SOME 1.386 billion citizens in mainland China, plus another 50 million Chinese around the world, will celebrate their New Year next Tuesday. 2019, in both the Far East and West, will be an epic one for Jimmy and Edel Quinn with major projects lined up around the world.
The main venture is overseeing a new equestrian centre, from green field to completed site, on Chongming Island, near Shanghai. This ambitious project, with a budget of US$500 million, will see the Galway couple spending most of 2019 in China.
“We’ll be based there but we’ll be back and forth. We’ll be back for Dublin!” said Jimmy, whose team of Irish Draught stallions have taken a slew of champion, reserve, and often both, titles there since 2008.
Blending their professional background with a love of horses and aptitude for promoting Irish goods, ties in well with the Chinese business plan, which, interestingly, has a Made in the USA theme.
Jimmy was born there, “in Astoria in Queens. I lived there until I was seven and then my parents came back home. My dad is from Powers Cross, near Woodford, he’d have known the Pages, Stan and Matt [Clover Hill’s breeder] and that’s where I got my love of horses from; my grandparents. Mom’s from Cavan, my parents met in the ‘60s in New York and got married.”
When the couple moved their family home to Ireland, they chose Ballinasloe “between Powers Cross and Cavan! It was a big culture shock coming back but you’re young, you adapt,” said this affable character, and he later returned to America.
After graduating from the world-renowned Coopers Union and Pratt Institute, he worked as a city planner for the New York City Department of Buildings.
It was on a Christmas visit home that he met Edel Burke. “He swept me off my feet!” she laughed. “I was born and raised in Ballinasloe so I didn’t grow up with horses. Same as with Jimmy, it was my grandparents, from Killimor, that had horses back in the day. Then obviously the October Fair, so there was always that love of horses as well.”
Having made the move to New York to join Jimmy, Edel later worked for Pinnacle Environmental, an Irish company and then with high-end watch company, Patek Philippe, in their Rockefeller Center base. “I loved that job. I basically ran their front office operation for them. I loved New York, loved the lifestyle.”
Sealed with a kiss: Jimmy Quinn embraces wife Edel after their stallion Cappa Cassanova won in Dublin for a third time. Photo Susan Finnerty
9/11 changed their plans. “I suppose after 9/11 happened, we decided it would be nice to start thinking about moving back home,” said Edel, explaining their Irish move.
“We came home at the end of 2006,” added her husband. “At the time I was working in construction and Galway was booming then, so I figured I’d need to be near the city. I’d seen a site for sale in Annaghdown so that’s where we built our house and stud.
“Cappa is where my father’s people come from, outside Woodford, it’s the last hill on the way into Woodford from Loughrea. So when my Dad and his late brother Johnny built our house before we moved back, they put the name Cappa on it.”
It was before the M6 Dublin-Galway motorway was completed. “In hindsight, we’d have preferred to have moved to Ballinasloe,” said Edel frankly.
THE LUCK LOTTERY
The location has become an increasingly key issue as their Irish Draught herd expanded and the couple now own 10 Irish Draught stallions. Why did they initially select an Irish Draught? “It’s not that I have a preference for Draughts, I love all horses but I guess it’s just fate the way it turned out. I would like to get a good thoroughbred stallion further down the line.”
That twist of fate involved Jimmy spotting an advert for the young Cappa Cochise. Working in New York at the time, he arranged for the yearling to be brought to Noel Ryan’s yard. One of Edel’s bosses at Pinnacle Environmental was Paul O’Brien, from Tipperary. “Noel used to board his horses while he was in New York,” said Edel.
“I explained that I couldn’t get home but if you bring the horse up to Noel to look at and we’ll agree on a price now, if he’s what we’re looking for. So after that you take a chance and a lot of it is luck anyhow. He turned out very lucky,” he said about the dual Dublin reserve champion in 2008 and 2010.
“Cassanova came along next,” continued Jimmy, who spotted Headford breeder Seamus Leahy at Tullamore Show, “with a lovely filly foal.” He called over to Leahy’s Headford farm the following week.
“Cassanova was in the same field. I actually preferred him but at the time I was looking for a filly so we agreed a deal for the two foals and that’s how I got him. I remember kneeling down and Cassanova was only four months at the time. He came right up to me and put his hoof on my knee and I just instantly connected with him,” said Jimmy, who studied Equine Behaviour and Stallion Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
“Without a doubt, I guess there’s always that one special horse that everyone has in their lifetime. You’d always hope for the next one but he’s special.
"He’s done everything from in-hand to show jumping,” he added about the Dublin triple champion stallion, awarded gold and silver merits for show jumping and dressage.
Edel Quinn with the 'special one' Cappa Cassanova at the 2015 Dublin Horse Show. Photo Cody Glenn/ SPORTSFILE
Edel Quinn with the 'special one' Cappa Cassanova at the 2015 Dublin Horse Show. Photo Cody Glenn/ SPORTSFILE
His biggest rival from his Cappa stable companions is Aristocrat, the Dublin champion in 2017 and twice reserve (2015, 2018). “Aristocrat was bought from John Keane, I never really had a notion of buying him,” he said, although he changed his mind after seeing the youngster jumping.
“He was phenomenal loose jumping. I said, even if he doesn’t make it as a stallion, he’d make a great ridden horse.”
Demand for quality ridden Draught geldings has mushroomed in recent years and Jimmy believes the Irish Draught performance class at Dublin is largely responsible for this growth. “I think it has totally raised the bar and brought new people, who wouldn’t have bought Draughts before, into the market.
“Now everybody is calling up looking for a colt and you’d have a lucrative market for young geldings. Years ago, it was the filly foal that was more valuable,” Jimmy said.
“If we had three and four-year-old geldings, we’d sell them every day of the week,” agreed Edel, who has her own theory about how they’ve acquired new stallions. “I always say that the stallions all have their own individual story but they all seem to find Jimmy, he never intentionally goes out looking to find a stallion.”
That proved to be the case too with Cappa Amadeus. “He’s special because Jimmy got a call from Des Noctor,” she explained. “It was my first introduction to Des, a very straightforward, very straight-shooting fellow.
“He said to me ‘Have you any nice geldings, we might do a deal, I have a very nice colt and he’s too good to geld’,” said Jimmy, recalling how Des had done a previous deal for an in-foal mare on a lorry heading to the factory. “And her foal was Amadeus. I wanted to give some reference to Des when we were naming him and the nearest was Amadeus!”
Amongst the many visitors to his Dublin box was the Princess Royal during her 2016 visit to the Horse Show.
Amadeus and another of the team, Cappa Emperor travelled to England for the IDHS (GB) stallion inspections in 2016. This followed Horse Sport Ireland’s controversial decision to suspend inspections and although the Cavan dates went ahead, the Quinns stuck with their original decision to travel to the UK.
“I thought that was a major step back in the wrong direction [suspending HSI inspections] because in any industry, there has to be set standards, there has to be benchmarks. We’re trying to raise the standard all the time, not breeding to anything and everything. It would have totally devalued the market if it there were no inspection.
“Everything now, when you’re selling an animal, is coming down to X-rays,’ he continued. “So chances are when you have a sire that’s passed his X-rays and is sound, you’ve a better chance that the offspring will too.
“For vetting the stallions for inspections, we use Ned O’Flynn and Philip McManus is our other vet, two totally vocational men. I don’t know how they do the job,” Jimmy said.
“We’re blessed where we are location-wise, being near two of the best horse vets,” added Edel. “Philip would never let you down, he’d always find time to get to you.”
PINK LEGEND
Cappa Dianthus is another favourite and Jimmy, who’d grown up in the era of Patrick and Katie Duane’s legendary Pink Carnation, told his background story. “In the late ‘70s and 80s, Draughts were a great commodity and there was great interest in the breed. It’s sad because whereas once it was the grassroots farmer-breeder with one or two Draught mares, that’s died out now.
“Growing up in Ballinasloe, I heard about this mare out in Kilrickle that won Dublin and the Greenvale and my Dad’s grand-uncle was Duane as well. I had great memories of that gentleman and I always had this vision of Pink Carnation when I’d seen her back in the late ‘70s.”
