DEEGAN2 ISSUE 35_Jerkins feature.qxd 23/08/2011 12:53 Page 2
PAUL DEEGAN
Paul Deegan bright start, shining future Paul Deegan probably wouldn’t see himself as fearless, it’s just a natural trait he has in abundance. He sees the goals ahead and isn’t deterred by the obstacles. Fortunately he has arrived at more goalposts than obstacles in his life, but that’s more due to his innate confidence and ability to just plough on than it is to luck.
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WORDS: LISSA OLIVER PHOTOS: LISSA OLIVER
is grounding in the art of training racehorses is exemplary. “I grew up on a dairy farm and Dad was always into horses, keeping a few point-to-pointers and hunters,” Deegan says. “I always wanted to be a trainer and even though I was never sure I’d be lucky enough to be one, I wanted experience in every aspect of the business.” He began at the age of twelve, working for Victor Bowens, Fran Flood, and Jessica Harrington during school holidays, before going to college to study Equine Studies. After a spell in the States, he returned to Ireland to work at Gerrardstown Stud, before joining Mick Channon as Pupil Assistant. “I spent six years with Mick Channon,” Paul says, “three years as pupil assistant when Mark Wallace was assistant then, when Mark set up on his own, three years as assistant. It was a terrific place to be. I’m very lucky to have worked with such good trainers.” Luck seemed to be on his side again when he was offered a job back in Ireland, to train for a couple of men, one of whom was a builder. But within three months his good fortune had turned to bad. The recession was starting in Ireland and the building trade was the first to be hit. “The bite was just about to hit,” Paul explains, “and after just two months the job was gone. We didn’t know what to do. Our son was just eight weeks old. So we got in the car and
just drove round the Curragh, looking for somewhere suitable to set up ourselves. We rented a yard in Pollardstown and started with just four horses.” Wife Kate was, and still is, a huge help and an invaluable member of the team at Clifton Lodge, where she manages the office. “Kate’s like myself; she grew up with horses and spent a couple of years as pupil assistant to Nicky Henderson, then James Fanshawe,” Deegan says. Even with two very like-minds, it was nevertheless a brave decision to go it alone with so few horses. “You just get on and do what you need to, it had to be done,” Paul shrugs. The idea of him being deterred by anything is inconceivable. “We were very lucky, one of those four horses was the really good mare Ghostmilk. She was a really genuine horse, so tough and reliable, just the type you need.” Deegan says he’d rather have a genuine bad horse than an ungenuine good one, and he was certainly blessed in his first seasons. His first runner, in July 2006, was Dream Eile, who went on to claim some prize money at Wolverhampton later that month, while Ghostmilk secured runner-up spot in a Sligo maiden, an early sign that there were winners to come. With a modest fifteen individual runners in his first full season, Fereeji provided Deegan with his first win in June 2007 at Cork, and Ghostmilk and Croi Mo Ri each added to the tally, with plenty of placed efforts in between. “The worry was I’d been out of Ireland so
long,” Deegan admits, “but you’ve got to get yourself out there, get to the sales, and try to find value for money. I always try to look for a nice individual at the right price. There might be a few bits wrong with it that would turn an agent off, but I wouldn’t be too worried by that, just as long as it looks like a racehorse.” Nearly everything in Deegan’s yard looked and behaved like a racehorse in 2008, stalwarts Ghostmilk, Croi Mo Ri, Fereeji and High Court Drama joining newcomers Daffodil Walk and Le Citadel on the winners’ list, claiming twelve races between them. Not surprisingly, Deegan attracted the attention of several new owners, including Jaber Abdullah and Mark Gittins among them. They were both quickly repaid for their faith when Gittins’ Lady Springbank provided the yard with its first Group winner first time out in the C.L. Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh, and Abdullah’s Dream Deer notched a valuable double. Deegan ended the season with ten individual winners, with Celtic Soprano, one of his favourite horses, winning three and raising her rating from 52 to 96. With neither Lady Springbank nor Celtic Soprano getting in foal this season, he is looking forward to having them back in training. Deegan got off to a flying start last year, moving to Clifton Lodge stables, Ballysax, and winning the Irish Lincolnshire with Big Robert and the Leopardstown One Thousand Guineas Trial Stakes with Lady Springbank, among his
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