Goffs National Hunt 2015

National Hunt 2015 SADDLE TO SALES RING

Former jockeys at the top of the bloodstock game

Supreme Racing Club

THE METHOD

Nicky Henderson and David Minton’s winning ways

Fly

ON THE

AN AGAINST THE ODDS GRADE 1 RECORD

{ PLUS } Goffs Country

THE ART OF SELLING

Machine THE

Horse Hotel At Kildare Paddocks

FAUGHEEN’S FLAWLESS SEASON

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Contents

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WELCOME Goffs Chief Executive Henry Beeby welcomes you to the third edition of the National Hunt magazine.

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NEWS Cheltenham and Punchestown triumphs including cover star Faugheen.

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THE METHOD MEN Nicky Henderson talks horsemanship, Ireland and his winning partnership with David Minton to Donn McClean.

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SUPREME SENSE OF FUN Fun is what you buy into with the Supreme Racing Syndicate.

The offer includes stable visits to Champion trainer Willie Mullins and a ticket to the winners enclosure, writes Johnny Ward.

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ON THE FLY Hurricane Fly wasn’t bred to be a National Hunt hero. But fate intervened and the record breaking 22 Grade 1 winning hurdler won a place in hearts of everyone in racing, writes Aisling Crowe.

Goffs co-ordinator: Niamh O’Hehir; Managing Editor: Mary Connaughton Editor: Alanna Gallagher; Art Director: Jane Matthews; Contributors: Donn McClean; Emma Berry; Aisling Crowe; Johnny Ward; Lissa Oliver; Sue Couchman; Nick Nugent Photography: Jennifer O’Sullivan; Caroline Norris; Healy Racing; Peter Mooney; The Racing Post; Sportsfile; Production: Nicole Ennis; Advertising sales manager:

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Goffs National Hunt is published by Ashville Media Group, 7 Blackhall Green, Dublin 7. Tel: (01) 432 2200; Fax (01) 672 7100 Email; info@ashville.com Material printed in this journal is not necessarily endorsed

by Ashville Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited © 2014

Paul Clemenson; Cover image: Faugheen Getty Images

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FEATURE

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FROM SADDLE TO SALES RING Emma Berry talks to six former jump jockeys whose horsemanship in the saddle has made them skillful consignors and agents.

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THE ART OF SELLING The National Hunt market is thriving. With clearance rates at last year’s Land Rover Sale at 92 per cent and turnover up 50 per cent vendors are reaping the rewards of their hard work, writes Lissa Oliver.

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NICK NUGENT ON: Cheltenham, a festival that is all about sportsmanship and a shared love of everything the sport has to offer.

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KEEPING UP APPEARANCES Ger Hennessy leads the behindthe-scenes squad at Goffs where the horses are the VIPs, writes Alanna Gallagher

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GOLD CUP TRIAL Goffs Thyestes Chase remains a race that stops a region and a serious pointer to the Gold Cup.

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A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Astute businessman Luke Comer also has a passion for horse racing, writes Sue Couchman.

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ONE HECK OF A RIDE Winner of the 2015 Goffs Land Rover Bumper vendor prize John Collins only just caught his own race, in an airport bar, miles from the action at Punchestown.

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SOCIAL NETWORK The Land Rover golf tournament, the Land Rover Sale and Goffs Punchestown Sale.

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SUPPORT STRUCTURE Irish Injured Jockeys Fund is a newly-formed charity helping to support seriously injured riders.

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome

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ne of the great differences between Flat and National Hunt racing is the longevity of the participants. The best jumpers come back year after year and really become embedded in our consciousness.

The emotion they engender can be quite extraordinary as they do battle in the toughest amphitheatres at the likes of Cheltenham, Punchestown and Aintree.

Those, of course, are the equine athletes but the human aspect of National Hunt can be just as enduring. Nicky Henderson and David Minton have enjoyed top level success for as long as any of us can remember, and it shows no sign of abating. They have proved to be a major force at the Land Rover Sale over the years, buying significant numbers and bringing their own unique and very welcome positivity to all that they do. As a pair they certainly illustrate two strong maxims in that life is for living and that if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well, points that come across very clearly in Donn McClean’s interview with Nicky Henderson in this edition of Goffs National Hunt Magazine.

Hurricane Fly is the epitome of the longstanding warrior. This Goffs graduate continues to add to the world record that one can hardly imagine ever being broken as his tally stands at 22 Grade 1 wins. We talk to several people in the racing world about what this wonder horse means to them.

A man fast becoming a legend in his own

lifetime is Hurricane Fly’s amazing trainer, Willie Mullins, who is setting records on a near daily basis. Our cover horse, Land Rover graduate Faugheen, is just one of so many of his champions and Johnny Ward’s feature on a morning on the gallops with the highly successful Supreme Racing Syndicate makes for fascinating reading.

There are also articles on the personalities and operations that provide us with so much business every year and without whom Goffs would amount to very little. The Art of Selling profiles two major NH nurseries, Kenilworth House Stud and Sunnyhill Stud, while Saddle to Sales Ring talks to several NH jockeys who have become highly successful agents and consignors in their second careers.

All of those we have profiled mean a lot to us but none more so than the late Dessie Hughes who was a client of some note buying the likes of Hardy Eustace and Central House at Goffs.

However Dessie is one of those rare people who will be remembered for his personality as much as his professional achievements as there was simply no more popular man on an Irish racecourse. Charming, charismatic and unfailingly polite to every single person he met, Dessie’s premature passing has left a gap in so many lives.

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Henry Beeby, Group Chief Executive

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GOFFS NEWS

Faugheen The Land Rover Machine

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t has been another stellar year for Goffs National Hunt graduates on the track, culminating on either side of the Irish Sea in the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals. The Land Rover was the leading store sale for Grade 1 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, which followed an incredible 2014 where five Land Rover graduates reached the winners enclosure at Cheltenham. Faugheen’s flawless performances in the Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham and Punchestown stirred the soul and Willie Mullins’ charge looks set to join the greatest names in the history of the game. Bred by Dr John Waldron and owned

by Mrs Susannah Ricci, the unbeaten Faugheen was sold for €12,000 at the 2011 Land Rover Sale

by Castletown House to Andrew and Willie Slattery’s Meadowview Stables. Land Rover graduates Martello Tower and Milsean fought an epic battle to the line in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham with the Margaret Mullins trained Martello Tower and Adrian Heskin coming out on top.

Martello Tower is owned

by Barry Connell and was bred by Martin Cullinane who sold the son of Milan at the Land Rover to Margaret Mullins for €12,000 in the same year as Faugheen.

SUCCESS IN STORE AT GOFFS LAND ROVER SALE

Faugheen L TO R: Milsean and Martello Tower

For assistance with any aspect of your visit to the Land Rover Sale please contact Goffs on +353 45 886600 or sales@goffs.ie

The electric atmosphere at last year’s Land Rover Sale where huge numbers of buyers from Ireland and the UK did battle at Goffs looks set to be repeated on 11th and 12th June as a super line-up of 550 store horses has been compiled for the 2015 sale. Demand for places from vendors was stronger than ever this year resulting in a catalogue packed with potential. Leading sires featured include; Beneficial, Flemensfirth, Kayf Tara, Kings Theatre, Midnight Legend, Milan, Oscar, Presenting and Westerner, among many others, while siblings to Grade 1 performers such as Apache Stronghold, Splash Of Ginge, Cheltenian, The New One etc. are also on offer. Every horse offered for sale across the two days is eligible for the Goffs Land Rover Bumper at next year’s Punchestown Festival. The 2015 race went to Petit Mouchoir, a €100,000 purchase at last year’s Land Rover Sale. The Goffs team have been busy promoting this year’s sale at the Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown Festivals as well as numerous market visits and events across the UK and Ireland and they are looking forward to making your visit to the Land Rover Sale as successful and enjoyable as possible.

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HURRICANE’S STORMING SEASON Hurricane Fly’s terrier-like attitude to his races thrills connections and race goers alike and his remarkable fifth consecutive win in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown earlier this year brought the Goffs graduate’s world record Grade 1 tally to 22.

Scan this QR code to view the online catalogue:

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GOFFS NEWS

GETTING INTO FASHIONABLE GEAR

NEW CLASSICS 8

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HAVE YOU A THIRST FOR ADVENTURE? This year marks the 68th year of production of the iconic Land Rover Defender, a versatile 4X4 that has proven its workhorse capabilities on Ireland’s top stud farms. The vehicle that lets you explore your adventurous side will cease production in Solihull, UK in December of this year. The move has inspired the company to design three limited edition models, the Heritage, Adventure and Autobiography, to keep the Solihull spirit alive. “We wanted to mark the end of Defender production at Solihull with a special edition but coming up with a single identity was impossible, so we developed three very different interpretations of the Defender to reflect its strength and breadth of character,” said Nick Rogers, director of group engineering at Land Rover. “Whether our customers want to celebrate Land Rover’s unrivalled off-road heritage, demand the ultimate in terms of design and performance or have a genuine thirst for adventure, there will be a limited edition Defender that will be fit for purpose.”

Land Rover and Barbour cement their relationship with the announcement of a second clothing collaboration for SS15 that is inspired by details of the iconic Land Rover grille and chamfer lines.

Drawing on the key strengths of both brands it delivers clothing that for men includes lightweight jackets, gilets and a range of knits, shirts, jerseys and graphic tees. Wax, leather and quilt jackets are flatteringly cut with smart leather trims and the grille pattern is used to clever effect in summer knitwear and tees. The waterproof breathable Burnside jacket is a stand-out piece, light and easy to wear and designed with the unpredictable Irish weather in mind, it is the ideal car coat. For women the versatile and stylish Redburn is a longer length one hundred per cent waterproof belted trench coat – that is set to become a future classic.

Farewell to Joanie Joanie Downey who sadly passed away in February aged 86, was regarded by all at Kildare Paddocks as “Goffs Granny” for her warm grandmotherlike presence. A much loved member of staff, Joanie came to work at Goffs in the 1970s on the cleaning team and later found her calling in the kitchen. Downey’s home cooking - her shepherd’s pie was legendary - had colleagues vying for her attention for she was known to favour the menfolk, serving them up Desperate Dan-sized portions in an attempt to bulk them up. In more recent years her tea room on sales days was a haven that Goffs staff could escape to for a cuppa and a chat with Joanie. Off-duty she loved a flutter at the races and in bingo halls all over Kildare and was a lifetime Lilywhites supporter. The team at Goffs will miss her incredible sense of humour and her laugh which used to light up a room.

WELL CONNECTED With an ever increasing number of people viewing catalogues via iPads coupled with the huge increase in smartphone usage at sales, Goffs is set to roll out a comprehensive upgrade of its wi-fi at the Land Rover Sale. With fiber connectivity laid throughout the complex, Goffs will now offer wi-fi of the highest standard to ensure clients can be truly mobile and keep up to date while on the move during sales.

This investment in fiber connectivity throughout the sales grounds will ensure that Goffs remains at the forefront of technological advances in the industry so maintaining the company’s commitment to prioritising the needs of clients.

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MUCH MORE THAN JUST RACING

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PUNCHESTOWN

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THE

Method MEN

Nicky Henderson talks to Donn McClean about his partnership with David Minton, his purchasing tactics and Irish race goers love of horsemanship that is never more evident than at Punchestown.

Photography by Jennifer O’Sullivan.

