July 2018 Member of the Month: Brendan and Olive Gallagher

Brendan and Olive Gallagher of Frankfort Park Stud

Brendan and Olive Gallagher of Frankfort Park Stud

With four consecutive graded stakes wins this year, Monomoy Girl has catapulted herself to the top of the 3-year-old filly standings. Bred in Kentucky by Michael Hernon’s Highfield Ranch and Brendan and Olive Gallagher’s Frankfort Park Stud, the Tapizar filly, undefeated in 2018, is a burgeoning superstar.

Irish natives, the Gallaghers both grew up with fathers in the horse industry. County Kildare native Olive is the daughter of equine royalty; her father was legendary jump jockey Pat Taaffee, who rode the immortal Arkle in the 1960s. Brendan got involved in American bloodstock in the 1980s, saying, “Well, I came here in 1983 as a student for a year because I did a lot of the shipping.” The farm originally served as a location to quarantine imported stock before shipping them elsewhere.

The couple founded Ireland-based Emerald Bloodstock in 1993. As Olive noted, “We bought some grade 1 winners for clients and we bought a lot of good horses at the time. Brendan said, “When the market took a big dip [around 2009], we had spent a lot of money on stock and everything, and then we sold Emerald.”

Brendan commented, “To be honest with you, we’ve always bought and sold horses–that’s what we’ve done. Even when we had Emerald Bloodstock, we still had a farm in Ireland…down in County Cork. So it wasn’t as if breeding was new to us; I mean, we’ve been doing it all our lives.”

Located in Lexington, Frankfort Park Stud is close to some of Kentucky’s most important Thoroughbred nurseries. “The tradition and the history and the land here is second to none,” Brendan said proudly. He added, “We take it very personally and it’s very important to us that we do right by the horses. This year, it’s paying dividends.”

Monomoy Girl began heryear by conquering the February 17 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds, then delivered an impressive, 5 1/2-length triumph in the April 7 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland. She then annexed the May 4 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs by a hard-fought half-length; grade 3 winner Take Charge Paula, whom the Gallaghers also raised and co-bred, finished fourteenth.

Most recently, Monomoy Girl captured the June 9 Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park. Co-owners Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin of Monomoy Stables, Stuart Grant of the Elkstone Group, and Michael J. Caruso of Bethlehem Stables are aiming her at the July 22 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), held at Saratoga.

At the 2014 Keeneland November sale, Hernon, also Gainesway Farm’s director of sales, purchased Monomoy Girl in utero. He spent $75,000 on her dam, the Henny Hughes mare Drumette, while she was in foal to Gainesway stallion Tapizar. Brendan Gallagher was the one who noticed the mare, telling his partner, “Michael, we’ve got one.” He described Drumette as “a good-moving mare, just a good eye on her,” adding, “She was a lovely, big mare and we’re always on the lookout for mares, but we don’t have the financial clout that our neighbors have, but we’ve got to punch above our weight a little bit.”

Once she hit the ground on March 26, 2015, Monomoy Girl was a singular specimen. Brendan noted, “She was an independent foal and we had to treat her with care now. She wasn’t straightforward,” calling her “a lovely-looking yearling and a lovely-looking foal” that was also “highly strung.” A full brother to Monomoy Girl, eventually named Cowboy Diplomacy, sold for $175,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. Drumette is in foal to Mastery and will be sold in November, along with her 2018 Shackleford colt. Take Charge Paula’s dam, Perfect Paula, has a Shackleford suckling and is in foal to Medaglia d’Oro.

The Gallaghers were on hand to witness Monomoy Girl’s thrilling Run for the Lilies. Brendan exclaimed, “It was incredible. We were up there on Oaks day and as I said before, this is a big country, and there are lot of filly foals born here and there, and to think for the first mile in the Oaks—because the other one, Take Charge Paula, they were one and two for the first mile…or whatever—that they came from the same barn below and we only had the nineteen foals that year, for us, that was exciting.” Indeed, for both Monomoy Girl and Frankfort Park’s respective futures, the sky’s the limit.