All The Queen’s Horses

All The Queen’s Horses

By Stephen Dwyer

The Queen puts careful thought into the naming of her racehorses. As one would expect, almost all of them are highly personalised. “My Kingdom Of Fife”, “Earl Marshal” and of course Carlton House have raced in the renowned royal colours. Those silks, royal purple with scarlet sleeves and a black velvet cap were the inherited colours of King George IV and King Edward VII. Gold trim and braid is interwoven throughout, sovereignty at its finest.

This week, amidst the regality of Ascot, the monosyllabic name of a chestnut filly by Galileo typifies best the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and her horses. The filly, a recent 290,000 Guineas acquisition from the family of Soldier Of Fortune (who won an Irish Derby and The Coronation Cup) is simply and befittingly called “Fascination”; more about her later.

The Queen is renowned for being an advocate of the countryside and a matriarch of animals. Admittedly, the fascination with the thoroughbred is not a novel one for a monarch; we are dealing with the “sport of kings” after all. Nonetheless, Queen Elizabeth II is a champion of the sport and one of its greatest ever ambassadors.

The Queen’s interest in horse racing stems from an early age. No doubt it was both fuelled and encouraged by The Queen Mother who was a keen supporter of National Hunt racing. So much so that in 1980, on the occasion of her 80^th birthday, The Queen Mother was honoured with the christening of a Championship race at Cheltenham as recognition of her contributions to the sport.

Indeed The Queen Mother had a very successful fifty-year career as an owner with over 400 winners. Today, bronze busts entrusted to her memory adorn Sandown and Prestbury Park. To many, especially those directly affected, she will forever be remembered as a patron of the injured jockeys’ fund.

Up until the time of her death in 2002 at the age of 101, The Queen covered her mother’s racing expenses. It was a stately gesture, one which William Shawcross, official biographer of the late Queen Mother was meant “to enable her to continue the style of life to which she was both accustomed and suited”.

The Queen is one of the most noted owners and breeders of racing thoroughbreds in Great Britain. In 2010 she enjoyed success with ten racecourse wins. Despite keeping a small number of horses in training (running 20-30 each year) she frequently attends equestrian events and is a regular at Cheltenham and Ascot where her hat colour is the topic of much discussion. It is also rumoured that she reads the Racing Papers over breakfast.

Royal Ascot of course is a highpoint in her racing calendar. Over the course of five days, celebrating this year’s Ascot Tercentenary celebrations is an honour that The Queen will hold dear.

She may be considered somewhat of a Royal Ascot specialist. In 1957 she enjoyed success with four winners during Ascot week. To date she has had over 20 winners at the venue. It is said that the monarch knows the track innately. Travelling by carriage along the main straight, she has a very good idea of what the going is like according to the noise that the wheels on the carriage make and also the sounds of the carriage horses as they pull the royal party, according to her Racing Manager Highclere Stud-based John Warren.

Apart from Royal Ascot, The Queen has visited many training and breeding operations while attending State visits worldwide. In 1984, 1986 and 1991 visits were made to see stallion stations and stud farms in Kentucky.

Only last month, during a very successful State visit to Ireland, the first in 100 years, The Queen visited The National Stud in Kildare as well as attending a private viewing of Sea The Stars at the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud.

In particular The National Stud and the Royal Family have been intertwined throughout the years. Horses raised at the stud have won all five classics, including Sun Chariot who won the Oaks for the Queen’s father. George VI. Even now, General Synod, one of The Queen’s strongest runners this season is by the National Stud’s premier stallion, Invincible Spirit. He stands for a fee of €60,000.

Despite the close affiliation with Ireland, it may strike you as unusual that The Queen has only ran two of her horses there since 1996. Barber’s Shop was pulled up in last year’s Guinness Gold Cup at Punchestown while Four Winds finished runner up in the listed Vincent O’ Brien Stakes in Killarney back in 2009. In keeping with the Céad Mile Fáilte, royal runners are welcome anytime.

Happily, success has not evaded the Queen throughout her racing career. Wins of note include her coronation year of 1953 when Aureole was second in the Derby. Since then, she has won all five Classics with the exception of the Derby. Perhaps most famously, she won the Oaks in 1977, her Silver Jubilee year, with Dunfermline.