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and Rover Sale, 2008, Nicky Henderson liked lot 141, an Oscar gelding out of the Phardante mare Ash Baloo. The pedigree was not outstanding, but the dam was a half-sister to Lucky Baloo, who had won eight races and was the dam of The Hokey, who had won four times. She also had a two-year-old filly by Milan, who would be named Taraval and who would beat Mallowney in a maiden hurdle at Cork a couple of years later, but Henderson didn’t know that at the time.

Partner David Minton liked the three-year-old gelding too. They liked the individual, they liked the way the young Oscar gelding was put together, they liked the way he walked.

They bid for him when he came into the ring, but there was plenty of competition for him, and when their rival bidder said €80,000, they said no. Too rich. The gavel fell and the Oscar gelding walked out of the ring and, it appeared, out of Henderson’s life.

“I didn’t know Dai Walters at the time,” recalls the trainer now of the purchaser, seven years on. “I knew who he was, but I didn’t know him. So I was surprised and delighted when he asked me to train the Oscar gelding for him.”

He could have saved the owner CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The a few quid. Even so, it was an crowd going wild for Sprinter astute decision by Walters to Sacre at Punchestown; L TO R: David Minton, Nicky send the horse to the trainer who Henderson, Goffs CEO Henry liked him so much that he ran Beeby, Alanna O’Reilly and him all the way to 80 grand.

George Beeby; surveying the That was Oscar Whisky. action from the stands.

Henderson got the horse home

“The reception that Sprinter Sacre got in 2013 was amazing. I had more than a hundred people come up to me later in the week to thank me for bringing him over.”

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“I love the Land Rover Sale,” says Henderson. Warm glow. “It has got stronger and stronger through the years. It used to be the perception that you didn’t get the boutique pedigrees at the Land Rover Sale, but that is changing. More than the pedigrees, though, you know that you are getting a racehorse. You are getting a trainer’s horse.”

The relationship between Henderson and the Land Rover Sale hasn’t always been harmonious, mind you. In 2005, when Henderson sent out Its A Dream to win the Land Rover Bumper at Punchestown, driven to a four-length win by Mick Fitzgerald, he thought that he was set to drive out of the track in a brand new Land Rover. Alas, it was the vendor who got the new wheels, not the purchaser.

“I remember, I was standing there,” he recalls, “as the presentation was being made. I fully expected that the keys would be presented to me. I couldn’t believe it when they called the vendor up instead!”

Here’s the way the Land Rover Sale works for Henderson, here’s the way he works it: a couple of days before the sale, the Highflyer team go over and do the groundwork. David Minton, Anthony Bromley, Tessa Greatrex. Between them they look at every horse in the sale and draw up a shortlist for Henderson.

The trainer arrives the day before the sale and looks at the horses on the shortlist. Well, when he says shortlist, he is in danger of contravening the description.

“There could be upwards of a hundred horses on the list,” he says. “And we look at them all. It’s a busy day, but we know what we are looking for. The beauty of the sale is that the select part is just one day, around 250 horses. We have bought horses on the second day as well. Over the two days there and got him ready to race. Much and all as he are over 500 horses giving you a 500/1 shot to liked him in the sales ring, he liked him even buy the winner of the Land Rover Bumper.” more on the gallops. He won a bumper at You have to look at every horse too. Case Newbury on his racecourse debut the in point: he went to see some horses when following March, and he won another “I love the Land Rover Sale. he was over for the Punchestown Festival bumper on his debut the following More than the pedigrees, this year, and he bought a few, including season. Then he won a maiden one that was sold fairly late in last year’s hurdle and a novices’ hurdle, and he though, you know that you Land Rover Sale. finished fourth behind Menorah and are getting a racehorse.

“We had to pay a fair premium for him.

Get Me Out Of Here and Dunguib in You are getting a trainer’s He was up so late in the sale last year, we the 2010 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at had bought too many horses by then and the Cheltenham Festival. horse.” had gone to the bar!”

Oscar Whisky ran in three bumpers, He speaks about David Minton, his and he won all three. He ran in 17 races partnership with him, his friendship with him. over hurdles, and he won 10 of them, including They have been buying horses together since Minton’s two Grade 1 Aintree Hurdles. He wasn’t quite as days with the Curragh Bloodstock Agency with Johnny prolific over fences, but he still won three times, including Harrington. a Grade 2 Dipper Chase and a Grade 1 Scilly Isles Chase, and he “Minty and I have been great mates for years,” says Henderson. finished second to Uxizandre in the Grade 1 Manifesto Chase at “We understand how we work. I know what he likes and he knows last year’s Aintree Grand National meeting.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: David Minton signing the docket after another Highflyer purchase at Goffs Land Rover; BELOW, Nicky Henderson at Punchestown.

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Nicky Henderson and David Minton with the connections of the Triumph Hurdle 1-2-3; Peace And Co (winner) centre, Top Notch (2nd) left, and Hargam (3rd) right.

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the novice hurdles. That was important. what I like - although sometimes we differ. We have things called Punchestown has always been an important meeting for ‘That’s mine’. Like, how could you have given that one four stars?”

Henderson. 2013, that was some year. That was the year that he The landscape has changed dramatically since Henderson brought Sprinter Sacre over, after the horse had won the Champion started buying and training horses, first with Fred Winter, then Chase at Cheltenham and the Melling Chase at Aintree. when he went out on his own. Back then, back in the 1970s and “It’s never easy to do all three Festivals,” says the trainer, 1980s, the store horses were all four-year-olds. You wouldn’t even “Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown. And I’m certain that think of buying a three-year-old, it was just too far away from the Sprinter wasn’t at his best when he ran at Punchestown. But I racecourse. wanted to bring him over to Ireland. I know how the Irish “A three-year-old would take you forever. That’s what racegoers appreciate top class horses and, apart from we thought then. And even when you were buying anything else, I had promised Richie Galway that I a four-year-old store, you were buying a great would bring him over!” big backward horse. You were breaking a big He was expecting that the horse would be four-year-old who had been left out in a field. afforded a nice welcome but, in truth, he I think France changed all that.”

“Ireland is the was bowled over by the reception that he Henderson was one of the early adopter greatest source of received from the Irish race-going public. of the French market. He and David horsemanship in “It was an amazing day, the crowd, the Minton started looking at France when whole atmosphere on the day, the reception they thought that Irish horses were getting the world” that he got. The race was on the Tuesday, and I too expensive. The horses there were more promise you, I had more than a hundred people precocious than the Irish horses at the time, come up to me later in the week to thank me for more forward, and that has the forerunner to a bringing him over. I felt the pressure beforehand for change in thinking in Ireland and Britain. sure, but I was delighted that we brought him. Although “Now it’s all about three-year-olds. We have learned thank God the race was on Tuesday, I don’t think I could have stood an awful lot. We do more with young horses now. Instead of being the pressure all week if it had been later.” left in fields, they are kept busy, and I think that’s better. They And Sprinter Sacre delivered, coming home five and a half lengths mature better. Now we can buy them as three-year-olds and get in front of the evergreen Sizing Europe, the pair of them clear. them going earlier.”

“It brought it home to me,” says Henderson thoughtfully.

Henderson is a regular visitor to Ireland. He didn’t have as strong “Ireland is the greatest source of horsemanship in the world. a team at Punchestown this year as he usually has. The strength Here was a French-bred horse trained in England, it wasn’t of the home team in general and of Willie Mullins in particular what the Irish would have chosen, and yet the welcome that meant that you had to choose your battles carefully. He could have the Irish people gave us, the appreciation that they showed, was brought one or two of the four-year-old hurdlers, he tells you – he remarkable. Of all the great days that Sprinter Sacre has had, all did have the 1-2-3 in the Triumph Hurdle, pictured above, after his achievements, all the accolades, if I had to pick one day over all – but Hargam went to Aintree instead, and he just didn’t think the others, it was that day at Punchestown.” that the ground would have been soft enough for Top Notch. Even Warm glow again. so, he still had his winner, Snake Eyes for JP McManus in one of Goffs National Hunt

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SUPREME RACING

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Supreme THE

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Fun is a big part of what you buy into in the club feel of the Supreme Racing Syndicate, owners of the Goffs Land Rover Bumper 2014 winner Very Much So. The exciting offer includes stable visits to Champion trainer Willie Mullins and a ticket to the winners enclosure, writes Johnny Ward. Photography by Jennifer O’Sullivan.

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TOP LEFT: The best syndicate in the world? Syndicate members crowd the podium to celebrate Very Much So’s win in the Goffs Land Rover Bumper. Their faces say fun with a capital F. BELOW: Willie Mullins and his team survey the string BELOW RIGHT: Very Much So who won the Land Rover Bumper in 2014.

n a pretty mild, March morning in Closutton, outside Bagnelstown, Co Carlow, there is so much happening it is near-unfathomable that one man could be in charge of it all - let alone carry himself with such class. The most virtuous of National Hunt horses to have ever assembled in a single stable at the one time in Ireland - if not Europe - are hacking, cantering, bucking and basically enjoying themselves. A French TV crew follows Willie Mullins as if one wrong step will see a hole open in the County Carlow ground. Work-riders murmur to each other, some giggling; others seem to be texting girlfriends - the grinning is telling. At the edge of Mullins’ gallops, a gaggle of men are chatting and dreaming: and well they might. The Supreme Racing Club began as a speculative idea three and a half years ago when a handful of members were enticed into horse ownership for workable fees. “Last summer at an open day at Willie’s,” boasts Steve Massey with pride, “we had around 130 people here.”

The explosion of interest was such that Massey, a genial northern Englishman, abandoned a job in retail to take the post of full-time British head of the syndicate. He liaises with Jim Balfry, a native of Limerick and a former prison officer. They are heavy in conversation with two father-and-son teams just as the Mullins stars begin their workout for the day.

Brians Whelan, senior and junior, and the Earley pair (dad Clive and son Fintan) are engrossed in the club’s ethos. One can get as heavily involved or as lightly as one pleases: indeed, as Massey says, “it feels like a club”. Even if you are strictly only paying your

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SUPREME RACING

Syndicate members, Brian Whelan junior and senior, David and Cive Earley and Steve Massey.

Patrick Mullins putting Listen Dear through his paces.

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share for horse one, you will find yourself cheering on every steed that has the blue and white silks. “It’s a challenge in England to get members into the parade ring,” Massey concedes.

“I started off in one of the club’s horses; right now I must be in ten or 11,” smiles Whelan senior. “It was a lovely thing once too that Brian asked Willie could he ride out one of our horses and he was only too helpful. Every winner in the club feels like yours. You can own as little as two and a half per cent of any horse, which makes it very accessible.”

Everyone here keeps reiterating: what is mine is yours when these colours are involved. That particular issue reached its zenith when Pique Sous beat the Aidan O’Brien-trained El Salvador to snare the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer. Taking pride of place in what can be an intimidating environment were nearly twenty members of a syndicate - and this was a horse bought for very little money. “We had six passes,” Massey chuckles, “but we managed to get 18 people into the Ascot parade ring.”

Pique Sous has been the dream horse of the club. He was their first runner at Cheltenham - finishing third in the Champion Bumper to Champagne Fever three years ago - and indeed the only beast to carry the flag at the Cotswolds until this year’s festival. And the festival was very much on the mind of Messrs Massey, Balfry, Earley and Whelan on this spring morning: Verawal was on the festival ticket.

He struggles for attention amid a veritable cavalry of superstars that includes Hurricane Fly, Faugheen, Douvan, Un De Sceaux and Annie Power, but on his shoulders rested the hopes of Supreme Racing for Cheltenham 2015.

Purchased for just €5,500 at Goffs in 2013, he has already won a maiden hurdle and been placed five times.

