Plantation Stud, the Newmarket, England, nursery owned by Dermot and Perle O’Rourke, announced Monday, June 11, that it has acquired the 220-acre Silver Springs Stud near Paris, Ky.

Silver Springs was established in 1983 by the late John Costelloe and his wife Moya. According to a release from Plantation Stud, Silver Springs has been home to such notable horses as Elusive Quality  , his dam Touch of Greatness, grade I winner and Irish National Stud stallion Elusive City, and Star of Paris, the dam of Elusive City.

Kevin Buckley, chief executive of Plantation said that the acquisition in America continues the expansion plans of the O’Rourkes, who have horses in training in Australia (Lee Freedman) and France (Nicolas Clement), as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“We are in the market for a group I winner in 2007, and we will be building up our stallion base, following upon the success of Araafa in his first season. We will have 22 yearlings this year to allocate to our various trainers,” Buckley said, “and we may decide to have some runners in America next year.