Ryan Conran has exploded onto the breeze-up scene with She's Perfect (Sioux Nation), who finished first past the post in the French 1,000 Guineas, Group 3 scorer Coto De Caza (Sioux Nation) and Lincoln runner-up Rogue Diplomat (Calyx) just some of the high-profile graduates that have flown the flag for the 32-year-old's Lacka House Stables operation. On the eve of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale, Conran shares all about his approach to breezing, philosophy towards risk and much more in the latest breeze-up focused Q&A.You've had a lot of good horses through your hands in a short space of time.We've just been very lucky. We've stumbled across a couple of nice horses. Thankfully they sold well but, more importantly, they've gone on to be nice horses for their owners and trainers. That is the name of the game and it's great to be associated with a few nice horses. I gather you're not the only Conran who has been turning a few quid lately….My son Donnacha has a few quid in an account with Goffs alright. I bought him a foal there recently and, naturally enough, I just signed for the horse myself. I think this could be his third little venture and the rest of them have got on fairly okay and he has been paying for everything out of his own profits now. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I emailed one of the girls in Goffs to move the horse from my account over to Donnacha's a couple of weeks after we bought it. She emailed me back saying, 'no problem at all, but could we get a phone number and an email address for Donnacha!' I just didn't reply. I said to myself, how am I going to explain that this lad is only four years old! It's not a massive amount of money but I suppose it's more than what most four-year-olds would have. Donnacha Conran: a shrewd young pinhooker! | TattersallsObviously She's Perfect is your flag-bearer. How do you even describe the emotion surrounding her season last year?I suppose the only word I can use to describe it is bittersweet. If you told me that she would have been second in the French 1,000 Guineas on the morning of the race, I would have taken your arm off for it. But for those 15 minutes where she was the winner, and we were celebrating with the syndicate and trainer, it was hard to explain the buzz that we experienced. When the places were reversed, oh God, I left the racetrack fairly quickly afterwards. But do you know what was the funniest part of it all? I can remember sitting on the plane home from Paris that night and thinking, 'at least I backed her.' I had messaged a friend of mine to go in and have 50 quid on her at 16-1 or whatever price she was with Ladbrokes. I said to myself, 'at least I'll be able to collect a few quid off that' given she finished first past the post. I can remember getting back to Fethard and going in to collect the few pound only to realise that they didn't pay first past the post on French racing. Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds! But, listen, she's a very good filly and she stays in training this year. We're lucky to be associated with her and hopefully there will still be some unfinished business this year. That's it. A lot of breeze-up consignors might never have a Classic horse through their hands so you must feel fairly indebted to her for what she has done for your outfit?To have She's Perfect and even Coto De Caza in the same year was brilliant. Also, we had a horse called Rogue Diplomat in that 2024 breeze-up draft, and he was second in the Lincoln on his return. I think he could be a Stakes horse, to be honest. He was just a weaker type who took a lot longer to come to hand. Hopefully we can have three horses like that in the same draft again but I doubt it. As I said, we were very lucky.Sioux Nation is obviously close to your heart.He's my favourite sire, followed closely by Invincible Spirit. Both of those sires have been very lucky for me and I have one of each on the team for this year. The Invincible Spirit goes to the Craven and the Sioux Nation filly is a late May foal so I am holding onto her until the Goffs Classic Sale, would you believe. The Invincible Spirit colt [Sovereign Spell] that we sold [for 120,000gns] at last year's Craven won well for Kevin Philippart De Foy and Amo Racing the other day. He looked good so hopefully he can be a nice horse for them to look forward to. And how would you say your draft is shaping up for the breeze-ups this year?We've 10 horses this year. That's all we can cater for. We have horses who will be ready to run in a few weeks' time and we also have a few that will stretch out over a mile, if not further, as their careers progress. We have a few first-season sires on the team. We've a Blackbeard colt going to France and we have a Minzaal filly for Fairyhouse. They are both pleasing me at the moment but, because they are being aimed at later sales, they haven't done a whole pile compared to the horses going to the Craven for example. What they are showing us so far is good. Most importantly, both horses seem to have good temperaments, which is the main thing.Did