Champion racehorse steals the day

The Irish thoroughbred joined around a thousand brokers and underwriters at the Convention Centre Dublin on 10 May to explore opportunities in the Irish insurance market, including those in the bloodstock sector.

Kicking King was a fitting special guest at the Meet the Market event, says Eamonn Egan, Lloyd’s Country Manager in Ireland. The market is a leading bloodstock insurer in Ireland, as well as other equine centres such as Kentucky and Australia.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase Lloyd’s as a thoroughbred insurer,” says Egan.

Kicking King, which was insured at Lloyd’s during his racing career, is one of the most celebrated and successful Irish racehorses of modern times, says Egan, himself a trained jockey. Now retired, Kicking King won 12 of the 28 races he ran, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup and twice winning the King George VI.

Egan will ride Kicking King in the Retired Racehorse showing class at the Dublin Horse show in August before he heads off to the Irish National Stud to live out his days in comfort.

Opportunities in China
The Irish economy has had a tough few years but it’s not all doom and gloom, says Egan. One piece of recent good news involved Ireland’s bloodstock industry. Coolmore Stud signed a Euro40m contract with China's horse racing industry to set up a stud farm with over 100 thoroughbred breeding mares and provide as many as 800 race horses.

The deal is part of big plans to bring horse racing to China, which last year lifted a 60-year ban on the sport. The Euro1.5bn complex in China’s fourth largest city, Tianjin, will cover 870 acres and include two racetracks, an equestrian college, and auction house.

Ireland is a premier destination for bloodstock and has strong links with the Lloyd’s insurance market, says Egan. The deal between China and Ireland is an opportunity for Lloyd’s bloodstock insurers, says Egan.

“Lloyd’s has a license to underwrite in China and is well positioned to look after the interests of the Irish bloodstock market as it expands its business in China,” he says.

Lloyd’s underwriters offer several types of bloodstock insurance, including cover for ‘all risks’ of mortality from accident, illness and disease. This is typically purchased for racehorses, thoroughbreds, eventers and show jumpers.

Underwriters also offer so-called ‘shuttling stallions’ policies for moving stud horses around the world to follow the breeding seasons.

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