Million-euro stallion to be stabled at Carlow stud amid ownership dispute, court orders

High Court reporters

The High Court has ruled that a breeding stallion, estimated to be worth up to £3 million (€3.6 million), should be stabled at bloodstock expert Joe Foley's farm pending resolution of a dispute over ownership.

Mr Justice David Nolan gave the ruling in a dispute between British businessman Steve Parkin and Mr Foley, managing director of Ballyhane Stud in Leighlinbridge, Carlow.

Mr Parkin, and his company Clipper BCS LLP, sued Mr Foley and Ballyhane claiming full ownership of a stallion called Sands of Mali. The defendants say they are 50 per cent owners.

Sands of Mali is a successful racehorse who finished his racing career in 2020. He now covers mares, which have produced progeny that have won 13 races in Britain as well as one each in Ireland and France.

The horse has been stabled at Ballyhane since it was bought for €270,000 in August 2020.

Following the breakdown of relations between the two men, Mr Parkin sought that it be transferred to a third party stud pending resolution of the ownership dispute. Mr Foley opposed the application.

In his decision on where the horse should be kept in the interim, Mr Justice Nolan said it seemed clear to him that Mr Parkin and Clipper had not established the requisite factual matrix upon which a court could make a mandatory order requiring the horse be transferred.

However, this did not mean they had not raised an issue in relation to both the financial earnings and expenses of the stallion and its potential welfare.

In those circumstances, he said, it seemed appropriate to direct that the stallion stays in Ballyhane till the hearing of the action, but on condition that they allow a vet on behalf of Mr Parkin and Clipper, to examine the animal at least once every six weeks.

If this cannot be arranged between the parties themselves, he gave liberty to them to come back to court at which stage the judge will make appropriate directions.

The judge also said it seemed to him the defendants must account, not only for the monies earned by the stallion, from now until the trial of the action, but also for the expenses incurred on an ongoing basis.

Earlier, the judge said Mr Parkin/Clipper claimed they entered into a profit-sharing agreement with the defendants, but not a partnership.

The agreement to pay 50pc of the income from the stallion's net fee for "covering" breeding mares was not in recognition of any ownership but a recompense for Mr Foley's services and advice regarding the wider Parkin/Clipper bloodstock operations in Ireland and the UK, but no more.

There is no written documentation to confirm the alleged profit-sharing arrangement, which the judge said was "unusual in circumstances where the plaintiffs complain bitterly of the lack of proper paperwork on the part of the defendants".

Mr Parkin had also said that before the breakdown in relations he and Mr Foley were "nearly like family" and he treated Mr Foley "like a brother" and also said there "aren't many Joe Foleys around".

Mr Parkin said: "He's very straight, he wants the industry to be transparent and things to run properly.''

The judge said, on its face, that was a very generous compliment and it was disappointing and concerning that matters seemed to have deteriorated so significantly.

The defendants strongly disputed Mr Parkin's claims about ownership and say it was only after they (defendants) agreed to buy the horse did Mr Parkin agree to take a 50 per cent interest.

Mr Foley also says the 50 per cent acquisition was public knowledge and that the ownership of the stallion was recorded with Weatherbys, which issues horse passports, as “the Sands of Mali Syndicate, care of Ballyhane.”

The judge noted that there was also a dispute over when matters "reached a crescendo" on March 19th, 2024.

Mr Parkin/Clipper say it was a "heated conversation" over a request to transfer the horse to a stud farm in Mullingar.

Mr Foley/Ballyhane say that during that conversation, Mr Parkin "became enraged" and demanded that further monies be paid to him.

They also say Mr Parkin threatened Mr Foley and his family, unless the sum of €1.5 million was paid immediately.

He became "extremely aggressive" to the extent that Mr Foley complained to the Gardaí and increased his security at home, Mr Foley claimed.

Mr Parkin/Clipper deny entirely that any threats were made.