buy horses together and I couldn’t have better partners. Both are great stockmen and more importantly great friends and the best critics I have.

“The Monroe brothers in Galway have a great business and I remember asking them ‘Do you fight?’ I loved their answer and it struck a chord when they replied, ‘we do but for each other.’ It’s a great statement and we’re the same, we argue plenty but we pull great together too.

“We like to buy a good number of horses off the land and at sales. As the three of us are in the same business it’s nice to have several foals bought before we get to the sales.

“We have been very lucky to have sold Cheltenham winners, the main ones being Sizing Europe, the Champion Chase winner and Sizing John, who won the Gold Cup. The Sizing horses were purchased by Henry and Heather de Bromhead on behalf of Alan and Ann Potts.

“It was probably one of the proudest moments as a trader when I roared Sizing John home. You dream of selling a good one, but to have a Gold Cup winner was, for me, the ultimate. This week we have 16 horses sold under the Bleahen banner entered at the Festival, so fingers crossed!

“Both my sisters, Caroline and Marina have a great interest in the horses and have a leg in a few.

"My wife Elaine comes from Kilcullen, her late father Andy owned Nolan’s Butchers of Kilcullen, which has received numerous accolades in Ireland and Europe.

“We have four children, all of whom have a massive interest in the thoroughbred game. The boys, Luke, Josh and Ben were all involved in hunting and show jumping and all rode winners at pony racing and Rebecca is involved with the East Galway Pony Club.

“My business is very much a family affair, with every member of the family playing an part in the success of the business.

Farming

“We have a mixed farm with a suckler to beef system, horses and sheep. The sheep are bought for the purpose of keeping the land right for horses and hopefully to make a few quid.

“One huge bone of contention for me with cattle is the 30-month age limit for quality assured beef, which plays into the hands of the factories. It leaves farmers in a vulnerable position as they know when they go over the 30-month date they are going to lose €50 a head. This, in my eyes, is a rule made to benefit the factories and not the farmers as it takes the unity and power out of the farmers’ hands.

Showing

“One of the highlights of the year growing up was Ballinasloe Show and Fair. As children we entered the ridden classes and helped dad sell ponies or horses. My late mother, Bernadette, was terrific to entertain and would always have friends staying for the Fair. My father loved the Fair and up until the year he died would have something to sell there.

“In recent years he saw it as a good education for his grandchildren. He would buy a few Connemaras at local marts and get the grandchildren to help break the ponies and horses and bring them to the Fair. They learned the art of trading and the invaluable lesson of ‘striking while the iron was hot’.

Brexit

“The uncertainty of Brexit is a worry, though a customer, who I respect greatly, was in the yard recently and pointed out the fact that we will be the only English-speaking country in the EU and the positive effect this should have on business in Ireland.

“From a national hunt point of view the English have been our best customers for generations, and due to the fact that they have a very small pool of national hunt mares, I believe this trend will continue.”