Henry the hoover’s really cleaning up
De Bromhead bounced back to sit on brink of a century season
TRAINERS of lesser backbone than Henry De Bromhead might have buckled when 14 highcalibre horses, owned by the late Ann and Alan Potts, were loaded up and removed from his yard in Knockeen, Waterford, in the summer of 2016.
Among the ace equine exits was Sizing John, who subsequently won four grade ones chases in 2017, including the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Also yanked out of De Bromhead’s care was Supasundae, who won the 2017 Coral Cup at Cheltenham, as well as the 2017 Irish Champion Hurdle, 2018 Punchestown Champion Hurdle and 2019 Aintree Hurdle.
In one fell swoop, De Bromhead had lost his star centre-forward and lung-bursting winger to a rival trainer, in this case Jessica Harrington, with whom he had tied on 47 winners at the end of the 2015-16 National Hunt season.
Only De Bromhead didn’t cave in.
PRIOR TO THE 2010 FESTIVAL HE’D NEVER HAD A WINNER AT CHELTENHAM
He licked his wounds, knuckled down and regrouped, helped by the fall-out over training fees between Gigginstown House and Willie Mullins which led to a number of new arrivals.
Within weeks, the empty boxes were re-filled with classy recruits, a number of whom are still going strong, such as Petit Mouchoir, second in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham last month, and Balko Des Flos, who chased home stablemate Minella Times in the Grand National last Saturday at 100/1.
From the ashes of despair, De Bromhead has slowly re-ignited.
In 2016/17, he broke the 50-winner mark in Ireland for the first time, since when he’s been a short head shy of breaking into three figures, with 98 winners in 2018/19 and 92 ahead of today’s meeting at his local Tramore track.
With oodles of high-calibre ammo to fire at the Punchestown Festival (April 27-May 1), De Bromhead is set for his most successful season in terms of winners, prize money and prestige.
While Rachael Blackmore deserves rich acclaim for her astonishing feats in the saddle, the trainer who has given her the leg-up for so many key battles, De Bromhead, has convulsed jump racing’s established order.
Blackmore, 31, was perfectly placed to avail of improved riding opportunities following the retirements of Ruby Walsh (2019) and Barry Geraghty (2020), in addition to Davy Russell’s season-long injury.
In contrast, De Bromhead, 48, has continued to engage in combat with the mighty battalions of Mullins (157 winners this season) and Gordon Elliott (155 winners). As the latter serves a six-month suspension, horses from his Cullentra yard have won a further 14 races under Denise Foster.
If Mullins and Elliott are Manchester United and Liverpool in terms of sheer numbers and overall wins, De Bromhead is Manchester City, closing fast after a decade of sustained improvement, and pickng up major trophies.
Prior to the 2010 Cheltenham Festival, he’d never had a winner at the meeting; now he has 15, including 10 in the last three renewals.
Along the way, he has found a way not only to compete but on the truly big days, to conquer.
There are few bigger than the Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Grand National at Aintree, where De Bromhead saddled a 1-2 in each, firstly through Minella Indo and A Plus Tard, and then by Minella Times and Balko Des Flos.
Those staggering training accomplishments, never done before, were worth a little under €1m in prize-money, and may lead to further leading owners across the Irish Sea sending their horses to De Bromhead, the sporting doyen of Deise. Beneath De Bromhead’s polite exterior beats the heart of a fierce competitor, who’s not finished yet for the 2020-21 season.
Of his six Festival winners at Cheltenham, five are entered at Punchestown, Bob Olinger, Put The Kettle On, Telmesomethinggirl, Minella Indo and Quixilios. So too is Envoi Allen, who seeks to bounce back from his Cheltenham fall. With the likes of Captain Guinness, Aspire Tower and Jason The Militant also in the Punchestown frame, De Bromhead could even challenge for top trainer’s honours at the Festival, where Mullins has ruled supreme on 17 occasions.
He will be doing his best to break the 100-winner mark and also spur Blackmore towards the Irish jump jockey’s title. With Paul Townend sidelined with a broken foot sustained a fortnight ago, Blackmore closed the gap to nine with a winner at Ballinrobe on Friday night. As the season draws to a close, De Bromhead and Blackmore drive on in harness, each spurring the other to great things.