Its website claims to represent “probably the best syndicate in the world” but it is slightly tongue-in-cheek and having fun is central to its ethos. For Massey, to come to Closutton is what life is all about.

“I live in South Yorkshire; I left at 4.15 this morning,” he says, fresh as drizzle kissing your face. “I love coming here and Willie loves having us. He is central to the whole thing; he wants to get people into racing and that is the big thing. He realises there are plenty of disappointments but everyone in the syndicate is realistic.

“We can come here and see our horses work. We can go to Tracey Gilmore or Aidan Fitzgerald to see those pre-training. The days racing, especially in Ireland where it is more relaxed, are fantastic.

It’s about meeting people and taking part.”

We can come here and see our horses work. Willie is central to the whole thing; he wants to get people into racing and that is the big thing.

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Willie Mullins keeping a close eye on the horses form with Uranie and Very Much So in the background.

A French film crew, just off camera, captured the morning’s work at Closutton.

19

Goffs

Goffs National Hunt

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SUPREME RACING

You can own as little as two and a half per cent of any horse and every winner in the club feels like yours.

20

Goffs

Even here in Closutton, there is harmony between owners, trainer, work riders, jockeys, the women who make the tea. There is a homely vibe. The club members are quick to acknowledge each passing horseman and woman; they are in no way imposing.

Very Much So is a bit more imposing. He was purchased at the Goffs Land Rover Sale for €12,000 and even then looked a potential snip as a Scorpion half-brother to Jessie’s Dream. The well-renowned Harold Kirk purchased the horse on Mullins’ behalf and key to the club taking over was that Jim Balfry - “a great eye for a horse” according to Massey - was keen too.

Initially, admittedly, he just seemed to be another horse. “Coming up to the Goffs Land Rover Bumper last year at Punchestown,” Massey recalls, “he just looked good - but he really came alive on the day.” Alive and more than well, Very Much So scooped the winning purse of €59,000. The following day, Massey bumped into Graham Wylie at Mullins’ and Wylie congratulated him, a little tinged with envy: “I’ve been trying to win that race for years,” one Englishman admitted to the other.

A STORY OF SYNDICATE SUCCESS WINS

RUNS

%

WIN PRIZE

TOTAL PRIZE

2014-15

13

45

29%

£79,881

£102,162

2013-14

13

58

22%

£124,644

£153,338

2012-13

18

52

35%

£139,782

£183,175

2011-12

5

11

45%

£29,821

£39,137

BIG-RACE WINS IN IRELAND Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Novice Hurdle (Grade 2) 01Apr13 Pique Sous I.T.B.A Fillies Scheme European Breeders Fund Mares Hurdle (Grade 3) Zuzka Fergus O’Toole Memorial Novice Hurdle (Grade 3)14 Oct 12 Zuzka

Little wonder then that the Land Rover Sale was heavy on the club’s agenda since and they spent pretty big. Poly Rock, a Frenchbred by Policy Maker; Torrent Des Mottes, a Montmatre grey; and a scopey Black Sam Bellamy called Lord Bunnacurry have all joined the team from the Land Rover Sale, costing the club nearly €110,000. Its mantra is: win money, reinvest, grow.

Indeed, while the club has never had a chaser, that is set to change. Massey expects at least two of the three Land Rover purchases to jump a fence and the club broke even new ground in February when Uranna’s Sandown triumph - at Listed level - was its first jumps winner in Britain.

Verawal would go on to finish down the field in the Fred Winter at Cheltenham but these men and women are living a dream by having a runner at Cheltenham. Now they are happy to pay good money for promising stock and Grade 1 jumps success is surely only a matter of when, not if. Most importantly of all, perhaps, is that they and Willie Mullins are spreading the good word of National Hunt racing.

Goffs National Hunt

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OWN SHARE IN RACE HORSE TRAINED BY WILLIE MULLINS

Supreme Horse Racing have had over 50

winners in 3 years including a Royal Ascot and

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Contact Jim 00353862274962 or Steve 00447539332851 for the very latest recruits.

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quot

HURRICANE FLY

PATRICK MULLINS

On the FLY PATRICK MULLINS

CHAMPION AMATEUR JOCKEY “The thing about Hurricane Fly is his longevity. So many horses in the yard come and go, they flash brightly for a season or two and then their brilliance dims. From the time Fly came here he has always been good and always stood out. He suffered an injury in his younger days but to come back from it and be as good as he is, shows just how determined a horse he is. For such a large yard as ours, he is unique. He stands head and shoulders above all the other horses, great as some of them are. Not only does he understand the game in that the object of it is to get to that red pole in front of the other horses, he enjoys the game too. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be still racing and winning at 11. That is something you can’t breed or train into a horse, they are just born with it. Hurricane Fly has that and it is what makes him special.

Fly can be cheeky when he wants to be. When he first came over from France, he was let out into the field with some other horses for the summer and when he came back in he was covered in scars. It was like the fancy French fella coming to play with the GAA team for the summer and them fairly sorting him out! He can be grumpy but he is a bonny sort of horse, even at his age. He still goes around with his ears pricked and he is really only grumpy in his stable. When he is out on the gallops, he’s fine. The stable is like his own area and he likes to keep his space to himself.

I think the race that stands out for us was his first Champion Hurdle win in 2011. That was the first time that we had the winner of one of Cheltenham’s big three races so it was very special for the yard. Being the world record holder for the number of Grade 1 wins is an amazing achievement and something that I don’t think we will ever do with another horse again.

23

Hurricane Fly wasn’t bred to be a National Hunt hero. But fate intervened and the record holding 22 Grade 1 winning hurdler has won a place in the hearts of everyone in racing. Pros and punters recall their favourite Fly moments, writes AISLING CROWE.

Goffs

THE FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD RECORD HOLDER Born: 5 April 2000 Sire: Montjeu Dam: Scandisk Breeder: Agricola Del Parco Sold: Goffs Yearling Sale 2005 Price: 65,000 Trainer: Willie Mullins Owners: George Creighton and Mrs Rose Boyd Jockeys: Ruby Walsh and Paul Townend Groom: Gail Carlisle Grade 1 victories: 22 Cheltenham Champion Hurdles: 2 Irish Champion Hurdles: 5 Career Earnings: 2.54million/£1.89million

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HURRICANE FLY

FRANK MOTHERWAY

24

Goffs

OWNER OF HURRICANE FLY’S DAM “We still have Scandisk, Hurricane Fly’s dam, here on the farm and she is due to give birth to a foal by Camelot in May. Hopefully this will be the sixth foal she has had since we bought her.

The first foal was a colt by Shirroco and since then she has had four half siblings to Hurricane Fly by Yeats – three fillies and a colt. We retained all the fillies so we have three of his half sisters still with us to carry on the family. We bought her as a broodmare in 2009 for €63,000 which was a lot of money to lay out at the time. I liked her because she had a dual-purpose pedigree and she was a very good-looking mare with a lot of power. Hurricane Fly appeared to be a promising horse at the time. He had won a couple of Grade 1s as a novice and was with the right trainer so we got lucky. We sold the Shirroco colt as a foal and sent the mare to Yeats. Her first foal by him is called Avichi and we sent her to Willie Mullins to train her for us. We also have a three-yearold filly out of Scandisk by Yeats that we will probably race and a yearling full sister to them as well. It is fantastic to have three Yeats sisters to Hurricane Fly. I put my head on the block with Yeats but I have had faith in him from early on and he is starting to prove himself and he is looking good as a stallion now. Scandisk went to Camelot last year as I wanted to try and get some of that Montjeu influence back. She is a very laid-back mare and easy to work with, in contrast Hurricane Fly was a real handful in his younger days. That’s the Montjeu coming through in him.”

LEO POWELL

JOHN CLARKE FORMER MANAGER OF THE IRISH NATIONAL STUD “Hurricane Fly as a foal doesn’t really stick in my mind but I remember him going to the yearling sales at Goffs in 2005. We all had a great regard for him as a yearling. He was a lovely colt and bred to win a Derby but those plans didn’t come to fruition. It has worked out in a different way for him. His first Champion Hurdle is very dear in the memory. It doesn’t often happen that a Champion Hurdler is foaled at the Irish National Stud. He remained in our care until he went to Goffs to be sold. He was probably the most famous National Hunt horse bred at the farm but we foaled a number of champions including him, Desert King and Sea The Stars during my time there and any horse that delivers on the track always stands out for me. For the Chiannis who bred him, his success has been a huge thrill. They live near Como in northern Italy and breed for the flat, boarding their mares in the Irish National Stud. For them to have bred two great champions in Hurricane Fly and Pressing is a huge source of pride for them. Hurricane Fly has given them an enormous amount of fun and they are so proud to have bred a world record holder for the most Grade 1 races won.”

FRANK MOTHERWAY

JOHN CLARKE

LEO POWELL

MANAGING EDITOR OF THE IRISH FIELD The Fly is a real international horse, bred by Italians, foaled at the Irish National Stud and raced in France before coming back to his birthplace and finding his way into the hearts of racegoers. The most outstanding hurdler of his generation, he has graced the cover of The Irish Field many times testing the creative writing skills of the subeditors whose headlines included; ”Flyswatter”, “Record Breaker” and “Will Hurricane Fly Again?” Does he help us sell more copies of The Irish Field? Put it this way, when we inserted a poster of him into the paper we saw a spike in sales of about 10 per cent. He’s our poster boy and a godsend to newspapers, always giving us a great story that is easy to write. After Istabraq I thought I’d never see the like again and then along comes Hurricane Fly who endears himself to the public because he has consistently performed at the highest level to become a record breaking 22 Grade 1 race winner. Standing at the rails at the Irish Champion Hurdle in Leopardstown I looked back up to the stands and the entire crowd was on its feet with excitement. Two parish priests were standing next to me, both well into their 60s. As he crossed the line they started jumping around with delight – not a sight you see every day in modern Ireland – but it speaks volumes about how special a horse he is. He’s not the biggest horse but he has the biggest heart. He is the embodiment of a winner. He runs his heart out in every race giving it 110 per cent.

Goffs National Hunt

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HURRICANE FLY

w

HAMISH ALEXANDER

6 Furlongs

Hurricane Fly was sold to race in France as a yearling and made his racecourse debut in a six furlong two year old maiden on 11 July 2006. It was a two horse race. He finished second.

Zero wins from four starts as a 2yo. It took him until his seasonal debut at three to get his head in front. His first victory came in the Prix Achille Fould over seven furlongs at Mont de Marsan.

His first win in a listed race was the Prix Omnium II, in very soft going over a mile at Saint Cloud ahead of Literato who went on to win the Group 1 Champion

GOFFS AGENT WHO SELECTED HURRICANE FLY “Paolo Chianni bred him. I had bought a foal off him every year and they did really well for me so I went to Hollyhill Stud to see his foals that year. Hurricane Fly stood out to me from the start, he was a gorgeous horse and I immediately put him on my list for Goffs. I was bigging him up to Adrian Nicoll and thought he would be one of the best yearlings in the sale that year, a real standout.

However he hadn’t progressed from May to October for whatever reason. He was a real handful when he was a younger horse and at the sale just wasn’t the horse I thought he was going to be. He didn’t grow as much as I thought he would and was sold for 65,000. I thought he would have made three times that amount. He has come back from that inauspicious first public appearance and more than made up for it since then. He was bred for a different career and I lost track of him until Paolo rang me up one day to tell me about him and how he had turned out to be this brilliant hurdler. He is the most beautiful horse and there is something really special about him. I’ve been lucky enough to see him run and he is incredible. He has such heart. He really has exceeded even the expectations I had for him as a yearling.”

