'We're always trying to get better, to improve so that each time a visitor arrives here they see something new, something different from their previous visit'

Sea The Stars. The world champion is the best horse foaled and raised at the Irish National Stud this century and belongs in the pantheon of those bred and reared at the farm over an illustrious story that will reach 125 years in a few short months.

The superstar's name could also describe the vision of the man who transformed Tully from a farm to the birthplace of champions and whose foresight eventually led to the establishment of world-leading studs and educational centres in two nations – although a lot of history had to occur in the intervening years.

Colonel Hall Walker was a man who believed in the power of the stars over life on earth, astrology being one of the guiding tenets by which he lived.