Four-year-old double for Kilbarry Lodge Stud

Image © Healy Racing

Kilbarry Lodge Stud’s sires produced two nice four-year-old prospects with impressive debut wins from Road Exile and and Adamas sired by Harzand and Diamond Boy respectively.

The success at Rathcannon on Sunday of Road Exile led leading point-to-point handler Cormac Doyle to state how Harzand is a stallion that has caught his eye.

“He’s the only four-year-old I have by Harzand but I have another three-year-old by him and I do like them,” Doyle declared.

It is not hard to see why as the imposing Road Exile travelled and fenced superbly throughout under Jack Hendrick and showed a very likable attitude when battling gamely to hold off the more experienced runner-up Lon Chaney.

A €30,000 store purchase at the Tattersalls Derby sale, Road Exile is closely related to Paul Nolan’s crack-chaser Joncol and a half-brother to Henry De Bromhead’s four-time winner Classic Theatre.

Doyle also added: “This is a lovely big horse. He jumped brilliantly there today and travelled away everywhere. This lad came out of the Derby Sale and will go back to a sale now.”

Harzand is an impressive dual Derby winner by Sea The Stars who has the physical attributes, race record and pedigree to make an exceptional National Hunt Sire.

Sire of eight flat and National Hunt Stakes performers including the Noel Meade trained Caught You Looking winner of the Group 3 Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh.

Harzand moved from Gilltown Stud to Con O’Keeffe’s Kilbarry Lodge Stud in 2022, and in 2023 Harzand covered 179 mares in total.  His stock were making an average of €53,000 at Goffs Arkle and Tattersalls Derby Sale, with his produce becoming ever more popular between the flags.

Diamond Boy who also stands at Kilbarry Lodge continued to impress when the nicely-bred Adamas took the opening four-year-old mares’ contest at Lisronagh.  

The Diamond Boy-sired Adamas was sent off favourite, and duly obliged for the in-form combination of Colin Bowe and Barry O’Neill.  

The Brian Acheson owned daughter of Diamond Boy is a €55,000 graduate of the 2023 Derby sale that's out of a dual winning half-sister to Willie Mullins' Grade 1 winning novice chase mare J'y Vole and she looks a very exciting track prospect.

No other stallion has sired more point-to-point winners this season than Diamond Boy, two of whom have come in the ultra-competitive four-year-old division.

His first four-year-old winner was at Umma House last month when the consistent Clody Diamond scored in style on her fourth time of asking.  The Rob James trained victor is entered in the upcoming Tattersalls Cheltenham sale.  

“She won on the bridal to be honest. She travelled well jumped well. Her jumping was bringing me everywhere and she sprinted to the line,” James said.

Kilbarry Lodge Stud’s Diamond Boy who is a half-brother to triple Grade 1 winning chaser Golden Silver, was a useful Listed Class middle distance performer in France and is responsible for the Willie Mullins trained Impaire Et Passe, Dual Grade 1 Cheltenham and Punchestown Novice Hurdle winner in 2023.  He also sired Venetia Williams’ leading 3 mile Novice Chaser L’Homme Presse.

Diamond Boy covered a total of 242 mares in 2023 and his stock were making an average of €55,000 at the Goffs Arkle and Tattersalls Derby sale.  He was responsible for the highest-priced horse by an Irish Sire at the Arkle sale at €150,000 making him a sire in demand for both the vendor and the purchaser.

Diamond Boy sired nine winners in Irish points last season and is proving a very successful sire.