13 minute read
A social butterfly
Leo Powell catches up with his summer diary, which, seemingly, revolves around a whirlwind of social events. He also remembers friends we have lost in the recent months.
I asked myself the very same question when I sat down to consider what the content for this month’s column should be. With a short hiatus from publishing, and last month’s contribution being an article about mental health provisions in the racing and breeding sectors, I realised my last diary filing was just after the end of the Cheltenham Festival. Much water has passed under the bridge since then.
I raced at three great NH Festivals, Fairyhouse, Aintree and Punchestown, and this was some consolation for missing out on Cheltenham due to a hospital stay, while a week at Royal Ascot tested my stamina, but I am pleased to say I lasted the pace. The Curragh has seemed like home with the Guineas, Derby and Oaks meetings.
There were so many breeding and racing highlights during this time that I could not possibly start to choose a highlight, or even half a dozen highlights. Suffice to say that congratulations are offered to all breeders who rejoiced in a big race success at any of these meetings, and that extends to those of you who are based in France, Britain or Ireland.
Two of my away trips provided highlights for me.
Fortunate to be a guest of the Aintree directors on the opening day of their meeting, and of Randox on Grand National day, suffice to say that I was well looked after. My guest on the Saturday was a friend, David Letts, and he has done sterling work over recent years in many areas of racing in Britain. My introduction to him came about through a most worthwhile, friendly group.
Racing With Pride is a network designed to support people who work in British racing and its fans who identify as LGBT+, as well as allies of the LGBT+ community who would like to demonstrate their support regardless of their own identity.
The goals of the network are to offer a safe space for LGBT+ people to meet, have fun and support each other, as well as promoting a better understanding of LGBT+ inclusion, and provide a platform for the LGBT+ community to have a collective voice.
We had a most enjoyable day at Aintree, and celebrated yet another amazing training achievement by Willie Mullins, now the champion trainer in both Britain and Ireland.
Royal Ascot week is a busy one for me, both in a working and social capacity. I have learned, from bitter experience, to limit my social activity, and this allowed me to last the pace better than I had expected to do.
The week starts with the Goffs London Sale, an event this year that brought with it sunshine, a large crowd and sale ring excitement in the gardens of Kensington Palace. I stood close to the principals as bidding for that weekend’s Group 1 Prix de Diane winner Sparkling Plenty rocketed to an astounding £8.1 million.
All present let out a collective sigh when Henry Beeby dropped the gavel, but quickly it became clear that all was not as it seemed, and you know the rest. Beeby described the situation as “complicated”, but he and his team moved quickly to secure a deal for half of the filly at £5 million. Funny old world when such a price is almost considered a disappointment!
I have one regret in life when it comes to Royal Ascot, and it is that I never attended the meeting with my late parents. My mum, something of a fashionista, enjoyed that aspect of the meeting, while for dad it was about identifying potential stallions to use in the years ahead.
My father had a spot, as I recall, by a tree in the saddling area which was his favourite, but my first visit to the Berkshire track was after the “new” Ascot was unveiled.
I love the Royal week, and again can count myself very lucky to have been entertained there this year on a couple of occasions (don’t tell my GP who has given me strict instructions to lose 10 kilos!).
Saturday of the five-day meeting provided some never to be forgotten moments, thanks to the hospitality of His Majesty’s Representative, Sir Francis Brooke. I was seated for lunch with the charming Alex Jones, one of the hosts of The One Show on BBC, and also got to meet and speak with stars of stage and screen.
What a privilege it was to spend time with a hero of my teenage years Henry Winkler, who was played the star role of The Fonz in Happy Days, with Dame Prue Leith, and the subline actor and generous mental health advocate David Harewood.
Carberry becomes a new elected MEP for Fine Gael
Recently we saw elections to the European Parliament, and there was a very high-profile victory for a lady whose own achievements, and those of her family, have made her a household name. Nina Carberry has now embarked on a new career, one that she could hardly have imagined when she sparkled as an amateur jockey.