you find it hard to fill your 10 stables last year as the yearling sales seemed to be strong? I did. Especially early on in the yearling sale season. Like, I found Donny and the Somerville extremely hard and drew a blank at both sales. You are always itching to get off the mark. It's like a striker when he signs for a new club, he wants to get the monkey off the back. Buying yearlings or even foals, it's the very same. Trade was strong but we worked every sale hard and I even went to the October Yearling Sale at Arqana, which I normally don't do. I usually have my quota filled by the time Book 3 rolls around. We'd normally leave one stable free to go and work the Open Yearling Sale hard at Goffs. But, do you know what, I even went to the December Yearling Sale at Tattersalls last year to fill the barn. So, you could say I left it late to gather up the yearlings, but I am happy with the collection of horses we have assembled. How long it took us to get there, though, that obviously reflects on how strong trade was at the yearling sales last year. You obviously put a value on the yearlings and stick to it? You must be very disciplined. Oh, you have to. When we are doing our final lists at the yearling sales, I try to imagine what breeze-up sale that they will end up in and even who might buy them off me. It's very hard to figure out what they could make but you often look at a horse and think, 'he could be a 60 grand breezer if he breezes well,' so, for that kind of a horse, you would try to buy him for 20 to 25 grand. After 30 grand, you'd need to start thinking hard. That's just me. But you always need to be thinking about what you could sell the horse for if all goes well. Otherwise, it just doesn't make any sense. You can't buy them for the sake of it.She's Perfect | Scoop DygaWhat would you say the mood is like among vendors heading into the breeze-up season? Rightly or wrongly, I try not to overthink things. I don't worry about who might or might not turn up to the sales. I only worry about my own horses and try everything in my power to get them to the sale in the best shape I can. That's all that's within my control. If you start worrying about things that are outside of your control, you'll leave yourself in an awful mess. I'm not much of a worrier. That's interesting, because the scale of investment that you and many other breeze-up consignors put in is genuinely frightening. You don't have any sleepless nights in the build-up to the sales?Without sounding like a bit of a d**k, I have had nothing before and I was happy, so I have no problem with having nothing again. I was happy when I had nothing so, if that's the worst that can happen to me, I know that I can still be happy again. Honestly. Once there is bread and food on the table for the kids and the lights are on, that's the main thing. Money comes and goes. That's my philosophy anyway. Now, listen, my closest friends will tell you that I am not completely laid back 100 per cent of the time, but I don't let the risks involved keep me awake at night. Definitely not. You're not ruled by money. No, definitely not. I obsess about other things. I get intense about other things, like the process or how the horses are. Pamela [Conran's partner] will tell you that! I can be hard to be around in the yard, but that's only because I want the best for every horse and I like things done a certain way. I'd be lost without Pamela, though. She's a brilliant help. Who have been the biggest influences on your career?Thomond O'Mara and Con Marnane. Con was very good to me during my time with him and I got to spend time with some proper Group 1 horses there. Thomond is marries to my aunt, Roisin, and they bought me my first pony. Without them, I probably wouldn't be in the game. You rode in races, didn't you?I did. Like every young lad, I thought I was going to be the next Ruby Walsh! But I had only about 30 rides in point-to-points and unfortunately no winner. It wasn't my forte! Fair to say you have found your niche. In a nutshell, you seem to be quietly optimistic about the next few weeks. I'm keeping positive. I actually listened to Jamie Railton's podcast with Roderic Kavanagh the other night. He said one thing that stood out to me, and that is that there are lots of good horses that sell at the breeze-ups that only clock in the middle tier. The breeze-up handlers have upped their game and have bought a higher quality type of horse in the past few years. Even in the middle of the timing sheets, you could find a very decent horse for potentially not a lot of money. She's Perfect breezed well but there was a small veterinary issue that stopped her making big money. But fair play to Will Douglas [bloodstock agent] because he took the chance on her and it worked out for him. She sold for €50,000 but we were delighted to see her go on and do what she did. Money couldn't buy what she has done for Lacka House and we're proud to have been associated with her.The post ‘I Don’t Do Sleepless Nights – I Have Been Happy When I’ve Had Nothing Before’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.