Stakes at Newmarket for Godolphin. Following several

May

2008 First Hurdle Race

HAMISH ALEXANDER

Hurricane Fly in Numbers

more tilts at group races he ended his flat career in 2007.

In 2008 he made his hurdling debut for Mullins and his new owners at Punchestown when winning a maiden race on May 7th.

25

He returned to France later that month but to the

Goffs

jumping track of Auteuil where he won the Grade 3 Gras Savoye Prix De Longchamp and four weeks later

Grade

1

Triumph

finished second in France’s premier four year old hurdle, the Prix Alain Du Breil.

On 30 November 2008 a star was born when Hurricane Fly won the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse. It was his first Grade 1 triumph and for his jockey, 18 year old Paul Townend, who was riding in his first top level race.

In 31 starts over hurdles, the Fly has only once finished outside the first three in the 2014 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham where he was fourth behind arch rival Jezki.

123

To date he has achieved a record-breaking 22 Grade 1

Grade 1 wins

5

Consecutive Wins

wins, which is now 6 clear of US superhorse John Henry’s amazing haul.

Hurricane Fly is unbeaten at Leopardstown, winning all ten of his starts, at the Dublin track, each a Grade 1 race.

In 2015 he recorded a career-defining fifth consecutive

10

Dublin Wins

win in the Irish Champion Hurdle.

Goffs National Hunt

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HURRICANE FLY

HAYLEY O’CONNOR

PAT KEOGH

26

Goffs

CEO OF LEOPARDSTOWN RACECOURSE “Hurricane Fly is a huge draw at Leopardstown and absolutely loves the place.

He knows when he is here and is just a very special horse. It’s a great opportunity for us to be involved in his story and he is a wonderful horse for us to be associated with. Horses like Hurricane Fly are what make Irish National Hunt racing what it is – the best in the world.

He won his first race here in 2008 and has been supremely excellent, winning ten races at the track all at Grade 1 level. That includes 5 BHP Irish Champion Hurdles in a row, which is incredible when you think of it. He is just such a wonder horse and his career is a testament to him and Willie Mullins. How they keep him sound and enthusiastic for more racing is a true measure of their talent.

After Punchestown last year so many people were saying that it was the end of his career, that he wasn’t getting younger and wondering if we would ever see him race again so when he won at Punchestown in November and then came here at Christmas it was so exciting. The Ryanair Hurdle was a fantastic race with Jezki, the Champion Hurdler, ridden

by AP McCoy and his good friend Ruby Walsh on Hurricane Fly but I think the fifth Irish Champion Hurdle win in January topped that. Jezki got the most amazing reception for a horse who finished second and they tore the house down for Hurricane Fly.”

PAT KEOGH

HAYLEY O’CONNOR

THOROUGHBRED BREEDER AND PR FOR LADBROKES “I ‘d say that he is Ireland’s favourite horse. It is unbelievable the level of affection he commands. Gail Carlisle letting him walk up to the crowd and giving people the chance to stroke him and take photographs of him at Leopardstown when he won the Irish Champion Hurdle really made his appearance there special. I even saw some on-course bookies sprinting from the betting ring to get to the winners’ enclosure.

He has cost the firm a fortune over the years even though he went off at really short prices for most of his races. A lot of people won’t back a 1-4 shot but such was his consistency, that didn’t have the same effect and people put him into multiples because it was like buying money. That said Hurricane Fly has been great for racing. Every time I’m in a taxi and asked what I do and we talk about horses, everyone knows Hurricane Fly.”

LUCAS O’TOOLE

DAVID & LUCAS O’TOOLE AVID RACEGOERS “The great thing about the NH game is that you really get to know a horse over the years. Living close to Leopardstown means we’ve been lucky to be there to share so many of his great days, including one really special day that I spent with my son Lucas (8) at the track last Christmas. You always hope your child will grow to share some of your life’s passions. On the way there in the car we were talking about The Fly and the chances of him winning that day. Lucas was intrigued by the drama of it all and bombarded me questions. At the races we headed down to the already busy pre-parade ring to catch a glimpse of Hurricane Fly, I had to hoist Lucas onto my shoulders so he could get a good view and savour the building excitement. With a field of only five it was easy to pick out the familiar blue silks of The Fly. As Jezki made a slight error jumping the final hurdle Lucas exploded out of his seat punched the air, yelling at the top of his lungs ‘come on Hurricane Fly’. As Hurricane Fly found another gear under a powerful drive from Ruby Walsh he sprinted past the younger horse to win by 2 1/4 lengths. A spine tingling, rousing cheer went up from the stands as everyone there witnessed history being made.

Beside me an eight-year-old boy whooped and hollered in delight. History was made… Memories were made. Thanks Hurricane Fly.”

Goffs National Hunt

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PHOTO: HEALY RACING

SADDLE TO SALES RING

LITTLE ACORNS MARK DWYER

A former stable jockey to Jimmy Fitzgerald, MARK DWYER won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice on Forgive ‘n Forget (1985), pictured, and Jodami (1993), as well as the Champion Hurdle on the mare Flakey Dove (1994).

His Oaks Farm Stables has grown from little acorns to a major force at sales in all categories from Flat-bred foals to store horses. He bought Oaks Farm in 1988 when he was still riding with a view to getting involved in this side of the business in some shape or form. Training was never on his mind but trading really appealed, Dywer explains. “I got involved in the Breeze-Up sales with Willie Browne before I stopped riding and we had some success with that so things really took off from there. A big part of my business now is with Flat horses but on the jumping side, we try to buy three-year-olds and train them for bumpers to sell on. We also buy some foals to sell as stores. Our business took a hit in the recession but the National Hunt store market was hit worst of all. It’s come full circle though and now people have come back around to realising that it’s where most of the good horses come from.”

During his time working for people like Jimmy FitzGerald and Jonjo O’Neill, the one thing that was drilled into him was that conformation is a hugely important part of the package to the point where he’d nearly forego pedigree to have a well-balanced horse with good conformation that moves well. “When you’re buying, with trading in mind, you can’t really buy a page anyway as those horses make too much money so I always look for a good individual who moves well even if he has a lesser pedigree.”

27

saddle

Goffs

FROM

TO SALES RING

Horsemanship is the most important requirement for any successful bloodstock industry operator, a skill that is unsurpassed by the National Hunt jockey. It is no surprise that those who’ve enjoyed success in the saddle have used their skills to flourish as agents and consignors, writes Emma Berry, who namechecks six who’ve made the successful jump from the saddle to sales.

Goffs National Hunt

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SADDLE TO SALES RING

I TRY BEFORE I BUY TOM MALONE

28

SPORTSFILE

Goffs

me in contact with the owners but you have to know what you’re A self-confessed ‘average’ jockey, TOM MALONE rode for two of talking about to convince them to buy. Having been a jump jockey the biggest stables in England during his time in the saddle, with made that side of business easier. Now I buy horses for a Philip Hobbs and Martin Pipe, and has put his experience number of trainers, including Lucinda Russell, Tim and contacts to good use building up his thriving Vaughan, Jamie Snowden plus a decent number agency. More closely allied to National Hunt racing, with purchases headed by Champion You have know to what for Paul Nicholls. It’s really taken off.”

What helped enormously in the early days Chase winner Dodging Bullets, he has also you’re talking about to was being able to go home [to Ireland] and been successful on the Flat include with high-class Breeze-Up graduate Caspar convince owners to buy ride a lot of the horses he was thinking about buying - the try before you buy approach. He Netscher. “From the first day I started riding so I try to ride some of travelled all over the country and was able to I was always thinking about what I was going the horses before I buy. give people a first-hand opinion of the horse to do next,” Malone explains. “I don’t like to having had a sit on it. use the term ‘journeyman’ but it’s fair to say I “It gave me a huge advantage and got me some was an average jockey – I got the job done and business.” At that time though there wasn’t anywhere I was very lucky to land a good job at Pond House.” near the number of sales there are now.

Towards the end of his time riding he was commentating “There’s almost a sale a fortnight at the moment so it’s impossible at Point-To-Points and started to buy the odd horse and found he to get to them all and do as much of that as I used to, especially with got “a real buzz out of it”. As that side of it grew and the rides dried wild card entries. “With those you don’t know exactly what will be up he had to make a decision and knew the right thing to do was to in the sale until quite late sometimes.” make the move to becoming an agent. “It was riding that first put

Goffs National Hunt

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SADDLE TO SALES RING

A PERFECT COMBINATION GERRY HOGAN

29

Goffs

buys plenty of horses with them as well as for several other A former jockey for David ‘The Duke’ Nicholson, GERRY trainers. Through Ted Walsh he started doing some work for HOGAN has enjoyed plenty of success as a National Hunt Barry Connell and they have had several Grade bloodstock agent and now combines his own business 1 winners including The Tullow Tank and with being an agent for Goffs. Hogan spent seven Mountbenbulben. years riding in England but was side-lined for a “I spend most days looking at horses in time with injury, and between weight issues Like most sports good every category trying to form opinions and injuries had started thinking about on them, whether they are sales buying and selling a few horses. balance and a good horses or not.” Having been a jockey is “The Duke was unbelievably helpful attitude are important of benefit to a certain degree, Hogan in getting me going,” Hogan recalls. It characteristics in a says. “Like most sports, good balance was around the time that Nicholson was and good attitude are important coming to the end of his training career racehorse. It’s important that Hogan was thinking about returning to kep finding good ones. characteristics in a racehorse. It’s important to keep finding good ones for to Ireland and becoming an agent. The owners”.

Duke had lots of clients and asked him to start The store sales season is Hogan’s favourite sourcing horses for him. time of year. “The market has seen a resurgence “It helped that one of the first horses we had was with trainers looking for quality and value and young multiple Graded winner Keen Leader – that really got the horses that they can bring on. I love looking at stores, finding ball rolling.” Hogan says. Hogan then started working with his a nice three year old and watching it develop into a racehorse.” good friend Barry Fenton and his partner Emma Lavelle, and still

Goffs National Hunt

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SADDLE TO SALES RING

BUYING YOUNG CHARLIE SWAN

30

RACING POST

Goffs

A multiple champion jockey in Ireland, CHARLIE SWAN is famed for his association with the outstanding triple Champion Hurdle winner Istabraq. Following a successful stint as a trainer, he has now switched his attention to buying and selling horses. “I’ve been buying horses for a long time and always liked buy my own when I was training,” Swan explains.

I love buying young to“I’m not sure if the riding side entirely helps – even horses and seeing how horses with bad conformation can move well. That said, I like a horse that walks well and I want him they turn out. I like a to be as correct as possible. I also like a bit of size horse that walks well in a horse as well as it gives you another option and I want him to be to go chasing.” On the buying side he does a little bit of everything – Flat and jumps. “I’ll be doing correct. some work with my father-in-law Timmy Hyde and brother-in-law Tim junior, plus my wife Carol is really involved too so we have a great team.” Even when he was riding and training he always enjoyed the sales side of things. “I love buying young horses and seeing how they turn out. We’ll look for a couple to go Point-To-Pointing and then sell on.”

