Plan coming together for Carey family at historic Tullaghansleek Stud

Tullaghansleek Stud in County Westmeath must have one of the most varied stallion rosters anywhere in Ireland, with a Connemara pony champion, Irish Draughts and several names associated with the showjumping world.

One of its three thoroughbred members has provided a pleasant surprise lately with Retirement Plan responsible for three winners from just four National Hunt runners over the last season. 

Only One Plan and Prospect House have secured minor wins over hurdles but there was one to come on a bigger stage on New Year's Eve, when Lady Bluebird claimed the mares' bumper at Punchestown in what was a cherished family success as Eoghan Finegan won his first race riding for his uncle, Hugh.

It was doubly good for Tim Carey, who runs the operation near Mullingar, as Lady Bluebird was bred out of a mare by his other significant thoroughbred resident, Golden Lariat. 

"It was a nice winner, I had her here for a while and she’s a nice filly that one," Carey says of the William Moran-bred Lady Bluebird.

Retirement Plan, who is by Monsun, was a decent staying handicapper and won a Shergar Cup race for Lady Cecil. He joined Tullaghansleek in 2016 after retirement and is out of Juddmonte's Group 1 winner Passage Of Time, making him a half-brother to National Stud stallion Time Test, a family that goes back to the brilliant Oaks runner-up All At Sea. 

Retirement Plan was a three-time winner including under Emma Jayne-Wilson at the 2014 Shergar Cup at AscotCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"We bought him off Juddmonte," says Carey. "He wasn't bad on the racecourse but he’s very choicely bred and he’s a right good-looking horse, 16.1 hands and a good model. He covers only a handful of thoroughbred mares; the opposition is fairly strong here in this country!"

Golden Lariat, a winning sibling of well-travelled Dubai Sheema Classic runner-up Razkalla, has had more conspicuous success, headed by Lord Lariat's famous 40-1 triumph in the 2022 Irish Grand National. He is surely the last son of the mighty Mr Prospector standing anywhere in the world.

Carey says: "He’s nearly as old as me now! It's frightening to think he's 25. We wouldn’t let him cover many mares any more, only a handful.

"We had another bred on similar lines to him, New Frontier, who was by Sadler's Wells out of a Mr Prospector mare – Golden Lariat is by Mr Prospector out of a Sadler's Wells mare. 

"New Frontier was a very good sire with limited opportunities, he had an Irish Grand National winner [Lion Na Bearnai], a Cheltenham winner [Sizing Australia], and quite a lot from a few coverings, but sadly we lost him some years back.

"Golden Lariat wouldn’t have covered a lot of mares but he wasn't far off having another National winner. Dingo Dollar was second in the Scottish National and was running well in the English National until he was unseated near the end."

Aside from what happens on the racecourse, Carey's business relies on results across Ireland and beyond, from the major horse shows to various riding competitions.

"We had a good year, and a very good year the year before that in 2022," he says.

Lord Lariat and Paddy O'Hanlon were famous winners of the 2022 Irish Grand NationalCredit: Patrick McCann

"We've got a very good Connemara pony stallion [Gwennic De Goariva], he’s nearly the best pony in the book at the moment. He had gold and silver the year before last in the Pony Eventing European Championships and has won the sire of the year at the Horse of the Year Show three times; he's a very good lad in his own right.

"The other thoroughbred we have, Shadow Gate [the 2007 Singapore Airlines International Cup winner], had a champion foal in Dublin, he's doing well at that, and our showjumping stallions, Another Pleasure and Cara Touche, are doing well too."

What's perhaps most extraordinary of all is that Tullaghansleek has been run by the Carey family since 1867. Tim Carey studied genetics and artificial insemination at Colorado State University, even installing a lab on the farm, and standards seem to be as high as ever.

"My daughter Claire would be the seventh generation standing stallions full-time, it’s unreal really," says Carey. "It's just the way it happened to be, I suppose. My brother is in Canada, he does the same thing and has stallions at Westmeath Stud just outside of Toronto.

"Some years we’d have a good year in the thoroughbred world with a new horse, but it’s mostly in the non-thoroughbred. Overall, the horses have been very successful."

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