Studbooks, such as our Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) studbook, crave success for their home bred stallions. In terms of show and sales ring honours, Padraig Howley’s Phase 1 and 2 passed sire Sligo Candy Boy, by Balou du Rouet, is certainly fitting that bill.

As Padraig says: “he ticks all the boxes. I’ve bred many foals by the same stallion but this one just looked something special and I decided to keep him.” He has been proven right.

Buying a dam

Padraig and Catherine Howley have six sons – Ciaran, Vincent, Cormac, Stephen, Brian and Diarmuid. Ciaran was the one commissioned to make a trip to Germany in search of a good jumping mare. The result was the four-year-old unbroken Sligo Candy Girl by the Cornetto Holsteiner sire Conley and out of a Lord dam.

As a five-year-old she proved her worth when winning the League final at Millstreet, the Classic Final in Cavan and the Tiernan Gill sponsored Brooklands Star of the Future in Ballina. In 2008, after she won Grand Prix events on the national circuit, the Howley’s decided to put her in foal to the Paul Schockemohle owned Balou du Rouet, who is a son of Rodrigo Pessoa’s Olympic Champion and three times World Cup Final winner Baloubet.

Testing

Having been convinced that he had “something special” on his hands Padraig was willing to refuse what he calls “big offers” for Candy Boy as a yearling. He tested his fertility by letting him serve a few mares as a two-year-old and as a three-year-old he had no hesitation entering him for the Horse Sport Ireland Stallion Inspections at Cavan in 2012.

“I see the Stallion Inspections as a way forward and I had every confidence that he would do well.” Indeed he did do well. For, if I recall correctly, he scored top points for conformation, movement and athleticism on that occasion when a total of 42 Sport Horses were presented.

Ridden by Vincent, he was back the following year for Phase 2 and again met the requirements to become Preliminary Approved.

Success

His very first foal, Candy Man, went on to perform well for Gabriel Tunney at Balmoral and is now with the Irish Army team in McKee Barracks. By 2015 his progeny were successfully appearing at national shows and went on to hit the spotlight in the RDS.

Last August, for example, Dessie Gibson’s Aidensfield Candy King took the yearling championship there and went on to be reserve young horse champion. In 2015 Sligo Candy Floss won the RDS three-year-old filly loose jumping for Sligo man Noel Ruane. That same year the Howley’s were second in the three-year-old young event horse class with Sligo Candy One, who is out of their High Roller dam.

The following year 2016, Noel Ruane returned with another of his Sligo Candy Boy progeny, Castle Camiro, to win the three-year-old loose jumping for a second time. In the gelding loose jumping that year Noel Ruane’s Castle O.J. came second and went on to make €18,000 at the Cavan Elite Sale.

Making it a hat-trick of wins for Candy Boy, Padraig Arthur’s Candy Rose took the three-year-old filly loose jumping title in 2017. Candy Rose made €20,000 when sold to a Slovenia buyer at Cavan Elite Sale.

Also in 2017, in the three-year-old young event horse competition Mary Bolger’s Kilcannon Kandy Kid came third. Fourth in that stiff competition was Carol Gee’s ride Fernhill Candy Crush who continues to post good results.

Padraig notes “it is extraordinary that among that group of performers only one of their dams had ever gained any show jumping points.”

Money in sales

In addition to the good sales results already mentioned, Sligo Candy Boy progeny have continued in that same vein at Goresbridge and Cavan. According to Sally Parkyn’s Irish Field 2018 Review he “featured in three of the four tables for the second year in succession.”

He topped the 2018 foal sales at Cavan with one foal going for €6,600. Four more of his sold well in the top 10 of that table for a total of €24,000. At the Cavan Elite Sale for three-year-olds he scored a total of €70,000 for another five and again topped the sale with one at €21,000. Meantime, in the Goresbridge Go For Gold his four-year-old came out on top at €40,000.

And so it goes – a young stallion bred with attention and care in Ireland paying dividends for breeders. Padraig manages his Artificial Insemination service along with local veterinary surgeon Jim Tempany.

He had 55 foals registered in 2015, 81 in 2016, 136 in 2017. He is covering an average of 150 to 170 mares a year so we can be fairly sure to hear of more sweet success from Sligo Candy Boy. For example, the world’s number one event rider Oliver Townend has five of his youngsters in training at the moment and has high hopes for them.

The dream is that this kind of success story will be multiplied in the years to come not only in the continental mode but in the Traditional Irish as well – a future time when jumpers and eventers going out on Irish teams will not only bear the suffix ISH but will have that same suffix on both their sires and dams as well. With more and more breeders sharpening their expertise that dream could be a reality.