The quest continues.

To date by the way, the earlier-mentioned filly, Fascination has raced nine times, never winning. Never mind, she is still as loved as the rest of Her Majesty’s stable.

She is and always will be, one of The Queen’s horses.

Je ne sais quoi

Je ne sais quoi

By Stephen Dwyer

The 2011 Epsom Derby will live long in the memory for two reasons. Undoubtedly, the sight of nineteen year old jockey Mickael Barzalona standing mightily on Pour Moi yards before he crossed the line in front raised many seasoned eyebrows.

Celebrating victory in the Derby before you finish it is one thing. Celebrating it early by flapping your whip, saluting the crowd and pulling sharply on your mounts reins is another matter entirely. Barzalona’s premature flourish is unlikely to prove as popular as Frankie Dettori’s flying dismount in years to come.

Despite his bold celebration, Mickael Barzalona steered Pour Moi, a son of Montjeu, to a first Derby win for the French in thirty years. This could be the start of a meteoritic rise for the Lyon-born Frenchman who became the youngest rider to win the Derby since Walter Swinburn aboard the mighty Shergar. The only jockey to have ridden a Derby winner at a younger age was an eighteen-year old Lester Piggot.

Apart from Barzalonas exuberant display of Gallic Flair, the scene of The Queen’s Carlton House finishing a fast third was also memorable, albeit for the wrong reasons. For Michael Stoute, jockey Ryan Moore and of course The Queen it was a huge disappointment. For the bookmakers, it was a welcome spectacle. Reports that £20 million would have been lost by the layers had Carlton House managed to win, but it was not to be. For Her Majesty The Queen, the Derby drought continues.

No ruling Monarch has won a Derby since 1909. The last time The Queen ran a horse in the Derby, Prince William had not even been born. The last royal runner in the race, Church Parade, was a remote fifth to Shergar in the 1981 renewal. It was a remote mainly because Shergar had won by ten lengths.

Queen’s Highland Glen with a view to racing him in Dubai and made a big offer.
The Queen had no desire to sell the Sheikh the talented, but unreliable, customer who she feared might let him down like he had let her down on two occasions by playing up at the start and being withdrawn.

Through her racing adviser, John Warren, she refused the offer, but instead suggested she give the horse to Sheikh Mohammed

Carlton House was gift from the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum. This is a gratifying tale of reaping what you sow. Apparently the Queen had a horse that was far from compliant, but considered suitable to racing on the artificial surface in Dubai if it could be ‘straightened out.’ But rather than trying to flog ‘sands to the Arabs,’ the Queen made a gift of the horse to Sheikh Mohammed.

Carlton House and three other yearlings were the Sheikh’s reciprocal gesture.
There is an Chinese proverb, A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses.

And then, just like Cinderella, Carlton House lost a shoe. Just after the Derby, a course steward collected a stricken front horseshoe which had separated from Carlton House a mere 200 yards from the finish. It was a crucial time in the race for such and

There is the enticing prospect that day could see the Queen getting her own back on French soil should Carlton House reoppose Pour Moi in Europe's final big championship race of the season, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October.

Any maybe then the Queen will experience a delight that the French call “Je ne sais quoi.”

Paddy Power and betting tax

Paddy Power and the betting tax

By Stephen Dwyer

In a time when the eyes of millions are upon us with the visit of the Queen and Barack Obama, we are reminded of Ireland’s contribution to the world throughout the centuries. Aside from our rich cultural history which includes Joyce, Yeats, Wilde and Beckett, we are famous for punching above our weight. But over the past few decades, we have become just as famous for our brand names.

Guinness, Waterford Crystal, Riverdance, U2, and Ryanair are recognised in almost every country. Another brand name, the ubiquitous green betting shops of Paddy Power is fast becoming another symbol that signifies Ireland. They are seen as light hearted rogues, bucking the trend of the old-fashioned scrooge-faced bookmaker. But financially there is no doubt that Paddy Power plc. are trailblazing their way through the world of betting.

