FOR all his stellar success on the track, ex-Royal jockey Willie Carson is in no doubt that the victory of Jack Hobbs in the Irish Derby gave him more satisfaction than any of his previous exploits.

Yet he was not present when the horse he bred and raised at his 160-acre stud at Barnsley on the outskirts of Cirencester won the 1.25 million euro prize.

“I was at Epsom when he finished runner-up to Golden Horn in the Derby but we had only got back from holiday in Ibiza the night before the Irish Derby so we did not travel over,” said Willie.

Instead, he watched on TV at home as Jack Hobbs strode five lengths clear of main rival Storm The Stars to win Ireland’s most valuable race.

“I’ve managed a Derby winner (Oath for the Thoroughbred Corps in 1999) ridden them and now I have bred one, albeit of the Irish version,” he said. “There can’t be many who have done that. The only thing I haven’t done is train one.

“He is the second Classic winner I have bred – after Minster Son who I also rode to win the St Leger in 1988 – although I have also had a Group One (championship) winner in Al Shemali.

“But Jack Hobbs is the best I have bred without a doubt – he's a special horse.

“Breeding them is so much better than riding or owning them because if it wasn’t for me, they wouldn’t be. Breeders are the backbone of the racing industry but are often forgotten.

“I don’t know if I will get any money as breeder of the Irish Derby winner but if a cheque does come in the post I won’t be sending it back.”

Swain’s Gold, the Carson-owned broodmare who produced Jack Hobbs, is still going strong at the age of 14, although she is barren this year after being rather late in foaling her latest foal.

Swain’s Gold is now the queen among Carson’s broodmare band but no one wanted her first offspring.

“The first foal went to the sales twice but we could not sell her. So I leased her to friends and put her in training with the name Mrs Greeley. She won three races and was fourth in a Listed race. I still have Mrs Greeley here as a broodmare.”

Next up, Swain’s Gold produced Niceofyoutotellme who finished runner-up in the Cambridgeshire and third in the Group Three Brigadier Gerard Stakes.

She had not shown her prowess on the track until after the foal out of Swain’s Gold (later named Jack Hobbs) went to the Tattersalls Sales in October, 2013.

“I’m not saying he looked a superstar from the off but he always looked classy,” said 72-year-old Carson, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of pedigrees and selects all the matings for his mares.

“Quite a few friends came to look at him before the sales and said they liked him, but not many bid. His sire Halling was a drawback because he was not fashionable.

“Nonetheless, I was devastated when he only made 60,000 guineas – I was expecting 100,000.

“Bloodstock agents are always finding fault with your horse – they are either too big or too small. In Jack Hobbs’ case they all said he was too big.

“There was a lot of muttering about him only going to be a National Hunt horse.

“My revenge is that he is doing what he is doing.”

Jack Hobbs is now being rested by trainer John Gosden with a view to one prep race in the autumn and then the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – Europe’s premier race when the Classic generation, like Jack Hobbs, meet the older stars.

In Paris he is due to clash again with brilliant stable companion Golden Horn.

“Our horse is late maturing and might get better,” said Carson. “Whether he can improve fast enough to beat Golden Horn I don’t know and there is also (dual Arc-winning mare) Treve to worry about.

“But over a mile and a half on soft ground in October, we might put salt on Golden Horn’s tail.”

Swain’s Gold has an unraced two-year-old colt called Manson in training with Maxine Cowdrey, a yearling colt by the sprinter Mayson and a filly foal by the stallion Sepoy who is standing at Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stud in Newmarket.

Carson has high hopes for the half-sister to Jack Hobbs although this mating was not of his choosing.

“I was at a Racehorse Owners’ Association (ROA) awards dinner celebrating the victory of Chriselliam (the filly Carson part-owned who won a Breeders’ Cup race in America) and feeling pretty happy at the time,” recalled Willie.

“The Sheikh had kindly put up a nomination to Sepoy, a world champion sprinter from Australia, and I put my hand up to get it.

“The foal's here and looking gorgeous at the moment.”