Goffs National Hunt

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SADDLE TO SALES RING

ULTIMATE SOCIAL NETWORK FRANNIE WOODS

31 HEALY RACING

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purchasers and without really realising you were doing it, it Famous for his association with the top two-mile chaser was a way of networking – you got to meet people. When he Klairon Davis during his days as stable jockey to Arthur started out he used his own money and bought for Moore, FRANNIE WOODS also rode two Irish Grand himself. He had no clients as such. The riding National winners but injuries sustained in a car experience definitely helps, he explains. “It’s crash forced him to cut short his race-riding easy to differentiate a good-moving athlete career. With his wife Niamh he is at the from an ordinary horse. When you look at forefront of the successful Rathbarry and Riding winners foals and see a scratchy mover it’s hard to Glenview Studs and loves nothing more for owners and for feel enamoured by them. It’s easy to like than buying foals. Woods lived close breeders was my way a good walker, whether you’re riding or to Fairyhouse and from quite a young looking at him from the ground.” Foals age went to the sales there. “I’ve always of social networking. remain his main market. “If something’s been keen on foals, especially colt foals, I got to meet people. been good to you, you tend to stay with it and I probably bought my first one when and buying foals has been good to me from I was 18, even before I had the bit of riding the start. I will go anywhere to buy a good colt success.” He started out with one or two and foal, including regular trips down to the centre of it “sort of snowballed” from there. Then he was France and of course to Britain and around Ireland.” selling them as yearlings when the yearling market ‘The day you buy is the day you sell,’ is a credo that he believes for National Hunt horses was much stronger than it is now. in. “There’s no point buying an ordinary horse – I like good “Being a jockey meant you knew everyone by their first name. horses around me.”

I’d ridden winners for some of the breeders and some of the

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SADDLE TO SALES RING

HIGH CLASS HORSEMANSHIP NORMAN WILLIAMSON

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proved correct and a foal you bought fairly cheaply turns into One of an elite band of jockeys to win the Champion Hurdle and a really good horse and sells well. As with anything, there Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season on Alderbrook are plenty of ups and downs along with the way, and Master Oats, NORMAN WILLIAMSON ranks and disappointment if a horse fails the vet, for as one of the most successful National Hunt example.” The action of a National Hunt jockeys of the modern era and was the regular store is hugely important, he says. “If a rider for numerous high-class horses, many horse doesn’t move well he’s unlikely to of them trained by Kim Bailey and Venetia Being a rider all my be able to jump well or travel in heavy Williams. The plan had been to train some life has helped my going. Being a rider all my life has National Hunt horses to produce and sell helped my horsemanship. A National on but he first got into Flat Breeze-Ups and horsemanship. A Hunt horse has to have good balance. became more involved with store horses National Hunt horse has I feel I can stand and watch a horse walk on the jumps side before he stopped riding. to have good balance. or trot and have a good idea of what he’d “I love bringing on young horses so this was be like to ride.” For him the most important a natural progression from riding,” he explains. side of the business is seeing the horses you’ve “With the stores there’s still huge room for been involved with going on to do well on the development and there are lots of successful people track. “Even if you feel you’ve sold a horse cheaply you involved in this side of the market so it’s competitive.” This want the horse to do well for his new owners and you hope was something that appealed. “We buy mostly as foals and it’s they may come back and buy from you in the future.” easy to like a good foal – but it’s fantastic when your judgement is

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11/05/2015 13:01 12/05/2015 12:28

VENDORS

The €215,000 Kenilworth House Land Rover sales topper.

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aving seen more than its fair share of tough times, the National Hunt market is enjoying a renaissance and those who stuck it out through the recession are now reaping the rewards. Clearance rates at last year’s Land Rover Sale were 92 per cent while turnover increased by a staggering 50 per cent and the average rose by 45 per cent. Forty four horses at the sale made €50,000 or more and the number of those making over €100,000 more than doubled on the previous year.

Chasing an aggregate of €11,591,500 at last year’s Land Rover Sale were 243 vendors, who between them sold 422 lots. Naturally, the top ten consignors by aggregate offered between four and 16 horses, but that’s not to say the smaller vendor missed out.

Those whose sales average made the top ten included four vendors who offered just one horse each, while the same number had just two on offer. The remaining two vendors within this bracket offered four and six horses respectively, so the NH market isn’t merely a numbers game catering to the elite buyers.

Art

THE

OF SELLING Vendors at two leading National Hunt nurseries talk breeding, sales prep secrets and how a two-minute turn in the ring is the culmination of a year of hard work, writes Lissa Oliver.

Photography by Jennifer O’Sullivan

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VENDORS

PICKING WINNERS With proven lines Kenilworth House Stud manages the careers of NH horses from start to finish. A trip to Tipp reveals a well-oiled breeding setup. Photography: Jennifer O’Sullivan

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iana and Joerg Vasicek founded Kenilworth House Stud in 1991 and the 200-acre farm, nestling on the borders of Tipperary and Waterford, has come a long way in a relatively short space of time, now established as one of the leading vendors in Ireland and also hold the record for the highest price achieved to date at the Land Rover Sale.

“I was good friends with Walter Haefner of Moyglare Stud, who introduced me to the thoroughbred industry in Ireland about 50 years ago,” reveals Joerg Vasicek. “Since then I’ve had horses in training in Ireland and spent a lot of time hunting with the Kildare and Tipperary hunts.

“I appreciated that Ireland, with the exceptional horsemen, top quality land and climate, world class stallion farms and associated services that were available, was the ideal location to breed thoroughbreds. It was while in Tipperary 20 years ago that we found Kenilworth House on the banks of the River Suir and since then it has expanded and developed into the farm that it is today.”

Manager Gerry Ross, who also runs his own successful Limekiln Stud, has been involved almost from the start. “I’m here 17 years now,” he says, “so I’ve seen it come a long way. Diana and Joerg started with just three mares, Baden (Furry Glen), Ebony Jane (Roselier), and Shuil A Cuig (Quayside), so they were the three foundation mares for the National Hunt side.”

As foundations go, that was a very secure base on which to build from, Baden having won six times, including the Grade 2 New Stand Handicap Hurdle at Fairyhouse, while Ebony Jane’s eight wins included the Irish Grand National.

Baden produced three Grade 1 performers, The Tother One (Accordion), a Grade 3 winning hurdler and Grade 1 placed in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle, Thisthatandtother (Bob Back) winning the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle and winner of the Grade 2 Festival Trophy Chase (now the Ryanair Chase) and best of them all, Carlingford Lough (King’s Theatre), whose three Grade 1 wins to date include the Hennessy Gold Cup. Three of her daughters, Aventia (Bob Back), Turica (Flemensfirth) and Vindonissa (Definite Article) are now in the broodmare band at Kenilworth House.

“Ebony Jane was a tough, sound mare and she bred them all that way too,” says Gerry Ross of the late Kenilworth House stalwart.

All of her 10 foals were winners, four in point-to-points and six on

the racecourse, including the Grade 2-placed and Listed winner The Minack (King’s Theatre). Point-to-point winners Amber Light (Anshan) and Ebony Palm (Great Palm) continue her line at Kenilworth House. Though it’s still early days in their burgeoning stud careers, Amber Light has already produced the promising Stone Hard (Robin Des Champs), and The Doorman (King’s Theatre), winner of his beginners’ chase for J.P. McManus.

Shuil A Cuig, meanwhile, produced The Outlier (Roselier), a multiple winner including the Grade 2 Peter Marsh Chase, as well as the mare retained by Kenilworth House Stud, Shuil A Hocht (Mohaajir), twice a winner on the track and dam of Space Cadet (Flemensfirth), a promising young winner currently with Gordon Elliott.

When it comes to proven lines, little wonder that Kenilworth House Stud is enjoying such success as a NH vendor. Everything is done in-house, from stallion selection and foaling, through to the sales preparation of foals, yearlings and store horses, ensuring individual attention to detail from start to finish.

“We start thinking about mating plans after the yearling and foal sales,” says Ross, “although we might leave it a little bit longer with the NH mares, to see how the results are going. We always like to use proven sires, such as Shantou, Presenting, Flemensfirth and Robin Des Champs. Once they’re gone, it will be difficult.

We’re always striving to breed a racehorse, but we also need to stay commercial and the NH market is so fickle, sires can go in and out of fashion. It’s so difficult to sell one by an unknown sire.”

The year at Kenilworth House starts early and this season the first foal arrived on January 11th. “We walk-in all of the mares for covering as that reduces the risk of disease and injury to both the

We always like to to use proven sires, such as Shantou, Presenting e ensfi t nd o in es ps.

In the National Hunt market sires n go in nd o t o s ion.

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CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Kenilworth House Stud on the banks of the River Suir in Co Tipperary; Outdoor art in the landscaped gardens; Stud manager Gerry Ross, who also runs his own successful Limekiln Stud, in the stable yard.

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VENDORS

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mare and foal,” reveals Ross. “Even when we’re sending them over to Newmarket, it will be a walk-in visit. It does mean a lot of work from our vet, having them lined up and ready.”

With foals on the ground and the next generation already taken care of, Ross and his team focus on the sales horses. “Any time we’re a bit quiet we like to fetch in the yearlings and two-year-olds and give them a bit of work and education which involves getting accustomed to the walker, being taught to lunge, to get used to tack and to be driven,” says Ross.

“The sales preparation begins 10 weeks prior to the sale, when we bring them in. We’ll have each horse out for up to three hours a day every day, and we’ll lunge them three or four times a week, and they’ll be put on the walker every day. We like to turn them out as much as we can, to keep them mentally happy. They’re turned out individually in paddocks, to avoid risk of injury, but they’re beside each other and they thrive. We stick to a routine with them and by the sales they are word perfect.

“They’re usually ready two weeks before the sale, but it allows us a bit of leeway in case of any setbacks. We generally have one or two going to the Land Rover Sale from Kenilworth House Stud and six or seven going from Limekiln Stud, my own stud. The vast majority of our consignment is for clients, though. When we’re preparing horses for clients, I go out to look at them in early March and get an idea of how they’re doing and whether they need to come to us a bit sooner for a bit more work.”

Ross leaves nothing to chance and the horses are given more than just their two minutes in the ring. “About two weeks before a sale I ring a few trainers and agents and tell them of any nice horse that might be of interest to them and invite them out to have a look at them.”

IN A SUNSHINE STATE When it comes to producing Grade 1 winners vendor Sunnyhill Stud has a serious pedigree.

Photography: Peter Mooney

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Top quality land helps build a world class stud farm; Kenilworth House Stud manager Gerry Ross inspecting a brood mare.

Sunnyhill Stud is a family run National Hunt stud with a Grade 1 pedigree. At the 2014 Land Rover Sale, Sunnyhill’s Shantou gelding out of the winning hurdler and chaser Erintante fetched €70,000 from Brendan Keogh. “Last year’s Land Rover Sale was a fantastic sale and I’ve never seen so many people looking for horses,” reflects Michael Hickey, who owns and manages the property. “The National Hunt market has always been strong and when you have very big owners prepared to spend money it helps the vendors, the breeders, it helps everyone within the industry right across the board.”

Situated in the heart of ‘The Thoroughbred County’ of Kildare, just a stone’s throw from the Curragh and its training grounds, the stud has always maintained a policy of standing Group

1 winners with a good physique, and current resident Doyen definitely fits that bill. “It has become very, very difficult to source a stallion,” Michael Hickey points out, “as the Australian market has opened up and horses are running there instead of retiring to stud. A stallion has to be of a certain quality and we have to be prepared to cover our own mares with him. Luckily Darley have been kind enough to allow us to stand Doyen.”

