Three seminal events – a broodmare wedding present in 1961, a 1970s punt on a yearling and a 1980s dispersal sale – have all contributed to Mill House Stud’s Ita Brennan and her son, Tom, now being the current stars of Irish sport horse breeding.

Kilkenny-born Ita was a member of the famous Hughes family and is sister to four well-known brothers: Seamus, Andy, John and Thomas. Naturally, she grew up with horses and show jumped well enough herself to partner the great Tommy Brennan in a pony pairs win at Kilkenny Show back in the early 1950s. She married Tom Brennan of Mill House, Upper Grange, Gowran, in 1961 and it is then that our story begins.

THE WEDDING PRESENT

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As a wedding present, Ita’s brother, Seamus, gave her a Water Serpent mare called Silver Circle. She was a sister to Paul Darragh’s good early ride Water Lilly and had been ridden by Vincent Lawlor of the family that stood her great sire Water Serpent. Both Ita and Seamus bred from Silver Circle. They kept her female progeny and, in fact, five of her descendants jumped at this year’s Horse Show. That wedding present was the real beginning of what we could call the Mill House Stud (MHS) line.

A YEARLING PUNT

“Mammy always had a eye for a real-quality good stepping blood horse,” says her son, Tom, who along with Ita has now progressed the breeding programme at Mill House Stud. So, at the Gowran Park Bord na gCapall sales in the 1970s, she set her eye on a good one called Kilcoltrim.

With the army bidding for this great jumper, there was no way she could afford to buy him.

But shortly afterwards, her brother Seamus spotted a King of Diamonds yearling out of a Bahrain sister to Kilcoltrim. They took a punt and bought him. He turned out to be Royal Athlete that went on to be Swiss Champion and St Gallen Grand Prix winner for Max Hauri.

With the money realised from that sale, Ita went to Jim Whitty and bought two young fillies – a sister to Royal Athlete called Cape May, by Diamond Serpent, and Boris Lady, by Marwood. Cape May produced the good jumper Royal Anthem and also MHS Automatic by Guidam Junior that won the opening international at this year’s Dublin Horse Show for Greg Broderick. Boris Lady by Marwood has Bahrain and Ozymandias in her background, and traces all the way back to the Clareman. She was put to Cavalier Royale and produced Gowran Lady, the dam of the now great team horse MHS Going Global, by Guidam Junior. This stallion was originally brought into Ireland by Ita’s son, John Brennan of Tramore, but is now with Tom Meagher at Kedrah House Stud. The Brennans currently have three full sisters, a half-brother and a four-year-old full brother to Going Global.

THE DISPERSAL SALE

The Kells line had its origins on the magnificent 1,000-acre Tobin Estate.

“They had kept the finest kind of horses around,” says Tom.

Upon the death of its owners, Norah and Dick Tobin, in the 1980s, their fine stock came up for dispersal. Through the intervention of good businesswoman Biddy Loughlin of Gowran, the best mares from the farm were kept local and one of them came to Ita and Tom.

Looking for an extra bit of “blood”, the Clareman mare was put to Imperius and these coverings resulted in two fillies: Grange Suzy and Gene Pool.

Gene Pool went to Ita’s son John, and with her he bred the great international Olympic and World Championship eventing medalist for Mary King – Imperial Cavalier by Cavalier Royale.

Ita put Grange Susy to her brother John’s Cavalier Royale as well and got the superb mare Mill Royale. And it is out of Mill Royale that she and Tom bred the Lanaken World Young Horse Championship silver medalist MHS Washington, by O.B.O.S. Quality.

“The mare is eight parts of the job,” says Tom.

This year’s Dublin Horse Show results illustrate just how true that is.

In addition to the MHS Going Global and MHS Automatic for Greg Broderick, there was ESI Star Struck that won the four-year-old championship and the Seamus Hughes Cup for Ita’s brother Andy.

Then there was the unique broodmare double scored by Ita’s niece, Marion Hughes, who bred both The Irish Field Breeders’ Championship winner Aidensfield Flamenco and the Broodmare Futurity Champion HHS Athena.

HSI Breeders Awards

This year’s Horse Sport Ireland Breeders’ Awards will take place on Tuesday, 3 November, at the Kilmore Hotel near Cavan – the day before the Cavan Indoor International gets under way at Cavan EC. As usual, the Irish-breds that contributed most to Ireland’s show jumping and eventing teams will be honoured. There will also be awards for the highest placed in the WBFSH young horse championships and the highest places mares at the mare inspections. In addition, prizes will go to the top ISA showing mares. For the first time, there will be an award for the best performance from the pony studbook and finally a much-coveted award for lifetime contribution to Irish breeding.

Reynolds fifth in Odense World Cup

Irish dressage rider Judy Reynolds scored 74.425% with Joe and Kathleen Reynolds’ 13-year-old Jazz gelding Vancouver K, to place fifth in the Grand Prix Kür (freestyle to music) at the FEI World Cup show in Odense, Denmark, last Sunday. Odense was the venue for the opening leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage 2015/2016 series, the final will be staged in Gothenburg, Sweden, next March.

Reynolds scored 12 points for fifth place in Odense and plans to compete in the World Cup qualifiers in Lyon and Olympia between now and Christmas.

Former Dutch world champion Edward Gal and Glock’s Voice won the opening FEI World Cup qualifier on a score of 78.80%.

Swail on the double

Conor Swail’s amazing run of top drawer results continued with back-to-back wins for the Co Down show jumper at the two-star show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Swail took the opening competition with Viva Columbia, quickly following with a second win later in the day on Simba de la Roque.