The first thing you need to know about Paddy Power is that they dance to their own tune. They were founded in 1988 at a time when opening a bookmakers shop in Ireland was much easier to do that in the UK. The business was not founded by a single Paddy Power but by the merging of three bookmakers. This consolidation grew rapidly through shrewd management and they hired their namesake, Paddy Power who was a graduate of business studies from DCU, to become their head of communications and public spokesperson. Clever stuff.

The second thing you need to know about them is that they are shameless self-promoters. Habitually offering odds for controversial events and tongue-in-cheek promotions is centric to their business model. However, when you dissect their marketing drives, many are borderline insensitive and inflammatory.

Shamelessly, Paddy Power has offered odds that the Pope would sign for Glasgow Rangers and that Barack Obama “would not finish” his first term on office (i.e. that he would be assassinated). They ran advertising campaigns following the death of Pope John Paul II featuring Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper with Jesus and his apostles surrounded by roulette wheels and betting chips. Most recently, a TV commercial by Paddy Power featuring a cat being kicked into a tree by a blind soccer player became the most complained about advert in the UK in 2010 and the third most complained about advert of all time. Patrick Kennedy, the CEO of Paddy Power defended the ad, shrugging off the criticism by simply saying that it got people talking.

All of this leads us on to point number three; Paddy Power are admittedly, very good at what they do. They have become Ireland’s largest bookmakers with over 200 shops nationwide. As of May 15th, their bank balance is €113 million. €47 million of this is comprised of customer accounts. It would seem Paddy Power have more money in their coffers than many of our banks.

To their credit they have pioneered the world of online betting and their latest financial report notes that online revenues have increased by over one-third. In this year alone they opened 14 shops in the UK. Despite this growth on the back of a record year, their CEO is up in arms about the Governments plans to double betting tax to 2 per cent.

Betting tax in Ireland is used primarily to fund prize money for horse and greyhound racing as well as supporting the racing industry. Understandably, the Government have reduced the funding available. The reduction to Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund is dramatic, from €76m in 2008 to €57m this year. This is a serious shortfall and simply has to be clawed back through the raising of betting taxes.

Irish punters do not pay the betting tax; it is absorbed by the bookmakers. This should continue to be the case as without the industry, their existence would be threatened. In the UK, this year’s budget brought in sweeping changes to the betting tax system.

Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that bookmakers would be taxed on their gross profits at a flat rate of 15%. As of January 2010, he is scrapping the system in which the Government collects betting tax of 6.75% from bookmakers; this is then passed on to punters in a 9% tax.

You cut your cloth to measure as they say, so Paddy Power should do exactly what their cleverly-spun adverts suggest, just grin and bear it.

Hurricane Fly

Hurricane Fly

By Stephen Dwyer





Now there can be no doubt, Hurricane Fly is horse of the year. His performance in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Punchestown will live long in the memory. He is five wins from five starts this season and finishes out the year as an unbeaten Champion. Willie Mullins, trainer of Hurricane Fly noted after his rout in the Irish Champion Hurdle “That was just awesome, the best I’ve seen from him”.

His five length victory and the manner in which he destroyed the small but select field was truly remarkable. He turned a race featuring last year’s Champion Hurdler and Supreme Novice’s winner into a cakewalk. Not often does that happen in a Grade 1 at the end of the season in a race worth €160,000 and the rarity of this occurrence typifies the class of Horse Hurricane Fly is, an indisputable superstar.

Just before the Irish Champion Hurdle was off, my phone received a text from a racing colleague, “there’s a hurricane warning at Punchestown” it read. How right my weatherman friend was. The race was settled in a few short strides between the second and last hurdle, Hurricane Fly jumps hurdles with such speed and prowess that very few can live with him.

This season, Hurricane Fly answered every question asked of him. He is not the biggest horse in the world and prone to injury. Suspensory ligament problems resulted in him missing the last two Cheltenham festivals before claiming the Champion crown last March, at the first time of asking.

Hurricane Fly is by Montjeu, himself a world Champion. One of the top sires in the world for flat horses, his progeny has produced two Irish and two English Derby winners as well as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and St. Leger. Montjeu’s speed has been passed on to Hurricane Fly and he is by far and away his most successful son on the national hunt circuit.