Pink Carnation’s grandson Cappa Dianthus at Dublin Horse Show, where he was the reserve champion stallion in 2017, with Stevo Finn. Photo Susan Finnerty
Pink Carnation’s grandson Cappa Dianthus at Dublin Horse Show, where he was the reserve champion stallion in 2017, with Stevo Finn. Photo Susan Finnerty
A conversation led to an unexpected discovery. “I get our oats from Pat Dillon in Portumna and Pat took on Pink Carnation in later years. He used to tell me great stories and he actually told me he had two daughters that were still alive.”
“When we first saw the mares and they came up to us in the field... you know the feeling when you just walk into an old cathedral?’ said Edel, explaining their “walk back through Irish Draught history.”
Jimmy made a deal with Pat to buy any of the 25-year-old Portumna Carnation’s foals. “The very first year we had a filly by Cochise, so then I said can we try again for a colt by Cassanova and Dianthus was born from that. I Googled the name and Carnation is a Greek flower, so the Greek word for pink carnation is Dianthus!”
BIG MOVE
Moving on from pink carnations to white magnolias – the official flower of Shanghai – the popular couple leave for the ‘Paris of the East’ in March. The move means the Cappa stallions will stand elsewhere this breeding season.
“We’re still in the process of deciding which of the stallions are going to go where,” remarked Edel. “Most important is welfare, to make sure they’ll be looked after.”
Jimmy reveals how Brexit has impacted plans, saying: “We had three that we were planning to send over to England but Brexit now has put a major dampener on that. One is going to John McShane in Dundalk and Cassanova and Aristocrat are going to stand with Ivor and Olive [Broderick] in Kylemore Stud and we’re delighted with that.”
“We’re just so happy because Olive doesn’t have any other Draught stallions and she’s in a fantastic location with fantastic facilities and they do AI, that’s very important,” added Edel.
So how did the Chinese project begin? It turns out the Celtic Tiger was the catalyst.
“When the crash came here, we had all these stallions and mares and we said ‘Okay, where is the market at the moment?’ At the time, everything was pointing to Asia and China.
"So we thought why don’t we go on a fact finding mission to see if we can create a market,” revealed Jimmy.
Edel credits the Local Enterprise office in Galway, saying: “They were extremely helpful with regards to mentoring and putting us in touch with people who had done business in China. One particular person they put us in touch with, Charlie Coughlan, owns a couple of factories over there and he was an immense help, because when you go over there on your own, it’s difficult.
“Everyone who has done business and been successful in China, they all understand that it’s a long process. The relationship is extremely important over there, everything has to be done face to face, they have to get to know you, to trust you.”
Cracking the Chinese market is a painstaking process as Connollys Red Mills’ Michael Connolly and west of Ireland expats Arthur Judge and Austin Melia have described in previous The Irish Field articles.
From their initial 2013 recce of six Chinese cities, with potential investors lined up in each, the Quinns have just returned from Shanghai to see how plans for the 600-acre site are progressing.
“Actually one of the last cross-country courses Tommy Brennan designed is at the new centre in Shanghai,” revealed Jimmy.
What were they offering local investment partners? “It was along the lines of architecture – to go along and design an equestrian centre – ship over some horses, implement a breeding programme and then create a market.
“We were very lucky with the [local] developer that we met through Charlie, he was looking for a green project and so it was a win-win for both of us,” replied Jimmy, outlining his dual ‘Draughtsman’ brief, from drafting the initial design to the supply of four-legged Irish exports at completion.
IRISH BRAND
European agents are highly proactive at keeping the Chinese market supplied with horses, however the Quinns feel there is a gap in the market which they feel can be filled by Connemara ponies and Irish Draughts.
“They’ll be every breed but from what I envision, ponies will be huge because I think the sport will grow with children,” said Jimmy, describing potential future purchases for the fledgling sport.
The couple say they are taking a long-term strategic view to the Asian market and plans for the initial Shanghai project include a hotel, apartments and retail units. This is where Edel’s retail acumen will come into play.
“I have to say that one of my favourite things coming from Ballinasloe is the association with Dubarry and several family members have worked there throughout the years. I just love their clothes, the style and I think that’s something we could bring over to China and help promote a quality Irish brand.”
