Generation Next: Barry Donoghue's passion and drive for producing the young thoroughbred

Cover image courtesy of Riverrock farm

Irishman Barry Donoghue’s first memory of thoroughbreds is visiting the Castletown-Geoghegan racecourse with his father when he was five years old, watching the point-to-pointers skim through the brush. His parents were not horse people to begin with - in fact, Donoghue admits that his mother is afraid of them - but the industry was never far away.

“It was quite a spectacle,” Donoghue recalled of watching point-to-point racing, and it soon became clear that he wanted to ride. His grandfather and uncle had both been fieldmasters for the Westmeath foxhounds, and it was at his grandfather’s farm that Donoghue first sat on a pony.

Riding lessons swiftly followed, then his own pony, and Donoghue enjoyed being an active member of the Pony Club, regularly eventing and show jumping. His father even picked up the reins in his late forties to join his son and his brother out hunting. Donoghue’s pony was kept at Charlestown Stud, which was acquired by National Hunt and flat racing trainer Ciaran Murphy when Donoghue was around ten.

Gallery: Image supplied

“That was my foot into the industry,” Donoghue said. He started on the ground at Murphy’s yard, working his way up to being in the saddle as the team transformed from only point-to-point horses to breaking, schooling, and training some of the finest National Hunt horses in the country.

“There were lots of good horses along the way, but War Of Attrition was a stand out,” Donoghue recalled. “He was a very good horse.” War Of Attrition (Ire) (Presenting {GB}), owned by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, won 14 of his starts over jumps for trainer Michael F Morris, including the crown jewel in Ireland’s jumping crown, the Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase in 2006.

Working holiday

Donoghue worked for Murphy all the way up until he turned 18 and finished school, at which point he seized the opportunity to spend a bit of time away from home. Travelling to Australia, he initially spent six months with talented horseman Rick Worthington, known best for his long associations with Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara and the Ingham family, and his hand early in the careers of high calibre horses like Flying Spur, Encosta De Lago, Snitzel, and Miss Finland (Redoute’s Choice).

“I learned a lot there, he was a fantastic person,” said Donoghue. His time with the late Worthington coincided with the breaking-in of Pressday, the talented son of Domesday who won four stakes races, highlighted by the G1 TJ Smith Classic. Another stallion that Donoghue can recall passing through Worthington’s barn was the Group 3-winning Stryker, who he remembers as being “gorgeous”.

For the next 18 months, Donoghue moved to Julien Welsh’s Booralite Park, where over 200 yearlings pass through the operation every year.

“It’s a massive set-up,” he said. “Again, there were some lovely horses. It's always nice to work with nice stock, right?

“But really, it was a testament to the people I was working for. They had built up their reputation so high that they got such brilliant clients and quality animals. So I look back and think how lucky I was to be (working) under these guys that taught me a hell of a lot.”

Sharpening skills

Back in Ireland, Donoghue split himself between Lynn Lodge Stud, where he rode out on Eddie O’Leary’s breeze-up horses, and starting a small breaking and pretraining business of his own. He diversified from just thoroughbreds, taking on sports horses and riding ponies. After chipping away for three years, Donoghue knew he had to make another change. Ireland entered a recession and the money coming in slowed to a trickle, prompting him to look back overseas.

“I sent out some emails, and I got offered a job in America and a job in New Zealand.” Donoghue leaned towards the latter, and, in 2013, booked himself on a plane to Matamata, where he landed on the doorstep of Kilgravin Lodge. What started as a track riding job quickly morphed into a managerial position as Eion Kemp’s operation grew. In Donoghue’s first year with Kemp, they took five horses to the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, which grew to 36 runners in his last year with the operation.

Kemp also pinhooked and prepared yearlings, and Donoghue remembers the year that No Nay Never (USA) was all the rage.

“I was talking to a friend back home that year, and he said, ‘God, the No Nay Nevers, they're lovely’, ” Donoghue remembered. “I passed that information onto Eion (Kemp) when he was going to the sales, and he ended up buying one and bringing it back.”

