UNSTOPPABLE
Dominant at Cheltenham and the first four at Aintree, Irish trainers are now simply...
Surprise, surprise. saturday’s randox Health Grand National at Aintree was a case of total domination by irish runners.
sure, there was some luck involved and some of the top British hopes hit the deck. But for the fundamental reasons behind the success of Gordon elliotttrained, Davy russell-ridden 10-1 shot Tiger roll and a first four all trained across the irish sea, you only had to look at the sale of future racing stock in the Aintree paddock 48 hours before the £1million race.
British-based owners David and patricia Thompson paid £325,000 for an attractive gelding sired by Kalanisi. He will be sent to be trained by elliott, who also won the race in 2007 with silver Birch.
There he will join envoi Allen, who cost the Thompsons £400,000 at a similar auction at the Cheltenham Festival, at elliott’s County Meath base.
An increasing number of British owners are keen to saddle up with the likes of elliott and his great irish training rival Willie Mullins, trainer of the Grand National runner-up pleasant Company.
paul and Clare rooney, simon Munir and isaac souede, Diana Whateley, Graham Wylie, Jared sullivan and even Qatar racing head a list of owners whose colours are hanging in the tack rooms of ireland’s big two trainers.
When added to the financial clout provided by the big two irish owners, billionaire Jp McManus and the Gigginstown stud of ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, you have the foundations of saturday’s success and the reasons ireland has also dominated the last two Cheltenham Festivals.
Money talks and irish racing is currently the powerhouse of european racing, both over jumps and on the flat. irish trainers have the money to buy the best bloodstock.
Outside the likes of Nicky Henderson, who is on the verge of winning his fifth British championship, paul Nicholls and Colin Tizzard, few British trainers can live with them. ireland’s leading players have also used their financial clout to install an infrastructure that often spots talent before others get a sniff. Mullins has two lieutenants, one based in France, who act as his talent- spotters working solely for him. McManus’s team include his racing manager Frank Berry and former irish Champion jockey Charlie swan.
O’Leary’s brains trust is led by his brother eddie and includes Mags O’Toole, daughter of legendary irish trainer Mick O’Toole and a woman with a fierce reputation for spotting a future champion racehorse. One leading bloodstock figure told Racemail that O’Leary probably had over 70 four-year-old point-to-pointers, a nursery from which a few gems are certain to emerge.
eight- time champion jockey and Racemail columnist peter scudamore said: ‘undoubtedly the biggest owners in jump racing in the last five years have been the irish owners and now others are joining them. They have taken things to another level.
‘i don’t care what anyone says, purchasing horses is 90 per cent of the racehorse business.
‘irish racing is also more successful because their point-to-point system is more professional. it is a nursery for young horses. British point-to-pointing is changing but it is 20 years behind ireland.’
Like with his airline business, O’Leary has a ruthlessness to go with his buying power. if trainers don’t deliver, they stop getting sent horses. He famously fell out with Mullins at the start of last season over training fees and removed 70 horses, many ending up with elliott.
O’Leary, who owned four of elliott’s eight Cheltenham Festival winners last month, has latched on to elliott’s work ethic and drive.
The owner said: ‘When Gordon first won the National i thought, “Who the hell is he?” and it was only when he started racking up lots of winners at places like Ayr and perth that i thought, “This is something different”. Gordon is setting different standards.’
ironically, Tiger roll is not a typical O’Leary horse. He cost £80,000 after winning a juvenile hurdle at Market rasen.
O’Leary described him as a ‘little rat of a horse’ but he has now won three races at the Cheltenham Festival and this country’s biggest jumps race.