Jimmy and Edel Quinn with the second of their Dublin champions - Cappa Aristocrat in 2017 - shown by Seamus O'Neill. Photo Susan Finnerty
The sale of horses, including Cappa Aoife, (by Cassanova out of the good show ring winner Cappa Princess) to Hollywood writer and producer John Francis Whelpley, a great-grandson of O’Donovan Rossa, and to Michel Cece has opened up a new transatlantic market too.
“We’ve sold a couple of horses to Michael, two of the Irish mares we sold him are already broken and riding. We stayed in his house for WEG, we were there mainly for the eventing but I was disappointed with WEG, there was just no atmosphere,” Jimmy remarked.
“I think once it’s completed, Tryon will be absolutely stunning. They love fox hunting around Tryon and we think the Irish Draught would be suitable so we’re in discussions with Michael, who’s thinking of starting a farm,” said Edel.
“There’s huge potential if we could start something over there, maybe we could look at possibly rotating some of the stallions that we have here every couple of years to Tryon.”
Could lessons learned from Tryon be beneficial for the Shanghai project? “Yes, you would learn for the facility in China; what to do, what not to do,” replied Jimmy. “The big difference and the big advantage Shanghai has is population: 24 million and this centre is within 40 minutes of the city. You’ve got a huge expat population of 250,000 Europeans and Americans, so you have an audience there.”
Despite 2019 being a whirlwind year for the couple, Dublin is firmly marked in their calendar.
“Dublin is a lottery, any horse can win up there. We don’t take it too seriously, it’s not about going up to win, it’s to showcase the stallions for mares for next year.
“You do try to win but its not the be-all and end-all of why you go,” said Jimmy, who good-naturedly protests that he’s “only been to Copper Face Jacks three times! Dublin is great fun because once the class is over, everyone goes out that night.”
August will also double up as a reunion for those involved with the success of the Cappa horses. “There’s been so many people, from breaking, producing, showing, plaiting the horses… you couldn’t name them all but we can’t thank them enough,” he added.
The countdown is on to the next stage of overseeing the Chinese project, then there’s the Tryon plan to develop. “I love doing what I do,” remarked the affable Jimmy Quinn. “For me, the glass is always half full anyway. Life is short, make the most of it.”
SOME 1.386 billion citizens in mainland China, plus another 50 million Chinese around the world, will celebrate their New Year next Tuesday. 2019, in both the Far East and West, will be an epic one for Jimmy and Edel Quinn with major projects lined up around the world.
The main venture is overseeing a new equestrian centre, from green field to completed site, on Chongming Island, near Shanghai. This ambitious project, with a budget of US$500 million, will see the Galway couple spending most of 2019 in China.
“We’ll be based there but we’ll be back and forth. We’ll be back for Dublin!” said Jimmy, whose team of Irish Draught stallions have taken a slew of champion, reserve, and often both, titles there since 2008.
Blending their professional background with a love of horses and aptitude for promoting Irish goods, ties in well with the Chinese business plan, which, interestingly, has a Made in the USA theme.
Jimmy was born there, “in Astoria in Queens. I lived there until I was seven and then my parents came back home. My dad is from Powers Cross, near Woodford, he’d have known the Pages, Stan and Matt [Clover Hill’s breeder] and that’s where I got my love of horses from; my grandparents. Mom’s from Cavan, my parents met in the ‘60s in New York and got married.”
When the couple moved their family home to Ireland, they chose Ballinasloe “between Powers Cross and Cavan! It was a big culture shock coming back but you’re young, you adapt,” said this affable character, and he later returned to America.
After graduating from the world-renowned Coopers Union and Pratt Institute, he worked as a city planner for the New York City Department of Buildings.
It was on a Christmas visit home that he met Edel Burke. “He swept me off my feet!” she laughed. “I was born and raised in Ballinasloe so I didn’t grow up with horses. Same as with Jimmy, it was my grandparents, from Killimor, that had horses back in the day. Then obviously the October Fair, so there was always that love of horses as well.”
Having made the move to New York to join Jimmy, Edel later worked for Pinnacle Environmental, an Irish company and then with high-end watch company, Patek Philippe, in their Rockefeller Center base. “I loved that job. I basically ran their front office operation for them. I loved New York, loved the lifestyle.”
