'Turns out getting a foal here alive and healthy was actually the easy element'

Good Morning Bloodstockis our popular daily morning email and presented here online as a sample.

While Martin Stevens is taking a well-earned breather, Aisling Crowe recounts her experiences after joining the ranks of breeders - subscribers can get great such insight every Monday to Friday.

All you need do is click on the link above, sign up and then read at your leisure each weekday morning from 7am.

Last winter I took the plunge straight into the deep end and bought myself a special birthday present; a mare, well two mares actually, and almost six months in to my life as a small thoroughbred breeder, despite the sleepless nights, long days and mounting bills I can honestly say I have yet to regret a single second of it - not even the hours spent cleaning scour from my foal's backside.

Having spent the best part of six years becoming ever more deeply immersed in this extraordinary industry, I felt the time had come for me to get some skin in the game. I love studying pedigrees and trying to figure out how different families cross and what stallions work, so the decision to work out these plans in real life was an easy one to make.

What was tricky, and is something I'm certain you can all relate to, is finding the perfect mare and one you can afford. It's a difficult task when your tastes are for Michelin stars but your budget stretches only to McDonald's.

Hopefully my girls, as they now are known, will turn out to be Michelin quality despite costing only four-figure sums apiece.

The purchasing was the easy part. But I'm sure that's not news to any of you. I thought I had a fair idea of what I was letting myself in for, and knew that it would be a lot of hard work, but I was prepared for that, or so I thought.

It turns out that getting a foal here alive and healthy, the part I was most anxious about having been on the receiving end of the talk about how dangerous foaling is and all the catastrophic outcomes possible, was actually the easy element.

I forgot to mention that one of the mares I purchased, a winning daughter of Bated Breath, was in foal. Nothing like diving straight in at the deep end!

My worries about how much milk Eve was producing gave way to fears for the filly's health as she developed a nasty scour around the time her mum was going through her foal heat. It's one of the few times I have been glad that I was born without a sense of smell, as the visuals of the scour were nasty and having to spend time at that end, cleaning and washing, would have been immeasurably more difficult if I had all my senses. Thankfully, with treatment, lots of washing and plenty of Sudocrem, the scour cleared up and Ivy is thriving.

Eve is a great mum and the time I spend with my horses is the best part of my day. Churchill's quote about how the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person has been quoted so often that it strays into the realm of cliche, but it is true. I experience it every time that little foal comes galloping to the gate when she sees me, or Eve rests her head on my shoulder. I witness it light up my dad's face every time he comes to visit the girls.

This is no romantic fairytale however, and those moments come during the long days and frustrations that I now understand more clearly, with every scan that shows Eve is not ready to be covered. As May looms large on the horizon, she resolutely refuses to go in foal and with every scan that raises hopes only to dash them just as quickly, time seems to be running out.

A course of Regumate failed to produce the necessary response, while varying shots of hormone treatments have yet to provoke her ovaries into action. On Monday we started what is probably our final roll of the dice for this season and injected Eve with Estrumate, and I’m playing the waiting game once more.

It's funny how things turn out. Duchess, the maiden I bought along with Eve, was the problematic one at the start of the spring. Getting her to cycle properly haunted my waking thoughts, and some of my dreams too, and I began to wonder if she was going to be a problem in more ways than one.

I needn't have worried. She finally came into season properly, was promptly covered by Gleneagles and went in foal for the first time. For me, that black blob on the ultrasound screen could hang alongside any of the masterpieces in the Musee d'Orsay, so beautiful an image it was.

Gleneagles: Aisling Crowe's choice to cover DuchessCredit: Coolmore

Naturally, though, that process hasn't been entirely smooth and the first heartbeat scan prompted concern about the viability of her pregnancy. But I'm happy to report that, after veterinary treatment, she is now 46 days in foal with a strong heartbeat and enjoying life as a mum-to-be.

If I had known last November what I know now, would I have still made that decision? Without hesitation. It has brought an added dimension to life, given me new experiences, new friends and a new understanding and appreciation of what each and every one involved in producing a racehorse does.

I'm also learning that the old saying about how it takes a village to raise a child is also applicable to horses! There isn't a snowflake's chance in hell that I could do this all by myself and I am forever grateful to everyone who is helping me out; to Brian and PJ Kennedy and Moira McElligott for all you are teaching me and all your hard work, and to Natalie Folland and Dan Tunmore for your advice and support. I couldn't do any of this without you.

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

Must-read story

"About a year and a half after being sold by Spendthrift Farm to stand in South Korea, Race Day has improbably distinguished himself with two three-year-old sons - from a crop of only 31 colts and 58 foals overall born in 2019 - to qualify for the Kentucky Derby."

Michele McDonald speaks to Spendthrift Farm's Mark Toothaker about the possibility ofbringing Race Day back to Kentucky.

Pedigree Pick

When Eternal Pearl went under the hammer at Book 1 in 2020, Pearls Galore was mentioned as an update to the catalogue having been second in the Group 3 Fairy Bridge Stakes. Paddy Twomey and Haras de Saint Pair's Invincible Spirit mare has subsequently earned bold black type and been second in a pair of Group 1s, including the Prix de la Foret.

The Frankel filly still commanded a fee of 700,000gns when purchased by Godolphin from Haras de Saint Pair and she is out of Pearly Steph, an Oasis Dream close relation of Pearls Galore. Trained by Charlie Appleby, she makes her debut in Ascot's Naas Racecourse Royal Ascot Trials Day British EBF Fillies' Conditions Stakes (3.00).

Don’t miss ANZ Bloodstock News

Subscribe for free for the latest bloodstock news from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Make sure to read this week's Asia Bloodstock News

Sign up to our free weekly Asia Bloodstock News publication to receive news and features from all things racing and bloodstock across Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and beyond.

Good Morning Bloodstockis our latest email newsletter. Martin Stevens, a doyen among bloodstock journalists, provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday