Following reports and comments by general manager Peter Reynolds that the stud would close or sell before the end of the year, the famous Ballymacoll Stud in Dunboyne, Co Meath, is to be placed for auction.
Quietly for sale since last year, the 300-acre stud owned by the Weinstock family since 1960 is to be auctioned on June 27th by joint agents REA Coonan and Knight Frank London at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel, guiding between €6 million and €8 million.
The original aim was to find a private buyer for the stud and horses as one lot with the asking price for the entire understood to have been somewhere between €12 million and €14million.
Dispersal sale
The stud’s 50 horses will now be placed in a dispersal sale, with the guide price for the lands set between €6 million and €8 million. The revised price is likely to generate strong interest among the bloodstock community as a ready-to-go offering, though a buyer will need to invest further in the lands.
There has been considerable consolidation in the bloodstock industry in recent times, with bigger players expanding their reach, while smaller operators are feeling the squeeze. Landenstown on 338 acres sold recently to Yeomanstown Stud for about €4.6 million, and Coolmore purchased Ravensdale House on 223 acres near Maynooth for €4.75 million in 2015.
The Co Meath stud has had a long association with Newmarket trainer Michael Stoute, and it has a notable winning history, with responsibility for Troy, Sun Princess, North Light, Pilsudski and Golan . It was also the birthplace of the great Arkle.
Located just two miles outside Dunboyne, Ballymacoll’s sale includes 62 stables, a manager’s residence, three staff cottages and a gate lodge.