Sunnyhill Stud has also garnered great respect as a leading vendor, which is hardly surprising, having sold Gold Cup winner Kicking King, by the long-term resident and much-missed Champion NH Sire Old Vic, Grand National heroes Hedgehunter and Don’t Push It, who were also broken at the farm, Lexus Chase winner Road To Riches, and such Graded and Listed

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VENDORS

And then, with luck, the job is done, with successful sales and a future that will hopefully see the horses advertise Kenilworth House Stud still further. Kenilworth’s best result at Goffs to date was in 2013 at the Land Rover Sale where their Robin Des Champs gelding out of Amber Light sold to Gigginstown House Stud for €215,000 – a record price for the sale. That horse was subsequently named Stone Hard and won first time out at his point to point and twice in Bumpers this year.

“The team at Goffs are horse people,” says Ross in praise, “it’s a great place to sell at and an easy place to work in, both for the vendors and purchasers, with a superb atmosphere. There are buyers there for every price bracket. With Irish trainers and former Irish Point-To-Pointers doing so well again at this year’s Cheltenham Festival there should be a very strong domestic trade and there are more and more English trainers and agents making their way over to the Land Rover Sale, as the calibre of the NH horses on offer is improving year on year. Sterling is so strong for them now against the euro too.”

Which certainly paints a bright picture and there will no doubt be plenty of good opportunities for this year’s Kenilworth House Stud Land Rover graduates to further enhance the reputation of its high-class broodmare band.

winners as Our Vic and Nathan Lad. Add to this their enviable record for selling both the highest-priced NH colt foal and the highest-priced NH filly foal in the one year, as well as setting a world record for the highest-priced unbroken four-year-old store. It doesn’t stop with success as consignors either, and Sunnyhill Stud was the Leading Point-to-Point Breeder of 2009/10.

Sheelagh and Michael Hickey purchased Sunnyhill in 1978 and Michael brought with him a wealth of experience from all spheres of the equine industry. Having grown up on a family-run farm in County Wexford and graduating from agricultural college, Michael became a top international show jumper, representing Ireland throughout Europe from 1972 to 1976. His love

of National Hunt racing was never far away and while winning medals in show jumping he was also a regular visitor to the winners’ enclosure as a Point-To-Point rider, as well riding winners on the racetrack. Many of Michael’s show jumpers were bought as unbroken three and four-yearolds, brought along patiently by him through the grades to reach Grand Prix standard, when they were either sold or retained by Michael to represent Ireland. It’s clear that this early experience has served him well in his later dealings with NH store horses.

“There have been some changes in the National Hunt market over the years,” he acknowledges. “At the moment we don’t have the same numbers that we used to have, when there could be 3,000 National Hunt

foals selling in a year. There are less than half that now and that helps the market from a vendor’s point of view.

But the one big problem we have in Ireland is a big percentage of mares being covered by a small percentage of stallions, and that goes back to the commercial aspect – we’re a selling nation.”

Michael feels this is why some of the practices followed by French National Hunt breeders, currently enjoying so much success, won’t necessarily work well in Ireland. “In France they breed to race, and here we breed to sell, mostly as three-yearold stores. Many people at the sales don’t want a broken horse. I’m sure breaking a horse at two is a great advantage for them, and if people could accept that it would be ideal.”

Michael and Sheelagh are helped

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by their son Mike, who brings with him his own wealth of experience and ensures the future of Sunnyhill Stud remains as significant as its past results. Mike is primarily involved in the breaking of young stock and places great emphasis on the relationship between horse and handler, setting the foundation for how the horse will respond in its future competitive career.

Little wonder that Sunnyhill Stud is such a prime source of potential.

“We’ve always consigned a small number of horses for other people, alongside our own horses,” Michael reveals, “but this year more than ever are coming along and asking us to prepare their horses for the sales.”

No doubt the good reputation of Sunnyhill Stud as a vendor will soar still further as a result.

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12/05/2015 11:40

NICK NUGENT

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Greatest NATIONAL THE

HUNT GATHERING

Cheltenham is about sportsmanship and a shared love of everything that National Hunt racing has to offer. Nick Nugent recalls the 2015 Festival highlights.

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NICK NUGENT

ANTICIPATION IS EVERYTHING

PHOTO: CHELTENHAM/RACING POST

A

nticipation is everything. This was made very clear to me when I rode in my only race - the 1998 Charity bumper at Punchestown. I had imagined and planned for this moment on countless occasions, rather like the first time that I made love. Regrettably those hours of studying technique did nothing to improve my performance on either occasion. Both experiences were also over far too quickly.

Cheltenham has identified and brilliantly marketed the priceless value of anticipation. It has managed the media to such an extent that any race from the Galway Festival onwards is seen as a Cheltenham clue and the other great English National Hunt meetings such as Newbury’s Hennessy or Kempton’s King George meetings are undoubtedly further adrift. If Cheltenham was a supermarket or a football club that had simply steamrolled in this way it might well be criticised for its relentless progress but this is not the case.

For National Hunt breeders that anticipation starts when planning a mating. Ironically some of the great names of National Hunt, such as Istabraq, Hurricane Fly and Red Rum were not bred with Cheltenham or Aintree in mind and that was certainly the case with some of the 2015 Festival winners.

The Niarchos family’s broodmare Angel In My Heart had already produced Derby winner Kris Kin when she foaled a colt in 2008 by Dynaformer so you can be sure that the four mile National Hunt Chase was not the plan for Cause of Causes. Interestingly the family’s racing manager Alan Cooper (once a Goffs spotter) is a son of the late Tom Cooper, who was one of the most respected bloodstock agents ever and a trusted adviser to some of the greatest names in National Hunt history.

Equally Frankie Dettori would not have planned for Dodging Bullets, his Dubawi colt out of a daughter of the great racemare Northern Trick to be a future winner of the 2 mile Champion Chase. Nor the breeders of Windsor Park, winner of the Grade 1 Neptune Novices Hurdle, who is by Galileo and out of a full sister to Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus. Of the 27 winners, 13 were born in Ireland, 8 in France, 5 in Great Britain and 1 in the USA. Of the fourteen Grade 1 races, seven went to horses with an IRE suffix and two of those were Land Rover Sale graduates, Faugheen and Martello Tower, as good a record as any store sale at the top level.

Faugheen was bought by Meadowview Stables for just €12,000 at the 2011 Sale. Henry Beeby was the auctioneer that day and his catalogue notes describe the horse as, “attractive, good shoulder, good goer”. His reserve price was €10,000 and he may yet be the best value horse to come from a sale that has already produced two Champion Hurdlers in Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca. Martello Tower was sold at FROM TOP: A very happy Rich Ricci with Ruby Walsh the sale by his breeder Martin Cullinane in the winners enclosure who has produced so many good horses at Cheltenham; Martello from his Athenry farm Mountbrown. This Tower (RIGHT) ridden by A.P. victory was particularly sweet as it ensured Heskin; Frankie Dettori after that four of Irish National Hunt Racing’s Dodging Bullets wins the Queen Mother Champion principal patrons had secured a Group 1 Chase win at the meeting.

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NICK NUGENT

THE IRISH AT CHELTENHAM

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T

he Irish participation at Cheltenham is not simply a feature, but a critical ingredient of the Festival. However the racecourse may be trying just a little too hard by holding a St Patrick’s Day on Thursday 12th March. For me this is slightly like turning on the Christmas lights in October although I heard a contrary view that it is great for Irish tourism.

On that basis, Christmas should be of similar benefit to tourism in The Holy Land but I cannot think of one acquaintance that sees it as a compelling reason to take up the offer of an all-in package to Bethlehem.

St Patrick’s Day at Cheltenham is also pretty different from the way it happens in Co. Westmeath, where I live. I remember attending one local parade a few years ago where the highlight of the parade was a bloke dressed as a gorilla on a quad bike, followed by some local hooligan doing doughnuts down the main street in a go-kart. This was followed by a very junior interpretation of Riverdance and thereafter the parade was basically made up of local agricultural contractors driving enormous green tractors, some enlivened by a spinning orange light.

On “St Patrick’s Thursday” I was lucky enough to be invited to lunch in the fine dining area opposite the second last fence which is under the management of Britain’s most famous chef Michel Roux.

In keeping with several of the horses he was actually born in France.

No high-end bacon and cabbage here alas, but there was a more familiar St Patrick scenario at the neighbouring Guinness village.

If you have not seen it and imagine a replica of Ireland’s answer to a Cotswold village, a reconstruction of Adare for instance, it could not be further from the truth. The Guinness village is an area similar to a Formula 1 pit lane with comparable branding and a line of mobile bar units. It is a testament to the happiness of Cheltenham race-goers that you will always see some of the most comfort-demanding individuals in the industry standing on a seat-free tarmac strip, happily consuming plastic pint glasses of Guinness within minutes of their arrival at the racecourse.

IRELAND VERSUS THE UK?

I

n addition to the cultural imports there is the ongoing competition between the UK and Ireland for winners. After Day 1 this year things were looking pretty dodgy for the home team but they finally sneaked home a winner ahead.

Personally I think that this is a little out of date as the crossover is so great. For example what can be disappointing about an Irish bred horse trained by Jonjo O’Neill, owned by JP McManus and ridden by McCoy or McClernon, which associates victory with at least three different counties in Ireland? Equally popular will be as a French-bred import, owned by a London-based American banker but trained in Ireland.

There was a period that any jockey on board an Irish winner would return to the winner’s enclosure brandishing an Irish flag.

Ruby Walsh was quoted recently as saying that he thought it was dangerous, and was akin to riding a horse with a jacket open, something that most children are taught not to do at the early stages of riding. If he is against it then it reduces the opportunity significantly.

On the other hand I remember with fondness when Imperial Call won the Gold Cup in 1996 that Conor O’Dwyer carried a flag. Winners had been scarce at that time and there were many who had wondered if Ireland could ever again produce a Gold Cup winner. The sea of well-wishers that thronged around Imperial Call that Thursday afternoon was probably motivated by relief as well as joy. Imperial Call came just as the tide was turning and, rather like the rugby Grand Slam of 2009, it remains a defining sporting moment in my memory.

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NICK NUGENT

GREATS OF NATIONAL HUNT

LEFT TO RIGHT: All even going to the last race: Jamie Codd flys the Wexford flag atop Cause of Causes after winning the Amateur Riders Novice Chase; Laughing all the way Coneygree, Nico de Boinville and owner Sara Bradstock win the Betfred Gold Cup. The horse was bred by her father, the late and much-missed, Lord John Oaksey, pictured below, and trained by husband Mark Bradstock.

W

hatever about the origins of the horses, the jockeys continue to do plenty for the IRE suffix.

There were eleven individual Irish-born jockeys who between them won nineteen races. The Irish lads had a head start because the first race of the Festival, the Supreme Novices Hurdle featured twelve runners but not one English-born jockey. This must be a rarity, with the likes of Scudamore, Johnson and Twiston-Davies not needed. In the end six English born jockeys did get on the score sheet with eight races between them.

For many the two great races of Cheltenham are the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup. With Faugheen claiming the former for Ireland, English racegoers had something to warm their hearts in the blue riband of steeplechasing. Not only was the novice Coneygree’s front-running performance a magnificent sight, but it truly connected with the grass roots of English National Hunt racing, whose enthusiasm is so critical to the Irish racing and breeding industry.

The late breeder of Coneygree Lord Oaksey remains among the most loved figures in English National Hunt racing and his legacy cannot be over-emphasised. When jockey Paddy Farrell suffered a career-ending fall in the 1964 Grand National, there was so little available to help riders in his predicament that a small group of leading jump racing people including Oaksey, set up a fund to help Farrell and former champion Tim Brookshaw, who had broken his back four months earlier. That fundraising grew into the Injured Jockeys Fund which has since spent millions of pounds enhancing the lives of stricken jockeys and their families. Oaksey House in Lambourn, with a statue of the “Noble Lord” outside it plays a vital role in the rehabilitation of many injured jockeys and there is not one among them who cannot have recognised the deserving nature of Coneygree’s victory for Lord Oaksey’s daughter Sara and her husband Mark Bradstock.

