KERI HAS FIRST CLASS MISSION
Trainer plans to guide US horse to Irish win
FROM taking flight in the madness of Philadelphia after the Eagles’ Super Bowl success in 2018, to galloping on Curracloe beach at sunrise, Keri Brion has witnessed contrasting fringes of February. Midway through her Wexford sojourn, the affable American horse trainer could crown her rich sporting experiences by metaphorically planting a stars n’ stripes in the winner’s enclosure at an Irish racecourse.
‘No American-trained horse has ever won over jumps in Ireland, so that would be great. You’d never take that away from me. It would be quite cool,’ the 29-year-old says.
Of the six horses shipped across the Atlantic from Maryland to Monageer, Brion has chalked up a couple of seconds and is targeting at least one win before heading back to the ‘States in mid-April.
‘I’m happy with how the horses have run. They’re competitive and we’ve proven we do belong here. I’m happy with what we’ve accomplished to this point but for the second half I’d hope we can get a winner or two. That’s the main goal,’ she said.
No one was quite sure what to expect from the US interloper who pitched up as a ‘tenant’ at the established point-to-point yard of the Doyle siblings, James and Ellen, for the Irish jumps season.
She arrived as assistant trainer to American Hall of Famer, Jonathan Sheppard, who amassed over 4,200 winners in the US, including 1,000 over jumps. Even so, it was a 3,200mile leap into the unknown.
But since Sheppard’s retirement last month, she’s taken full charge of the horses for her owners back home who trust her to get some bang for their buck. And she hasn’t given up on enticing an Irish owner to purchase a horse for her to train when she returns home.
‘I’d love an Irish owner to have one or two horses in America, to make it more international. I feel our sport could do better promoting itself. I hope this venture opens up eyes.’
Like many American sportsfolk, Brion is open and affable, eager to promote the sport in which she excels. Brion may not appreciate it but she’s a PR machine for American racing, as she has engaged in a raft of interviews since arriving, while boldly going where no other has gone by daring to take on messrs Mullins, Elliott and Dr Bromhead on their own turf.
She had hoped to engage antlers at the Dublin Racing Festival but her horses, even though they were bred in these islands, have found the juicy Irish turf different to what they’re used to, so she gave it a miss.
‘The trickiest thing here is what it takes to have a horse ready to run. In America, there’s an emphasis on speed, here it’s stamina,’ she said.
‘In America, when they train every day, they’re on the bridle, they’re always tanking you along because they need to be that bit sharper for the ground they run on.
‘Here, when they’re on the bridle, they tire that bit quicker, they bottom out turning for home because the ground is that bit deeper.
‘The biggest thing is to get them to take a breath, settle on the gallop and learn how to come off the bridle. The beach is a great tool for that.’
Not everything has been as smooth as the Curracloe sand, however.
When Sheppard, 80, announced his retirement, his provisional licence to run the six horses in his name in Ireland, as he intended, became void. Urgently, Brion presented her case to the IHRB, helped by letters of support from the owners, and was given the go ahead to train the horses in her name under her American license. It was a close call.
On the racecourse, there was the niggling disappointment after French Light, second in a listed race at Punchestown last weekend, was found to have carried the wrong weight due to an administration error by the IHRB.
Undeterred, Brion is surfing a wave of optimism, upbeat that she
can saddle a winner or two. She has one in mind at Leopardstown next month for Winston C, her highest rated horse. ‘Mr (Ed) Swyer who owns him, would love to win a race in Ireland. It’s on his bucket list.’
Brion has packed a lot into life. She was a promising pole vaulter in her teens, good enough to win a scholarship to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. ‘I enjoyed the pole vault but I was like a bad racehorse, I couldn’t stay sound. I’d problems with my legs. Also, I never shook the horse bug,’ she recalled. After one semester, Brion got a job as a work rider for Sheppard, and there was no turning back. She rode out during the day at his Ashwell stables and completed a business degree at night in West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
‘It progressed from there. I rode races for three or four years and was champion apprenticeship over hurdles, 2017 I think. It was 2019 when I started to get more responsibility from a training standpoint under Jonathan. So I stopped riding and focused more on training.’
Jump racing in America exists in the shadow of the Flat and while Brion never rode in the Colonial Cup, she chalked up a double on the undercard at the Camden track one year on Colonial Cup day.
She has been a committed Eagles fan since childhood, thanks to her late mother holding season tickets.
‘When my Mom passed away, my sister Kim took over the tickets. We watched the Superbowl win in her house in the centre in Philly. Afterwards, we went out on the streets. It was an interesting experience.’
Just as Eagles dare, so Keri Brion is seeking to follow with her first ‘touchdown’ on Irish soil.