Nina, who has just celebrated turning 40, can now add the fact that she is a Fine Gael politician who has become a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for a large constituency in Ireland. Her campaign to become elected was directed by Martin Heydon, an Irish Government minister who has a strong connection to the equine world.
A former champion amateur NH rider with seven Cheltenham Festival wins to her name, Carberry’s name was well-known outside her chosen sport, and this was an undoubted help during her campaign. Not one to rest on her laurels, she has certainly pushed boundaries since she retired from the saddle, and has won a reality television programme and become a published children’s author.
The daughter of jockey and trainer Tommy Carberry, she also can boast of having successful riders as siblings, while her maternal uncle is Arthur Moore. At school she excelled in athletics and at basketball. In July 2001, she rode her first winner, Sabrinksy for Noel Meade in the Ladies Derby at The Curragh, six days short of her 17th birthday.
Carberry enjoyed her first win at the Cheltenham Festival on 20/1 shot Dabiroun for Paul Nolan in the 2005 Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle, the first time in 18 years that a female jockey had won at the Cheltenham Festival meeting.
In the 2005/06 season, she became just the second woman after Frances Crowley to win the Irish amateur riders’ championship.
This was just the start of a litany of achievements in and out of the saddle. Carberry became the first female jump jockey to win a Grade 1 race in Ireland or Britain with victory in the Champion Bumper at Punchestown in 2006 on Leading Run, trained by Noel Meade, and the same combination won the race again with Mick The Man the following year.
She had a habit of winning the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham for Enda Bolger, doing so on four occasions. She also won the hunter chase at The Festival twice.
It was a special moment in 2011 when Carberry won the Irish Grand National for her uncle Arthur Moore on Organisedconfusion, while six attempts at the Aintree version saw her finish the course four times. She won over the Grand National fences in the 2015 Fox Hunters’ Chase. Carberry retired from the saddle on the final day of the Punchestown Festival in 2018, after a winning ride on Josies Orders, appropriately for J.P. McManus and Enda Bolger, with whom she enjoyed many great days.
Four years later, Carberry took television by storm when she won Dancing with the Stars Ireland, while also taking the role of a coach in Ireland’s Fittest Family.
She is married to Ted Walsh, brother of Ruby.
It is all about the next generation
I am now of an age to be able to say that I have seen more than a couple of generations of young people embark on careers in the bloodstock industry. Quite often these men and women do not garner the same headlines that their racing counterparts do, simply due to lack of exposure for their achievements.
A young breeder of a winner will usually end up with a line in the press after a race, while the young trainer or jockey will be feted. Talented stud managers will enjoy success with stock raised and sold, but the stud owner will be named in the reports. So many young people work behind the scenes in sale companies, stud farms, veterinary practices, and more; they are often unheralded.
One of my pleasant tasks each year is to go and lecture the students at the Irish National Stud Thoroughbred Breeding Management Course. My talk is about Blue Hen broodmares, and this is specifically about the 10 mares in history who have produced four or more Group/Grade 1 winners. Afterwards, the students are tasked with writing 500 words about one of four subjects I give them, and the winner receives a trophy and a cash prize from The Irish Field
This year’s class of students, numbering 28 in all, came from all corners of the world. Ireland, Britain, the USA, Venezuela, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany and Brazil were the nations represented, and the prestigious gold and silver medal winners were Ireland’s Shane Loughnane and the US’s Grace Hamilton.
Loughnane completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Equine Science at the University of Limerick prior to joining the Irish National Stud course. During that four-year period, he spent summer holidays and his college work placement in Luke Lillingston’s Mount Coote Stud, where he developed a passion for the breeding industry and gained valuable foaling experience.
He also spent time working at Ballyphilip Stud where he gained experience in all aspects of stud work, especially yearling prep and sales, with breeder and pinhooker Paul McCartan.
Loughnane’s long-term goal is to gain experience abroad and work alongside industry leaders prior to returning to Ireland with the aim of stud management. He has started his career journey well, and ended the Irish National Stud course with a number of additional awards.