Sealed with a kiss: Jimmy Quinn embraces wife Edel after their stallion Cappa Cassanova won in Dublin for a third time. Photo Susan Finnerty
9/11 changed their plans. “I suppose after 9/11 happened, we decided it would be nice to start thinking about moving back home,” said Edel, explaining their Irish move.
“We came home at the end of 2006,” added her husband. “At the time I was working in construction and Galway was booming then, so I figured I’d need to be near the city. I’d seen a site for sale in Annaghdown so that’s where we built our house and stud.
“Cappa is where my father’s people come from, outside Woodford, it’s the last hill on the way into Woodford from Loughrea. So when my Dad and his late brother Johnny built our house before we moved back, they put the name Cappa on it.”
It was before the M6 Dublin-Galway motorway was completed. “In hindsight, we’d have preferred to have moved to Ballinasloe,” said Edel frankly.
THE LUCK LOTTERY
The location has become an increasingly key issue as their Irish Draught herd expanded and the couple now own 10 Irish Draught stallions. Why did they initially select an Irish Draught? “It’s not that I have a preference for Draughts, I love all horses but I guess it’s just fate the way it turned out. I would like to get a good thoroughbred stallion further down the line.”
That twist of fate involved Jimmy spotting an advert for the young Cappa Cochise. Working in New York at the time, he arranged for the yearling to be brought to Noel Ryan’s yard. One of Edel’s bosses at Pinnacle Environmental was Paul O’Brien, from Tipperary. “Noel used to board his horses while he was in New York,” said Edel.
“I explained that I couldn’t get home but if you bring the horse up to Noel to look at and we’ll agree on a price now, if he’s what we’re looking for. So after that you take a chance and a lot of it is luck anyhow. He turned out very lucky,” he said about the dual Dublin reserve champion in 2008 and 2010.
“Cassanova came along next,” continued Jimmy, who spotted Headford breeder Seamus Leahy at Tullamore Show, “with a lovely filly foal.” He called over to Leahy’s Headford farm the following week.
“Cassanova was in the same field. I actually preferred him but at the time I was looking for a filly so we agreed a deal for the two foals and that’s how I got him. I remember kneeling down and Cassanova was only four months at the time. He came right up to me and put his hoof on my knee and I just instantly connected with him,” said Jimmy, who studied Equine Behaviour and Stallion Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
“Without a doubt, I guess there’s always that one special horse that everyone has in their lifetime. You’d always hope for the next one but he’s special.
"He’s done everything from in-hand to show jumping,” he added about the Dublin triple champion stallion, awarded gold and silver merits for show jumping and dressage.
Edel Quinn with the 'special one' Cappa Cassanova at the 2015 Dublin Horse Show. Photo Cody Glenn/ SPORTSFILE
Edel Quinn with the 'special one' Cappa Cassanova at the 2015 Dublin Horse Show. Photo Cody Glenn/ SPORTSFILE
His biggest rival from his Cappa stable companions is Aristocrat, the Dublin champion in 2017 and twice reserve (2015, 2018). “Aristocrat was bought from John Keane, I never really had a notion of buying him,” he said, although he changed his mind after seeing the youngster jumping.
“He was phenomenal loose jumping. I said, even if he doesn’t make it as a stallion, he’d make a great ridden horse.”
Demand for quality ridden Draught geldings has mushroomed in recent years and Jimmy believes the Irish Draught performance class at Dublin is largely responsible for this growth. “I think it has totally raised the bar and brought new people, who wouldn’t have bought Draughts before, into the market.
“Now everybody is calling up looking for a colt and you’d have a lucrative market for young geldings. Years ago, it was the filly foal that was more valuable,” Jimmy said.
“If we had three and four-year-old geldings, we’d sell them every day of the week,” agreed Edel, who has her own theory about how they’ve acquired new stallions. “I always say that the stallions all have their own individual story but they all seem to find Jimmy, he never intentionally goes out looking to find a stallion.”
That proved to be the case too with Cappa Amadeus. “He’s special because Jimmy got a call from Des Noctor,” she explained. “It was my first introduction to Des, a very straightforward, very straight-shooting fellow.