So for all who make the journey each year there is now just ten months to build up to next year’s Festival, and you can be sure that the Cheltenham anticipation will accompany every good performance from now until the end of the season.

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DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH

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s for bragging rights in 2015, they go to both David and Goliath. On this occasion Goliath is Willie Mullins whose army dominated proceedings until coming up against David in the shape of Mark Bradstock and the team around Coneygree.

For me Cheltenham is not so much an England v Ireland match but more of a joint production. It is not about one-upmanship, it is about sportsmanship and a shared love of everything that National Hunt racing has to offer. To all those who contribute every year I say thank you.

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GOFFS TEAM

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Facility manager Ger Hennessy

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GOFFS TEAM

Keeping UP APPEARANCES

The behind-the scenes squad at Goffs, led by Facility Manager Ger Hennessy, is so scrupulous about the concierge service on offer that one could compare Kildare Paddocks to a five-star hotel, where the horses are the VIPs, writes Alanna Gallagher.

Photography by Jennifer O’Sullivan.

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ehind the sales ring scene at Goffs is a team of lowkey operators whose job it is to get things done, to resolve issues as they arise and to maintain a seamless sense of professionalism in getting the complex ship shape for sales days, with no request beyond their remit. They are the groundstaff, charged with creating a hotel-like concierge service for visiting horses, grooms, vendors and buyers. In peak seasons Hotel Goffs’ turns around 200 ‘guests’ per night. Some six thousand six hundred and fifty bales of straw are needed to bed down the entire complex of 665 stables.

‘While the Land Rover Sale doesn’t take place until mid-June preparation for it starts on March the first. In that four-month period some 200 litres of Goffs Brunswick Green and another 300 litres of magnolia paint are used to spruce up the complex.

Windfall trees are operated on by the tree surgeon division who double as painters, plasterers, goods inwards operators and stable door fixers because the stable door casualty rate is high, laughs Ger Hennessy, the Facility Manager who maintains a crew of five full time and up to 45 part-time staff to ensure the smooth running of the sales house. It’s a complete team effort to make everything work, Hennessy says.

“When the curtain goes up before a sale, the complex has to be immaculate with every part functioning to its best.” The setup has to work as efficiently as a five-star hotel. It feels similarly relaxed because most of the work takes place behind closed stable doors.

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GOFFS TEAM Hardworking double act Tom Hayes and Dominic Campbell

When the curtain goes up before a sale, the complex has to be immaculate with every part functioning at its best.

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The Land Rover Sale takes place on a Wednesday and Thursday with the horses “checking-in” over the preceding weekend so a team of up to 30 veterinary surgeons can vet them on the Monday and Tuesday. “The biggest worry for vendors is that their horse passes the medical,” Hennessy explains. During the Land Rover two thousand bales of hay are consumed by the so-called residents. On the evenings before sale days each vendor places an order to rebed stables, the equivalent of a pillow menu at a luxury hotel. At ten o’clock at night the staff check their stock and offer a ‘turn down’ service that includes checking the feed and water in each stable. Breakfast orders are also taken. Each sale can generate as much as 100 loads of thoroughbred manure that has to be transported off site and is repurposed as compost to mushroom growers.

Some equine guests can attract rock star style attention, says Hennessy recalling the hushed awe that descends as top calibre horses step into the ring. “When Gigginstown bought the sales topper at the Land Rover Sale (€215,000) a few years ago there was a great buzz in the barns. He was a big scopey National Hunt horse, a horse with the X Factor”.

Hennessy grew up on a dairy farm on the North Tipperary-Laois border where his family kept hunters. From a young age he competed with the Laois Pony Club and hunted with the Golden Vale under the mastership of Mr Tim Hyde of Camas Park Stud and cattle exporter and National Hunt trainer, the late Mr Michael Purcell. After agricultural college he became a farm manager before joining Goffs in 2008. While he no longer hunts Hennessy remains a foot follower of the Laois Foxhounds and stewards at the Laois Point-To-Point and hound shows. During the summer months Ger plays polo with the Moyne Polo Club in Durrow.

The hard-working company includes several men with serious horse sense. Between them TOM HAYES and DOMINIC CAMPBELL have spent over 65 years at Goffs. Limerick native Tom, a plasterer by trade, worked for Major Sinnott (private secretary to Lord Mount Batton) of Furness House in Kill for twelve years, and joined Goffs in 1984. Dominic has a strong bloodstock background having grown up on Yeomanstown Stud in Naas where his father was stud groom. A qualified carpenter, Dominic is an ardent follower of the Kildare football team. Electrician and keen golfer JOHN DIXON is the official sparks of Kildare Paddocks.

From Rathfarnham in Dublin, he joined Goffs in 1976. On non-sale days John is joined by his dog Rusty who is never more than a few steps away.

Experienced horseman JOHNNY CARROLL mans the “check-in desk” at the back gate, handling horses arriving at the complex. Johnny has spent his lifetime in the racing industry and in previous roles worked

John Dixon is the official sparks of Kildare Paddocks

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GOFFS TEAM

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Manning the ‘check-in’ desk at the back gate is Johnny Carroll

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GROUNDSTAFF Goffs Man Friday Minvydas Mineikis, aka Minnie

Dermot Doyle is on duty in the parade ring on sales days

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Everything we do is to make life easier for vendors and purchasers and to maximise the horse’s time in the ring

for Dermot Cantillon at Forenaghts Stud, and the late Ted Curtin.

Lithuanian MINVYDAS MINEIKIS, “Minnie”, is Goffs’ Man Friday. Minnie has worked at many of the country’s best known racetracks including the Curragh, Leopardstown and Navan. In his home country he worked in the motor industry making vehicles for Land Rover. Before Naas-native JOHN BENNETT came to Goffs he worked in Newmarket. John’s gentle manner with horses stands out as he ushers each lot in and out of the sales ring. He also helps with the pre-sale preparation of the gardens and stables, as does DERMOT DOYLE from Kill Village who guides each horse in Lot order down the ramp to the auction ring. Dermot previously worked in bookmaking.

Constant upgrading of the Goffs complex is a long running strategic plan for Ger and his team. In the last three years they have overseen the building of the Land Rover Pavilion at the front of the building, the redevelopment of the Goffs Kitchen grooms canteen, the refurbishment of the bar and improvements to the self-service snack area. This year the focus is on a major upgrade of the broadband at Goffs. “Everything we do is to make life easier for vendors and purchasers and to maximise the horse’s time in the ring,” Hennessy says. Ger and his team are also key to the logistics side of Goffs off-site sales at Punchestown, Kensington Palace and Leopardstown, installing temporary stables, building bespoke auctioneer rostrums and looking after all vendor requirements.

John Bennett ushers horses in and out of the sales ring

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11/05/2015 17:22

Chasing GOLD

THYESTES

Goffs Thyestes Chase Day at Gowran Park brings the South East to a standstill, and its feature races have been won by some of National Hunt’s brightest stars...

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GALMOY THE GREAT… Named in honour of the great staying hurdler Galmoy, a horse who saved Irish blushes at Cheltenham in 1987 and 1988 when he was the only Irish trained winner of the Festival. Galmoy was trained by the late John Mulhern so it is fitting that the race is now sponsored in his memory by his wife, Goffs Chairman, Eimear Mulhern, pictured with Eddie O’Leary. The Galmoy Hurdle was first run in 2002 and was a Grade 3 contest until 2008 and a Grade 2 ever since. Its roll call of winners includes many of the best Irish stayers in recent years but the one that undoubtedly received the biggest welcome of all was when the former Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition won the 2010 running of the race. Michael O’Leary is also the owner of this year’s Galmoy Hurdle winner Dedigout. Often on a day of heavy fog, like this year’s Thyestes meeting, much of the action takes place out of sight but this was not the case as Dedigout and Monksland had a tremendous battle from the last hurdle with only a short head separating them at the line. A gritty hurdler who appreciates a cut in the ground, Dedigout was an apt winner of the John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle.

THE PATH TO GOLD…

The last two winners of the Goffs Thyestes Chase have gone on to finish second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. On His Own, winner of the Thyestes in both 2012 and 2014 was only just beaten by Lord Windermere in the 2014 Gold Cup while the super impressive 6yo Djakadam finished 1 ½ lengths second to Coneygree at Cheltenham this year.

It’s only a matter of time before we see a Thyestes winner land the Festival’s highest accolade and with another year under his belt the talented Djakadam may well be the one to do it.

Djakadam’s Day… Dense fog at Gowran Park for the 2015 Goffs Thyestes Chase could not dampen the enthusaism of the thousands of race goers who turned out for the “race that stops a county”.

The crowds witnessed history being made as Djakadam gave Willie Mullins his sixth Thyestes Chase and saw the Closutton trainer beat the previous record of five that he shared with the late Tom Dreaper.

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11/05/2015 17:19

GOFFS COUNTRY L TO R: Luke Comer, Margaret Comer, footballer Michael Owen, co-owner of Brown Panther who won the 2014 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger with Brian Comer

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L

uke Comer, along with his brother Brian, have become one of the few great success stories of Ireland’s property crash by following one of the golden rules of property - buying when the market is depressed and waiting for the tide to rise. “We made the decision to focus on Ireland in 2010 at a time when prices were very depressed and property could be bought for less than it cost to build” says Comer. “We come from a farming background in Glenamaddy, Co. Galway, where we always had a strong work ethic’’. Everybody needs a bit of luck to help them along the way, and we have had our fair share of that too,” says Comer with a broad smile on his face.

Our meeting is in Palmerstown Estate, one of his recent acquisitions, a Georgian mansion on about 800 acres in Co. Kildare. The estate has a rich racing history having been formerly owned by the colourful Mrs. Anne Bullitt-Biddle, and during her ownership the estate turned out no less than 110 winners under rules.

“I love horses, always have, they are my passion. We are proud to be sponsors of the Irish St. Leger and last year it was a great race, with the winner Brown Panther

Man

A

FOR ALL

SEASONS

A passion for horse racing combined with astute business acumen led Luke Comer to become one of Ireland’s most successful property developers and a trainer of racehorses that have mixed with the best and at the highest level, writes Sue Couchman

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GOFFS COUNTRY

Palmerstown Estate, a property with a rich racing history

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owned by footballer Michael Owen’’ Comer tells the story that when he was a young plasterer, he got a job working on a stud farm in Co. Kildare and so began a passion for the world of racehorses. “I grew up on a farm so was well used to livestock but we never had any horses and this was a very different and fascinating world’’.

In the mid 90’s Comer realised a dream and bought his first racehorse putting it into training with Kevin Prendergast at The Curragh. Since then Comer has acted on his passion, taking out his own training licence and this has led to plenty of good days out under both Flat and National Hunt rules with horses such as the Classic placed

Comer’s Kargali winning the Curragh Cup

and Listed winning Chimes At Midnight; Kargali winner of the Group 3 Curragh Cup and the beautifully bred Bashkirov, a three time scorer.

Fast forward to 2015 and Luke’s breeding stock collection has grown impressively.

“I currently have about 200 mares with 20 or 30 in training. The plan being that come the Autumn of 2016 we will have a large number of yearlings heading for pre training. I also envisage moving to a new state of the art facility by then and should have my training operation in full swing for the 2017 season’’.