Hurricane Fly was bred in Ireland and sold as a yearling at Goffs for €65,000. He was sent to France and subsequently bought out of the Jean-Luc Pelletan yard for an undisclosed sum on the advice of bloodstock agent Richard Hobson. The acquisition by Hobson (who is also responsible for the purchase of Golden Silver and Pomme Tiepy) was on behalf of retired Belfast construction worker George Creighton and Rose Boyd who runs an equestrian centre in Co. Down. The horse previously won three times in France and was sent to trainer Wille Mullins. Hurricane Fly won at the first time of asking in May 2008 at Punchestown. Since then, he has been beaten only once in eleven starts and is still a seven year old and may improve again next season as he is filling out all the time.

In what could be seen as a passing of the hurdling mantle, Istabraq was honoured at Punchestown this year when a 13ft x 10ft painting was unveiled. The canvas, the largest horse painting in Europe was entitled 'Istabraq - Ireland's Favourite'. By the end of the week, Hurricane Fly was rapidly advancing on that title.

The imperious Istabraq was six when he won the first of his three Champion hurdles, Hurricane Fly is a best priced 7/4 chance for repeating his Cheltenham win next year and if he stays injury free, his ability and turn of foot will see him home. Ruby Walsh said yesterday "He'd win a Group One on the Flat, too, if you wanted"
Long before thoughts of returning to Cheltenham should be entertained, we should reflect a on the achievements of Hurricane Fly this season. When running at Cheltenham this year, he had already won seven Grade 1 races; this was more than all of his Champion Hurdle rivals put together. He became the first horse since Hardy Eustace in 2004 to complete the Champion Hurdle double at Cheltenham and Punchestown.

His win at the Cheltenham Festival under Ruby Walsh was particularly special. This victory means that Ruby is now one of only four jockeys in the past four decades to have completed the treble of Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National.

With the season now wrapped up, he is Ireland’s highest rated National Hunt horse. He will have a deserved break.

On a final note, Hurricane Fly’s groom, Gail Carlisle, says his guilty pleasure is carrots.

I feel there will be no shortage of them around Closutton this summer.

Whip Rule

Whip Rule

By Stephen Dwyer

The weather in 1974 was truly woeful. 200 km/h winds were recorded in Co. Down and there was a sparse harvest later in the year. The agricultural industry was on its knees, the cattle market had collapsed and buyers for livestock could not be found. There were stories that farmers would have to lock their trailer at the mart or they might come out and find that someone had dumped a few calves in your trailer while you were inside.

This is an example of a real problem facing an industry. The much-maligned question over the use of the whip in horse racing is not. The issue of the whip in racing has surfaced following this year’s Aintree Grand National which won by Ballabriggs. The horse’s jockey, Jason Maguire was banned for five days after the race for “excessive use” of the whip. Acres of column inches and hundreds hours of interviews have been dedicated to this debate over the past month. At this stage, it must be said that there really is no room for argument, the whip stays.

Only last week a prominent animal rights campaigner wrote in a national newspaper that the whip used in horse racing is a “medieval-style flogging instrument”. At best, this statement is downright disinformation, at worst; it is shallow sensationalism. If you examine a modern day whip, it is not a cat o' nine tails; you will understand that is merely a “persuader” as Ted Walsh rightly describes it.
Visit any tack shop and you will find that a riding whip costs about €50. The “flogging instrument” weighs less than 160 grams, the same as a wheel pump attached to a mountain bike. It certainly does not resemble any type of torture implement. It has a leather handle and the rules of racing state the whip must not exceed 70cm in length. The whip is heavily padded and features throughout a shock-absorbing material which helps to protect horses from injury or discomfort. The notion that jockeys relentlessly beat a horse with an Indiana-Jones style bullwhip is nonsensical and untrue. The specification of modern-day whips has been set in place following on-going consultation with animal welfare groups, including the RSPCA.
These featherweight instruments are used for safety, correction and encouragement, nothing more. And they don’t work all of the time. When Denman ran in the Punchestown Gold Cup last year, he simply didn’t want to know about it. Punchestown is a right-handed track, Denman prefers left. The greatest jockey of all time tried to cajole him around Punchestown but not even Tony McCoy or his whip could encourage Denman. He just said no.