“He said to me ‘Have you any nice geldings, we might do a deal, I have a very nice colt and he’s too good to geld’,” said Jimmy, recalling how Des had done a previous deal for an in-foal mare on a lorry heading to the factory. “And her foal was Amadeus. I wanted to give some reference to Des when we were naming him and the nearest was Amadeus!”
Amongst the many visitors to his Dublin box was the Princess Royal during her 2016 visit to the Horse Show.
Amadeus and another of the team, Cappa Emperor travelled to England for the IDHS (GB) stallion inspections in 2016. This followed Horse Sport Ireland’s controversial decision to suspend inspections and although the Cavan dates went ahead, the Quinns stuck with their original decision to travel to the UK.
“I thought that was a major step back in the wrong direction [suspending HSI inspections] because in any industry, there has to be set standards, there has to be benchmarks. We’re trying to raise the standard all the time, not breeding to anything and everything. It would have totally devalued the market if it there were no inspection.
“Everything now, when you’re selling an animal, is coming down to X-rays,’ he continued. “So chances are when you have a sire that’s passed his X-rays and is sound, you’ve a better chance that the offspring will too.
“For vetting the stallions for inspections, we use Ned O’Flynn and Philip McManus is our other vet, two totally vocational men. I don’t know how they do the job,” Jimmy said.
“We’re blessed where we are location-wise, being near two of the best horse vets,” added Edel. “Philip would never let you down, he’d always find time to get to you.”
PINK LEGEND
Cappa Dianthus is another favourite and Jimmy, who’d grown up in the era of Patrick and Katie Duane’s legendary Pink Carnation, told his background story. “In the late ‘70s and 80s, Draughts were a great commodity and there was great interest in the breed. It’s sad because whereas once it was the grassroots farmer-breeder with one or two Draught mares, that’s died out now.
“Growing up in Ballinasloe, I heard about this mare out in Kilrickle that won Dublin and the Greenvale and my Dad’s grand-uncle was Duane as well. I had great memories of that gentleman and I always had this vision of Pink Carnation when I’d seen her back in the late ‘70s.”
Pink Carnation’s grandson Cappa Dianthus at Dublin Horse Show, where he was the reserve champion stallion in 2017, with Stevo Finn. Photo Susan Finnerty
Pink Carnation’s grandson Cappa Dianthus at Dublin Horse Show, where he was the reserve champion stallion in 2017, with Stevo Finn. Photo Susan Finnerty
A conversation led to an unexpected discovery. “I get our oats from Pat Dillon in Portumna and Pat took on Pink Carnation in later years. He used to tell me great stories and he actually told me he had two daughters that were still alive.”
“When we first saw the mares and they came up to us in the field... you know the feeling when you just walk into an old cathedral?’ said Edel, explaining their “walk back through Irish Draught history.”
Jimmy made a deal with Pat to buy any of the 25-year-old Portumna Carnation’s foals. “The very first year we had a filly by Cochise, so then I said can we try again for a colt by Cassanova and Dianthus was born from that. I Googled the name and Carnation is a Greek flower, so the Greek word for pink carnation is Dianthus!”
BIG MOVE
Moving on from pink carnations to white magnolias – the official flower of Shanghai – the popular couple leave for the ‘Paris of the East’ in March. The move means the Cappa stallions will stand elsewhere this breeding season.
“We’re still in the process of deciding which of the stallions are going to go where,” remarked Edel. “Most important is welfare, to make sure they’ll be looked after.”
Jimmy reveals how Brexit has impacted plans, saying: “We had three that we were planning to send over to England but Brexit now has put a major dampener on that. One is going to John McShane in Dundalk and Cassanova and Aristocrat are going to stand with Ivor and Olive [Broderick] in Kylemore Stud and we’re delighted with that.”
“We’re just so happy because Olive doesn’t have any other Draught stallions and she’s in a fantastic location with fantastic facilities and they do AI, that’s very important,” added Edel.
So how did the Chinese project begin? It turns out the Celtic Tiger was the catalyst.
“When the crash came here, we had all these stallions and mares and we said ‘Okay, where is the market at the moment?’ At the time, everything was pointing to Asia and China.
"So we thought why don’t we go on a fact finding mission to see if we can create a market,” revealed Jimmy.