On the property front, Luke and Brian have taken 30 years to build their empire

which is predominantly based in the UK and Germany. However their Irish portfolio is equally as impressive and includes the former UCD veterinary hospital in Ballsbridge which was bought for over €22 million, The Palmerstown Estate adjacent to Goffs and various other high profile sites, buildings and developments.

“We first contacted Richard (Brophy) and Andrew (Nolan) at Goffs Country when we purchased Ginnets Park through the firm.

The farm just outside Trim in Co. Meath extended to about 410 acres and benefitted from good grassland and equestrian facilities (a further acquisition by Comer now has the acreage of the farm at over 500 acres). Their knowledge of the market was invaluable to us. Additionally it has been a huge advantage that they have such a unique understanding of both the bloodstock and property industries. Subsequently we have purchase two more farms through Goffs Country over the last 18 months.

“We see our investments in Ireland as long term and some have already gathered value since being acquired. The stud farms represent an important part of this portfolio and along the way offer us the opportunity of trying to breed that elusive champion on the track’’.

As our meeting draws to a close one cannot help but be impressed with Comer’s energy and relentless drive.

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LAND ROVER

L TO R: Goffs CEO Henry Beeby, Mark Cronin, best friend of Land Rover Bumper prizewinner John Collins of Brown Island Stables, and Eddie Kavanagh, General Manager at Land Rover.

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ONE

Heck OF A Ride Winner of the 2015 Goffs Land Rover Bumper vendor prize John Collins of Brown Island Stables only just caught his own race, in an airport bar miles from the action at Punchestown.

J

ohn Collins of Brown Island Stables didn’t make it to the winners enclosure at Punchestown to receive the keys to his brand new Land Rover Discovery Sport when Petit Mouchoir won the E100,000 Goffs Land Rover Bumper.

Instead he was on his way home from a breeze-up sale in England and had to beg the barman running the bar at Cork airport to change the channel from American football to the race to catch him winning by 6 ½ lengths. In the company of Brigit Gallagher and Tadgh Ryan of Ballinahulla Stables, they did plenty of roaring to shout home the horse. “It was unbelievable,” he recalls.

Meanwhile at Punchestown Collins had asked his best friend Mark Cronin and Kieran Bunce to take his place. “They had the best day’s racing they’d ever had

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LAND ROVER

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Petit Mouchoir; Jamie Codd, Michael O’Leary, Henry Beeby, Eddie O’Leary, Eddie Kavanagh and Gordon Elliott; Land Rover Discovery Sport

and they are fanatical race goers,” Collins says delighted with the result.

Trained by Gordon Elliott and owned by Gigginstown House Stud, Petit Mouchoir was guided to a smooth victory by Jamie Codd, with Policy Breach in second and Tesseract 1/2 length back in 3rd.

Petit Mouchoir, a four year old gelding

by Al Namix, was a €100,000 purchase at the Goffs Land Rover Sale in 2014, consigned by Brown Island Stables and purchased by Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins who looked at him about three times at the sale, Collins recalls.

Collins was very happy with the price he made. “He’s a great actioned horse.

I bought him as a yearling, one of a

bunch of five and Liam O’Keefe was impressed by the way he went round the lungeing ring” Was he confident he’d win the Land Rover Bumper? He was quietly confident, buoyed by feedback from friends including Roger Quinlan, who’d won a Point-to-Point on him.

“I’ve been lucky enough to sell some good horses. I am hoping he’ll go on to Graded company, even a Cheltenham horse.”

The 2015 renewal of the Goffs Land Rover Bumper at Punchestown was hotly contested with 22 runners and was a clear indicator of the quality on offer at the Goffs Land Rover Sale.

“I’ve been lucky enough to sell some good horses.

I hoping he’ll go on to graded company, even a Cheltenham horse.”

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The vehicle looks sensational inside and out and the Discovery Sport’s progressive design sets the tone for a new generation of Land Rover Discovery models. Versatility is at the heart of the Discovery Sport. It is a car that is designed from the inside out to maximise the space you experience as a driver or passenger. It’s only 90mm longer than a Freelander, yet boasts a rear luggage space that’s nearly 50 per cent larger. Its 5+2 stadium seating, sliding second row and rear seats that fold flat gives the flexibility to accommodate almost any load with ease. With Terrain Response® technology, and the ability to wade to 600mm, Discovery Sport offers classleading capability in all conditions.

See landrover.ie for more information on the Discovery Sport

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Goffs National Hunt

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11cm(w)x16cm_UL_Equine Science Ad_OL (Goffs Magazine).pdf

1

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11:59

THE OLD ROAD STUD Tallow, Co. Waterford

CLOUDINGS (16.2H.H.)

Gr.1 winner By SADLER’S WELLS Prolific sire of winners on the flat, bumpers over hurdles, fences and in Point-to-Points Sire of ‘MANY CLOUDS’ winner of the GRAND NATIONAL

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SOCIAL NETWORK

SOCIAL NETWORK 59

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SOCIAL NETWORK

Victorious four ball L to R: John Osborne, Brendan Morrin, Ronan O’Connor and Rory Mathews

L TO R: Maurice Byrne, Mick O’Toole and Michael Grassick Joey Cullen

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L TO R: Geraldine Lynch Burke and Caroline Norris

LAND ROVER SALE GOLF 2014

Goffs

David Myerscough taking a putt

PHOTOGRAPHY: JENNIFER O’SULLIVAN

L TO R: John Barrett and Luke Barry

Competition out on the course at last year’s Land Rover Sale golf tournament proved every bit as fierce as the bidding battles seen at Goffs that week. Held at the magnificent Palmerstown Stud Golf Club next door to Goffs, a total of 15 teams, including many well-known names from the National Hunt world, took part in a very enjoyable tournament that was followed by a barbecue and prize giving back at the club house.

John Osborne, Brendan Morrin, Ronan O’Connor and Rory Mathews formed the winning team.

L TO R: Noel O’Flaherty, Patrick Harty and Eddie Harty

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Andy Meashan

Anthony Honeyball taking a swing

Aiden Murphy

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SOCIAL NETWORK

Harry Fry

L TO R: Ross O’Sullivan, Gary Cribben and Niall Madden

Arthur Moore

L TO R: Colin Motherway, Jamie Codd, Ken Whelan and Colman Walsh

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Frank Berry L TO R: Mouse Morris and Dermot Murphy

Tom Pennington

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SOCIAL NETWORK

Goffs Marketing Director Joey Cullen and Mouse Morris H.E. Dominick Chilcott, British Ambassador to Ireland and Eimear Mulhern, Goffs Chairman.

JP McManus

LAND ROVER SALE 2014

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Jessica Harrington Willie Mullins and Harold Kirk

The ultimate measure of any sale is the success of its graduates on the racecourse, and with the manner in which Goffs Land Rover Sale horses have excelled in recent seasons it was no surprise to see such a large crowd of UK and domestic buyers descend on Goffs for last year’s Land Rover. The sun shone and the phenomenal trade returned a 92 per cent clearance rate, record average and top price of E200,000.

L TO R: Mark Bleahen and Eamon Delaney Jamie Snowden

Patrick Mullins

David Minton, centre L TO R: Anna Ross, Ben Case and Kevin Ross

PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER MOONEY

L TO R: Bryan and Tom Cooper

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SOCIAL NETWORK

Charlie Swan and Jonjo O’Neill

Gordon Elliott and Eddie O’Leary

L to R: Kevin, Bobby, Claire and Aidan O’Ryan

Maureen Mullins and George Mullins

GOFFS PUNCHESTOWN SALE 2015

PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER MOONEY

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Joe Keappock, Gerry Griffin and Jim Mernagh

The Punchestown winners enclosure played host to a huge gathering of National Hunt buyers after racing on Day Three of the Festival for a record fifth renewal of the Goffs Punchestown Sale. A new top price for the market leading sale was set when Listed Bumper winner Charbel was sold for €280,000. The original Festival sale has proven to be a big success for vendors and buyers since its inception in 2011 and is firmly established as a popular feature of the Irish National Hunt Festival.

Goffs

Tom Malone

Tony Martin

David Pipe Aiden Murphy

Michael Buckley

Willie Mullins and Harold Kirk

Margaret O’Toole

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LAST WORD

Irish Injured Jockeys is a newlyformed charity helping to support seriously injured riders .

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acing is a dangerous sport, a high-octane pursuit where riders are shadowed by two ambulances around the track during a race.

The reality is that when accidents happen they can sometimes be life changing.

Shane Broderick’s fall on Grand National Day 1997 unfortunately highlighted the high risk involved in the sport and again this was seen at Cheltenham 2013 when JT McNamara fell from his horse and was left paralysed as a result of a crashing fall.

Last month, JT’s cousin Robbie McNamara was injured after a fall in Wexford and he still remains in the spinal unit at the Mater Hospital, undergoing medical treatment and intensive specialist rehabilitation.

Although paralysed Shane Broderick has gone on to become a successful trainer which shows his determination to succeed regardless of his injuries. The Irish Injured Jockeys Fund, a new charity that was launched in October 2014, supports these and all seriously injured riders helping them to rehabilitate and to, hopefully, continue to work within the industry where possible.

Irish Injured Jockeys is the public face of racing’s charities and has raised funds for existing charities such as The Drogheda Memorial Fund, The Irish Jockeys Trust and The Jockeys Emergency fund, as well as individual cases. A charity race day was organised at Limerick Racecourse in October 2013 to support JT McNamara and Jonjo Bright who suffered life changing injuries as a result of falls. This event raised €809,000 and clearly demonstrated the outpouring of goodwill amongst the racing industry and otherwise.

Carey-Ann Lordan, PR and Marketing Manager of Irish Injured Jockeys explains, “The support for our injured riders has been fantastic, however it is imperative that we focus on consistent fundraising to ensure that support is there when serious accidents

occur. At the moment Irish Injured Jockeys needs to raise a minimum of €500,000 per annum.”

Irish Injured Jockeys Board of Directors includes eight champion jockeys with Ruby Walsh named as Chairman of the charity. This input from the Weigh Room is combined with representation from Horse Racing Ireland and the Turf Club.

Newly appointed Irish Injured Jockeys General Manager, Michael Higgins said, “All jockeys are self-employed and you’re only as good as your last ride. While a lot stay in the industry, as that is where their passion lies, many also like to embark in careers outside of the horse racing industry so we are here also to fund career guidance and offer professional development.”

Peter O’ Reilly, who previously rode as an amateur jockey and who is the brother of Irish Injured Jockeys Board Director Charles O’ Reilly, has organised a unique fundraiser. On June 21st Peter will ride at all 26 Irish racetracks within 24 hours. He will use cars and helicopters to travel between tracks starting at Sligo and finishing the day at Down Royal. He hopes to raise €50,000 from this novel initiative. “Horse riding is a dangerous sport,” Peter says. “In many ways the reward doesn’t justify the risk. Most jockeys don’t have a huge support to fall back on. Irish Injured Jockeys can offer this.”

Goffs National Hunt agent, Peter Molony, took part in a charity race at Limerick Racecourse organised by Irish Injured Jockeys last April. Fellow riders included Sheikh Fahad Al Thani of Qatar Racing, former champion jockeys Johnny Murtagh and Kevin Darley and local hotelier Bryan Murphy, who was the winner on the day. Cumulatively, the riders raised almost €150,000.

Goffs is proud to support Irish Injured Jockeys.

To volunteer or fund raise see irishinjuredjockeys.com

PHOTO: HEALY RACING

Sheikh Fahad Al Thani with Goffs Peter Molony

Goffs National Hunt

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