A horse’s skin is a quarter of an inch thick in places, over twice that of a human. Horses are hardy animals; yes they have delicate areas, weak points, like any animal. Even the mighty elephant has a weak neck joint, their Achilles heel. But horses cannot be reasoned with; the very rules of racing dictate that a jockey is required to carry a whip. Sometimes a young colt will need to be kept up to his work to run straight and there are very distinct rules in place about using the whip, designed to protect horse and rider.

Jockeys cannot hit horses with their whip above shoulder height, they cannot use excessive force and they cannot whip horses who are either clearly winning or out of contention. There are a plethora of terms and conditions in place when a jockey attaches a whip to their wrist with a thick rubber band.

In an era where media coverage is so prevalent, slow motion TV shots of jockeys using their whips on horses looks worse than it is. The reality is that jockeys have trouble using their whips in high winds and will gladly demonstrate to you how little discomfort the whip emits. This fact has not stopped some quarters from taking excessive measures and in England, Towcester racecourse had planned to ban jockeys from using the whip in races at the track. This decision was overruled by the British Horseracing Authority.

It is said in racing circles that proper use of the whip is an art form; Lester Piggott spent countless hours practicing on a wooden saddle horse with a pair of reins and a whip. As much as a golfer practises a shot over and over, so too does a jockey, refining the hold on the whip until it becomes subconscious.

There are bigger fish to fry in the world of horse racing than the whip rule.

It’s time to move on.

Townend

Townend

By Stephen Dwyer

It was Winston Churchill who famously said that continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. Champion-jockey-elect, Paul Townend is a young man who knows the former and is gifted with the latter.

Townend, a Cork native, will celebrate his 21st birthday this September and despite his fresh faced appearance, he has been around horses more than most. When Townend was a boy, his father Timmy trained point-to-pointers. Keeping it in the family, his uncle Bob Townend was a prominent jockey in the 1970’s and 1980’s and his uncle Gerry Townend was another top amateur. Paul’s first cousin is Davy Condon, former stable jockey to Nicky Richards and now closely affiliated with Noel Meade. Little wonder then since Paul left school at 15, the die was cast for his life as a jockey.

A precocious talent on the Pony Racing circuit, where he gained invaluable riding experience, Townend quickly progressed through the pony ranks. He then began riding as an apprentice on the flat; his debut was in the summer of 2007 in Ballinrobe on a nondescript Wednesday evening. Claiming a full 10lb allowance, Townend finished third on the Willie Mullins-trained Temlett. From that humble starting point, Townend quickly showed his ability as a horseman and started to win races. The most notable of these was when steering the heavily gambled favourite and top-weighted Emily Blake to a valuable handicap at the Galway Festival in 2007. Following this win, he closed a successful first season by winning on the last day of the flat.
Townend, even for a jockey, is not small. Like many of his former colleagues on the flat who battled in vain against their weight, he switched codes to the National Hunt arena. In doing so he followed the example set by Tony McCoy and Paul Carberry who can now manage their weight more easily than on the flat.

Success over jumps did not elude him for long and at the 2008 Galway Festival; Townend won the Galway Hurdle on the John Kiely-trained Indian Pace. Aside from the Galway win, it was at Closutton and through the opportunities presented by Willie Mullins, a man who knows a thing or two about talent that Townend’s career began to reach unprecedented heights.

In 2008, Willie Mullins was giving a pre-season interview when a boyish-faced stable lad walked past. The lad, replete with body protector and riding hat was carrying a brush and bucket. "See him," said Mullins when he was out of earshot of the lad, "Mention that young fella in your article. Paul Townend is his name. I think he is going to be good. He's bred to be anyway”

Since that day, Mikael D'Haguenet, Hurricane Fly, Golden Silver, Quevega and Zaidpour have all enjoyed Grade 1 success for Mullins and Townend, if you are old enough, you are good enough.

For a 20 year old, Townend riding style is very seasoned. In races, he settles horses early and has a quietness, an assurance about his business. There is an inner confidence which is matched by his work rate. To date, Townend has ridden 487 times this season; Andrew McNamara on 550 is the only National Hunt jockey to have ridden more.