Edel credits the Local Enterprise office in Galway, saying: “They were extremely helpful with regards to mentoring and putting us in touch with people who had done business in China. One particular person they put us in touch with, Charlie Coughlan, owns a couple of factories over there and he was an immense help, because when you go over there on your own, it’s difficult.
“Everyone who has done business and been successful in China, they all understand that it’s a long process. The relationship is extremely important over there, everything has to be done face to face, they have to get to know you, to trust you.”
Cracking the Chinese market is a painstaking process as Connollys Red Mills’ Michael Connolly and west of Ireland expats Arthur Judge and Austin Melia have described in previous The Irish Field articles.
From their initial 2013 recce of six Chinese cities, with potential investors lined up in each, the Quinns have just returned from Shanghai to see how plans for the 600-acre site are progressing.
“Actually one of the last cross-country courses Tommy Brennan designed is at the new centre in Shanghai,” revealed Jimmy.
What were they offering local investment partners? “It was along the lines of architecture – to go along and design an equestrian centre – ship over some horses, implement a breeding programme and then create a market.
“We were very lucky with the [local] developer that we met through Charlie, he was looking for a green project and so it was a win-win for both of us,” replied Jimmy, outlining his dual ‘Draughtsman’ brief, from drafting the initial design to the supply of four-legged Irish exports at completion.
IRISH BRAND
European agents are highly proactive at keeping the Chinese market supplied with horses, however the Quinns feel there is a gap in the market which they feel can be filled by Connemara ponies and Irish Draughts.
“They’ll be every breed but from what I envision, ponies will be huge because I think the sport will grow with children,” said Jimmy, describing potential future purchases for the fledgling sport.
The couple say they are taking a long-term strategic view to the Asian market and plans for the initial Shanghai project include a hotel, apartments and retail units. This is where Edel’s retail acumen will come into play.
“I have to say that one of my favourite things coming from Ballinasloe is the association with Dubarry and several family members have worked there throughout the years. I just love their clothes, the style and I think that’s something we could bring over to China and help promote a quality Irish brand.”
Jimmy and Edel Quinn with the second of their Dublin champions - Cappa Aristocrat in 2017 - shown by Seamus O'Neill. Photo Susan Finnerty
The sale of horses, including Cappa Aoife, (by Cassanova out of the good show ring winner Cappa Princess) to Hollywood writer and producer John Francis Whelpley, a great-grandson of O’Donovan Rossa, and to Michel Cece has opened up a new transatlantic market too.
“We’ve sold a couple of horses to Michael, two of the Irish mares we sold him are already broken and riding. We stayed in his house for WEG, we were there mainly for the eventing but I was disappointed with WEG, there was just no atmosphere,” Jimmy remarked.
“I think once it’s completed, Tryon will be absolutely stunning. They love fox hunting around Tryon and we think the Irish Draught would be suitable so we’re in discussions with Michael, who’s thinking of starting a farm,” said Edel.
“There’s huge potential if we could start something over there, maybe we could look at possibly rotating some of the stallions that we have here every couple of years to Tryon.”
Could lessons learned from Tryon be beneficial for the Shanghai project? “Yes, you would learn for the facility in China; what to do, what not to do,” replied Jimmy. “The big difference and the big advantage Shanghai has is population: 24 million and this centre is within 40 minutes of the city. You’ve got a huge expat population of 250,000 Europeans and Americans, so you have an audience there.”
Despite 2019 being a whirlwind year for the couple, Dublin is firmly marked in their calendar.
“Dublin is a lottery, any horse can win up there. We don’t take it too seriously, it’s not about going up to win, it’s to showcase the stallions for mares for next year.
“You do try to win but its not the be-all and end-all of why you go,” said Jimmy, who good-naturedly protests that he’s “only been to Copper Face Jacks three times! Dublin is great fun because once the class is over, everyone goes out that night.”
August will also double up as a reunion for those involved with the success of the Cappa horses. “There’s been so many people, from breaking, producing, showing, plaiting the horses… you couldn’t name them all but we can’t thank them enough,” he added.
The countdown is on to the next stage of overseeing the Chinese project, then there’s the Tryon plan to develop. “I love doing what I do,” remarked the affable Jimmy Quinn. “For me, the glass is always half full anyway. Life is short, make the most of it.”
SHARING OPTIONS