That $65,000 weanling purchase from Burnewang North Pastoral became Need I Say More (No Nay Never {USA}), who sold for NZ$130,000 at the following year’s New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale to David Ellis CNZM. The tip would pay off even more on the track, where Need I Say More collected five stakes wins for the Te Akau team, crowned by victory in the G2 Wellington Guineas in 2021. His dam Bo Bardi (Fastnet Rock) has a now-yearling colt by Pinatubo (Ire), which was bought by Bastille Trust for $260,000 at last year’s Inglis Great Southern Sale, and a filly born in the spring by Hellbent.

Donoghue is modest about his hand in Need I Say More's destiny - but you can’t deny that kind of confidence boost.

Back in the saddle

After three years at Kilgravin Lodge, Donoghue took a slightly different direction. While working for Chad Ormsby, who had recently left Ballymore Stables to focus on his own Riverrock Farm venture, and fourth generation horse trainer Cody Cole, Donoghue took out his jumps jockey license.

His first recorded ride was a 3500-metre steeplechase on the then-9-year-old El Disparo (NZ) (El Hermano {NZ}) and the pair won by 1.25l for trainer Mark Brooks.

“I had quite a good jumps career over here,” Donoghue said. “But unfortunately, every time I fell, I broke something.”

After two seasons of riding, the career change came to a crashing stop with a nasty fall in 2022, where Donoghue broke eight vertebrae in his neck and back. He swiftly hung up the racing boots, and picked up a sales catalogue instead. It was time to launch BMD Bloodstock.

Sole trader

Donoghue had been “dabbling” in pinhooking and breeding since arriving in New Zealand almost a decade before, so it was time to bring it all together. Eleven horses, a mix of his own pinhook selections and those of clients, filled out his first draft under the BMD Bloodstock banner at the 2023 Ready to Run sale, and all 11 sold. The highlight among them was a colt by Wrote (Ire) out of Alberta (NZ) (Magic Albert), a half-sister to 11-time winner Mr Gustavo (NZ) (Savabeel). Bought for $290,000 by Equine Investments, he is now a HK$2.9 million (A$600,000) in Hong Kong under the name Fast Network.

“It was a pretty good first little draft,” said Donoghue. “Everything sold and everybody came out happy.” While he didn’t have full clearance at the 2024 edition of the sale, there was still plenty to enjoy, including selling a Toronado (Ire) colt out of Attractive (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), a half-sister to Loving Gaby’s (I Am Invincible) dam Maastricht (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), for $625,000 - a “fantastic result” for a new client.

Gallery: Some of the horses sold by Barry Donoghue's BMD Bloodstock, image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock

Donoghue operates out of a 40-acre farm near Te Rapa, and surrounds himself with a small, passionate team. He still rides much of his own work, and utilizes arena work and the beach to keep his horses fresh. While his jumps jockey licence has long since expired, Donoghue hasn’t forgotten his roots, and keeps a few logs on hand to ensure horses stay engaged.

“We’ve got a great little core team,” Donoghue said. “I feel very privileged. We're just taking each day as it comes, really, and seeing where we get to. We have room to expand and we’re only going forward.”

Donoghue also recently took out his trainer’s licence, and although the racehorses remain more of a hobby for the moment - his “drive and passion” is for producing young horses still - he does accept that one day he won’t be riding the breakers anymore.

In the meantime, he is booked to come over to the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale next month as he starts to set up his 2025 Ready to Run draft.

“No matter where you go and no matter what sale you go to in Australia, there's a lot of quality animals around,” he said. “We’re excited to get over there this year and see what damage we can do!”

Ample opportunity

For Donoghue, the love and passion for the horse - and the industry around it - is among the most important elements in progression in the thoroughbred world. A willingness to “have a go” is up there as well.

“Work hard, take every opportunity, and give it a go,” have been his key takeaways from his journey so far. “Ask lots of questions and listen to everyone’s advice.”

“There's an ample opportunity out there if you're willing to have a crack.”