FEATURE: Racing certainties abound at Clongowes Wood in Clane
Henry Bauress looks at the famous names from the racing world linked to the school
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Clongowes Wood College in Clane is one Ireland’s best known schools.
Set up in 1814 by the Jesuit order, it is the only seven-day male boarding school in the country.
Many well-known Irish men have studied there, including some with famous racing connections. Such students include Michael O’Leary; Patrick Mullins, son of Ireland’s leading trainer, Willie Mullins, and Pat Taaffe, son of trainer Tom Taaffe, and grandson of the late legendary Pat Taaffe, who rode, among other animals, the great Arkle.
We gathered up ram lambs out of tupping groups a few days over their 17-day first cycle. These ewes joined up with some of the older stock rams, that were raddled to mark changeover and hopefully highlight any lates. With lambing so late outside, we don’t raddle rams the first cycle – just really looking for clarification on sires at the change-over and a check that everybody has been working. With so much mud around during tupping it has been easy to see that the rams have been jumping anyway. There are very few coloured bums around so far, which is a relief.