Smiles all round at National Stud Diploma graduation ceremony

Joe Foley's Ballyhane Stud in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, has developed a reputation for equine excellence over a 23-year history. It now hosts a champion in the personnel bracket, after Edel Condron was named top student on the National Stud's most prestigious training course.

Condron, 24, spent last season at Ballyhane after studying for two years at Kildalton College in Piltown, County Kilkenny, and will return to the Foley fold next month to begin preparing yearlings for the sales.

At a graduation ceremony held at the National Stud on Friday, she received the Tim Dunlop Memorial Award, given to the student who demonstrated outstanding performance in all aspects of the stud's 32nd diploma course in stud practice and management, which chairman the Duke of Roxburghe described as "the flagship for the stud".

After receiving her award from trainer Ed Dunlop, Condron said: "That was a big shock but I'm delighted, and I can put up with the surprise. The course has been a fantastic experience, and now I'm looking forward to going back to Ballyhane, where we've 40 yearlings waiting to be prepped."

National Stud Diploma graduates pictured at the awards ceremonyCredit: National Stud

Other individual prize-winners included Lisa Glynn, as the best practical graduate, Henry Bletsoe, who was handed the Alborada Trust award for the most improved student, and Ben Cooke, who received the National Stud's certificate of merit.

The fourth individual award, a bursary presented by the Gerald Leigh Trust for the second year, went to Sophie Aird, from St Andrews, who intends to use the proceeds to further her immediate career in Kentucky.

In total, 18 students graduated and all achieved at least merit Level 1 in the diploma qualification, signifying a pass mark of 70 per cent or higher.

Awards were presented by Khalid Abdullah's racing manager Lord Grimthorpe, who recalled the huge changes that have taken place in the thoroughbred world since he was a student at the National Stud in 1976.

"That was long before there were any diploma awards and probably my most notable achievement was that I rode the stud's teaser bareback between the Rous and Astley yards to create a new three-furlong record," he said.

Pointing to bloodstock as a modern global phenomenon, he highlighted the breeding of this year's 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior, whose grandsire Sunday Silence had a chequered career after winning two legs of the US Triple Crown and before blossoming into one of the world's most influential sires from his base in Japan.

"The lesson is do not lose faith in horses or people," said Grimthorpe. "Go with the best and go with instinct."

He went on to offer further advice to the graduating students, saying: "Racing thrives on two persona: the horse person, because knowing what makes the horse tick is vital, and the people person, because there is no point knowing this information without having people with whom to share your knowledge."

Graduates of the National Stud Diploma course pictured with stud manager Tim Lane (far left) and Khalid Abdullah's racing manager Lord Grimthorpe (far right)Credit: National Stud

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