Going Global - it's a long way from Tipperary

When Country Living calls to Ballypatrick Stables near Thurles in Co Tipperary, Greg Broderick is busy preparing for this year’s Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show. At 29, Greg has experience beyond his years, is dedicated to his work and very much in tune with the horses in his ever-developing, state-of-the-art yard.

Son of Maureen and Austin, and brother to Olga and Cheryl, Greg’s base is on the 100-acre farm that he proudly notes “has been in the family for four generations”.

Austin was chair of the Golden Vale Hunt and it was across country that Greg cut his riding teeth, on a pony called Brandy. Later there was point-to-pointing and he had his heart set on becoming a jockey, but the arrival of show jumpers into the yard for his sister Olga and Conor O’Regan to ride changed all of that.

Greg’s first success over the fences came on Ballypartick Rebel when he qualified in the young riders’ equitation class at Dublin. His early riding influences came from Brian Cassidy and Sean Glynn of Galway, along with Michael Quirke of Littleton.

“They helped me learn that riding well while making it look as simple as possible on different horses is the key,” Greg says.

The Way Forward

While still in his early 20s, he built up a string of good jumpers, including Maja (DK) by Ragazzo; Pikolino by Caretino; Cullohill Also, by Clover Hill from Jim Costigan; and Ballypatrick Esperanza, by Cavalier Royale, who came from Tommy Wade. The very promising Esperanza injured a tendon; the others were sold.

“So in my mid-20s I had lost four horses and this convinced me that the way forward was to develop and produce young horses.”

This decision was helped by the arrival of a number of Irish-breds from Dr Noel Cawley and through his contact with Lee Kruger of Caladonian Stables in Alberta, and Mary Ellen De Ruschi of Unionville, Pensylvania.

From Noel came Cruising mares like Solerina and Rincarina, on whom Greg won two Dublin championships, five national grands prix and five international classes.

“What a wonderful broodmare she will be,” he notes as he admiringly shows us Rincarina in her stable. Then there is a young four-year-old stallion by Flexible out of a Diamond Lad dam: “A promising horse.”

Going Global in Dublin

And what does he think about the Irish breeding scene right now?

“It is definitely improving. As a rider I travel around a lot, meet individual breeders and see lots of young horses. There is some quality about. Pedigrees are improving. The use of frozen semen means that breeders have access to the best and do not have to depend on the local stallion.”

The next introduction is to MHS Going Global, Greg’s Aga Khan horse and what a lovely horse he is. He has blood, he has energy and he improves with every round he jumps.

“Lee Kruger had previously bought Maja from us and she was over at the Dublin Horse Show taking a look. Junior, as we call Going Global, was at home but for what he had already done as a youngster he was still the talk of the show. So on the Monday after Dublin, Lee came down to have a look at him. She bought him and thankfully left him with me to ride,” says Greg.

Bred by the Brennans at Mill House Stud in Kilkenny, he is by Quidam Junior out of the Cavalier mare Gowran Lady and has three parts thoroughbred in him.

“This year, I brought him out on the California circuit so Lee could see him jump. He was clear in five grands prix, won a $50,000 event and had just one down in a true 1.60m $100,000 grand prix.”

Irish Team

That US trip was just the beginning of a superb 2015 for Greg and Junior. On the strength of their California results, Robert Splaine selected them for the Nations Cup campaign. And they well and truly did their bit: clear and four at Lummen and La Baule, plus a double-clear in St Gallen.

On the Irish team, Greg says: “We are as good as any in Europe right now. In La Baule it was not a matter of being lucky to be third but of being unlucky not to have won it.”

He is confident that we can stay in Division 1 at Dublin and qualify for the Olympics at the Europeans.

“I do not worry that doing both Dublin and Aachen will be too much for Going Global. He thrives on work. But I will be guided by what Robert Splaine decides,” says Greg.

More recently, the experience of a superb treble-clear performance in the Global Champions Tour at Estoril will further sharpen their form. A big performance at the RDS will round off a great 12 months for the pair.

Onward & upward at Ballypatrick

There have been massive developments on the home farm at Ballypatrick. Central to this is an already constructed 100ft by 220ft indoor arena. Attached to it will be 16 new stables. To its right, the balcony will have an overview of Greg’s new fully drained outdoor grass arena, complete with Hickstead bank. Fronting on to it in time will be an outdoor sand arena. Not waiting for others to breed what he needs, Greg also has his own breeding programme which is overseen by his sister Cheryl. It includes 20 mares and both AI and embryo transfer is used. What the Brodericks now have in train is exactly the kind of initiative that has seen the Europeans race ahead of Ireland in sport horse breeding.