How a devoted owner and skilled surgeon saved the life and career of a much-loved young stallion

Life at Diamond Stud was sparkling as the first breeding season at the Bellewstown, County Meath farm was meandering to a close last June. 

The Group 3 Anglesey Stakes winner Marie's Diamond, who was also third in the Queen Anne, had transitioned from tough and talented racehorse to virile stallion and a brilliant cut gem for Ciaran de Barra who, although vastly experienced in the industry, was standing a stallion for the first time.

In one of those split-second incidents that is branded on De Barra's memory, the horse he believes in so passionately went from being in the prime of his life to a fight for survival.