We have been here since the 1950's.
Established in 1952 and incorporated in 1956, BBA Ireland was purchased by its present owners in the year 2000, with the Curragh Bloodstock Agency added in 2005.
Through present Chairman Adrian Nicoll (1970) and Director Patrick Cooper (1991), son of the first Chairman, there is straight line continuity to the original founders of BBA Ireland. In the intervening decades the thoroughbred world has changed dramatically and we have adapted with it.
From the time Tom Cooper became the first European Agent to buy in Keeneland in 1959, BBA Ireland has circled the globe to search for and introduce new clients to the joys of Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding. We have been perennial leading buyers at all the major sales including Keeneland, Fasig Tipton,Tattersalls, Goffs, Inglis and Karaka. From Larkspur in the 1962 Derby through to Snow Fairy in the 2010 Oaks and Magical Lagoon in the 2022 Irish Oaks, BBA Ireland has been associated with classic winners and champions, both equine and human.
We have a proven legacy of delivering Thoroughbred racehorses around the globe and were pioneers of the international air transport of horses.
The roll call of greats purchased or managed for clients of BBA Ireland makes for impressive reading. Four winners of the Epsom Derby, two Grand National winners and champions in America, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, France, South America, Ireland and the UK. We were pioneers of the international air transport of horses. The first southern hemisphere shuttle stallions were shipped by BBA Ireland. Vintage Crop, the first European horse to win the Melbourne Cup was also shipped by BBA Ireland as was Media Puzzle, the second European winner.
We were also innovators in the world of bloodstock insurance being one of the first in Ireland to promote the insurance of thoroughbred racehorses and breeding stock. We are one of the longest continuous holders of a Lloyds of London bloodstock binding authority in the world and the longest in Ireland by a distance.
We are very proud of that heritage and proud of the fact that we are the sole survivors from the great age of the full service Bloodstock Agency. We have been here for over seventy years and that in itself is testament to the expertise and integrity of our people, the loyalty of our clients and to the hard work of the office team that provide support to our people on the road.