He was honoured by Cathal Beale with the CEO award for Best Equine Business Exam, while I was happy to have selected his work for The Irish Field Blue Hen Award. He chose to advocate for His Highness the Aga Khan and his family being considered the greatest breeders of all time.
The course’s education manager Anne Channon was delighted with this year’s cohort of graduates.
She said: “Our graduates this year have shown an extraordinary commitment to their studies. We are incredibly proud of their achievements, and excited to see them contribute to the future of the thoroughbred industry.”
I was honoured, for the second time, to chair the Irish
National Stud presentations, and this ceremony came days after the 2024 Godolphin Flying Start graduation ceremony took place at Kildangan Stud.
Five countries were represented among the dozen class members, and there was a familiar name when the top trainee was announced. Megan O’Leary is a daughter of Eddie and Wendy [Hyde], and here is a young lady turning in a performance in keeping with her bloodlines.
RIP: Jean Pim, Tony O’Reilly, David Power
There has been no shortage of sad news during the past few months, with the deaths of some friends and industry personalities. A few were of people I had a particular respect for, and I would like to pay tribute to a trio.
My first contact with Jean Pim, mother of the Tattersalls and Tattersalls Ireland auctioneer Alastair, was in June 1976 at the Derby Sale in Ballsbridge. Her husband David was one of the founding auctioneers at the sales company, later to become Tattersalls Ireland. It was the first day of my working life, straight out of school. A friendship was born that was only severed following her death.
Jean was loyal, fair, never judged, navigated troubled waters, and saw you for who you were. She had opinions, expressed them, but a different view did not mean you could not be a friend. She faced many health difficulties and found a way to overcome them. She inspired loyalty, was very supportive and encouraging, and there is no better example of that than the respect and fondness she had from young people.
Jean and Fanny O’Rourke were for many years the welcoming faces for everyone attending the sales at Fairyhouse. Everyone knew them, and they knew everybody.
Sadly, Jean’s passing came shortly before the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Derby Sale, but she was remembered with great affection by the many.
I trawled through the replies posted after I paid a tribute on social media to Jean, and the following words came up time and time again. Wonderful, amazing, welcoming, helpful, beautiful, a gem, vibrant, elegant, incredible, friendly, a legend, witty, remarkable, lovely, a mover and shaker, and much more. One friend wrote: “Sleep well lovely Jean. You were, and still are, a very special soul.”
So soon after the untimely death of his wife Chryss, Tony O’Reilly died after an illness. While Lady O’Reilly was totally immersed in racing and breeding, her husband had a lesser, though significant, involvement. He was an owner, breeder and a leading race sponsor. He had winners trained by Vincent O’Brien and Mouse Morris among others, and he owned the famed Castlemartin Stud in County Kildare.
One of the greatest-ever Irish rugby players, O’Reilly was hugely successful in business, heading the Heinz Corporation. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth, he was a charismatic character, larger than life, and someone whose philanthropic nature was most often handled privately and with discretion.
As I pen this column, the news emerged of the death of David Power, a man of great grace. A founder of the Paddy Power betting company, David and his wife Sabena enjoyed some memorable times as racehorse owners, not least with the Eddie Lynam-trained duo of Sole Power and Slade Power. Yet none of these achievements changed him; he was a gentleman in every sense of that word.
I can personally attest to his kindness, generosity with his time, and be thankful for his wisdom and advice. David Power kept it simple, and his son Paddy, in a heartfelt eulogy after his dad’s passing, said it well. “Dad was an incredibly humble man; he was always grateful. One of the many things he loved about the racetrack is that, as he said, it was a great leveller. You wouldn’t know who you were rubbing shoulders with.
“One bit of advice that he often gave was to behave in a way that you can walk into any room, at any time, anywhere in the world, and look every person in the eye. He was a values man: integrity, loyalty, generosity, humility, kindness, ambition, work ethic, discipline, courage and gratitude.”
May they all rest in peace.