Three weeks ago, a fall in a Handicap Chase at Navan resulted in a broken collarbone for Townend. This fall was on his sixth ride of the day, less than 18 hours previously he had ridden a winner on the flat at Dundalk. Townend is expected to be back riding this weekend at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival, with 76 winners this season, Davy Russell with 67 is his closest rival for the jockey’s title. With a top class book of rides ahead of him and Fairyhouse and Punchestown, Townend is likely to take the champion jockey title.

Incidentally, do you remember Temlett, the horse that Paul had his first ride? Now trained by Arthur Moore’s son, JD, he was the subject of a massive gamble last month in a handicap hurdle at Cork. Backed from 25/1 into 11/2, he overcame a 1061 day absence to make all and win comfortably.

His jockey? Paul Townend of course.

Funny how the wheel turns full circle.

The Irish Cheltenham

The Irish Cheltenham

13 is considered to be an unlucky number for many reasons. For instance there are 13 steps on a gallows and some people are so superstitious they will not leave their house on Friday the 13th. For the Irish at Cheltenham this year, 13 was the luckiest possible number. It was the total amount of Irish winners at the festival, a new record. Irish horses won almost half of all the races at Cheltenham and many of these superstars will be on show for their season finale at Punchestown in a little over two weeks time.

Unquestionably the Punchestown Festival is the highlight of the racing calendar. Considered by many to be “The Irish Cheltenham” Punchestown is certainly not a poor relation to its English counterpart. There are no less than 11 Grade One races over the five days and the quality of racing is unrivalled in Ireland. When Hurricane Fly pipped Solwhit by a neck in the Champion Hurdle last year, it galvanised his status as a Cheltenham champion-in-waiting. Hurricane Fly makes a reappearance at the track this year, preferring it to Aintree and the break will suit him will. We are likely to see Quevega too, she stepped up to 3m to win the World Series Hurdle in 2010 and taking on the boys will be no problem this year again for this wonder mare.

Baby Run will return to the track too, he won a Champion Hunters Chase there in 2009 and has no fear of the big fences on a track that features the only cross country banks course in Ireland. One horse that will draw the crowds more than any other though will be the mighty Kauto Star. The best chaser in a generation will line up for the Guinness Gold Cup on May 4th, a race his stable mate Denman could only finish fourth in last year. It is possible that Kauto will finish his career at Punchestown. Clive Smith, Kauto Star’s owner is on record to have said "It would be a great way to round off the season if he could win in Ireland. Any decisions on his future will be made after that.” If Kauto Star wins the Guinness Gold Cup, the racecourse owners will need a new roof because the crowd will have lifted it off.
The Punchestown Festival is welcomed too with open arms by the locals around Naas. Since it was extended to five days in 2008, attendance is steadily in the region of 100,000 with 20% of this originating from overseas. The local economy benefits to the region of €50 million and the extension of the race week to include a Saturday was a very shrewd and welcome move.

Cheltenham is a left-handed track, Punchestown is right-handed. This difference though is not unique. The culture around the Punchestown festival in Ireland is on a more local, grass-roots level than in Cheltenham. 14 racecourses including Cheltenham, Aintree and Newmarket are owned by a conglomerate called the Jockey Club, the 466 acres at Punchestown are owned by The Kildare Hunt Club and not HRI. Credit must go to The Kildare Hunt Club for their flexibility and innovation in running the meeting.
As it is a mid-week meeting, the race times at Punchestown are scheduled around work times, the first race starts at 3.40pm, the last around 7.15pm which lends the opportunity for race-goers to attend without taking the full day off work. Many local schools close for racing and numerous organisations in the area adopt a laissez-faire approach to the week, including the well-documented case of Kildare County Manager receiving one privilege day to attend the Punchestown races.

The meeting receives huge local support and the interest of owners and trainers is due to the prestige and €2.2 million prize fund. This year’s Punchestown Festival has been moved back one week and will take place from Tuesday May 3rd to Saturday May 7th. Due to a late Easter, this is the first time in ten years that the meeting will be held in May.

Racing was first held in Punchestown in 1868, which was also the year of a British Royal Visit. The Queen will not be in attendance this time around but Kauto Star, Hurricane Fly and Quevega will be. Isn’t that enough royalty for anybody?