ON Sunday afternoon it is very likely that race sponsor Luke Comer will again be congratulating trainer Aidan O’Brien on winning another Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger with Order Of St George.

But don’t expect this sponsor to just walk away and turn up again in a year’s time. The Galway man has big plans to increase his involvement in Irish racing.

The Comer Group, which Luke controls with his brother Brian, has acquired approximately 5,000 acres of farmland in Dublin, Meath and Kildare in recent years and many readers will be surprised to learn they have 150 active thoroughbred broodmares and over 100 foals on the ground.

A training yard and gallops in Kilternan, just a few miles from Leopardstown, is almost ready to go. Luke’s son and namesake hopes to acquire a trainer’s licence and could start with a string of 50 horses – mainly for the flat – next spring.

Planning permission for a total of 300 boxes is being sought but Aidan O’Brien can rest easy – many of these could be used for a proposed equestrian centre on the site.

It all sounds very exciting.

Irish flat racing needs new blood, new owners, fresh investment. The Comers’ sponsorship of the Irish St Leger suggests they are more interested in contributing to the sport than what they can get out of it.

relishing the prospect

Visiting the Kilternan site last week, Luke Comer was clearly relishing the prospect of again having regular runners. His maroon and white diablo colours were a common sight on Irish tracks 15 years ago. His best horse from that era was Chimes At Midnight, third in the St Leger at Doncaster just two months after being cast aside by Coolmore. He won the Curragh Cup a year later.

Success in recent years has been thin on the ground though there is no questioning the Comers’ enthusiasm and ambition. In 2013 Luke told The Sunday Times of his disappointment at having to scratch Fort Defiance from the Ascot Gold Cup. A “heartbroken” Luke told the paper: “It was Brian’s horse and I thought it would get the Gold Cup for him.” At that time Fort Defiance was a Galway bumper winner who had not raced for three years.

As for Chimes At Midnight, he went on to cover some of Comer’s mares and is the sire of the family’s only runner so far this year. Producing his own stock is important to Comer. He once told the Sunday Independent: “There are obvious advantages to having a couple of hundred yearlings of your own in that you don’t have to go to sales and compete against people who own entire countries.”

He has his own ideas on training too. The Comer string is regularly fitted with GPS technology which generates data on speed and the horses’ heart-rate. “And then with cameras on the gallops I can watch them when I’m abroad,” he says.

Horses are Comer’s indulgence and it’s clear no expense has been spared on facilities and equipment. “Don’t ask me what we’ve spent on getting Kilternan ready,” he says, hinting that the budget has been well exceeded.

There’s plenty in the pot though, if media reports of the Comers’ wealth are close to accurate. Thought to be among the top 20 richest Irish people, Luke and Brian have an estimated combined net worth of €175 million but their property empire is valued at €2 billion.

“We’re equally spread between Ireland, Britain and Germany,” Luke says. “Berlin is the hottest property market in Europe at the moment. London is next and then Dublin.”

properties

Palmerstown House Estate is just one of the key Irish properties they own. The 690-acre estate beside Goffs is thought to have cost just €8 million when the Comers took it off NAMA in 2012. Last year they bought Courtown Demesne, a 400-acre property in Kildare, for a reported €10 million.

Then there is the Comer’s ‘old’ training yard in Dunboyne, Co Meath. “We have room for 150 horses in both Dunboyne and the Curragh, so they could operate as livery yards to pre-train horses for Kilternan.”

An intriguing development. It would be easy to write off the Comers as dreamers destined to get no return on their racing investment. But surely they have thought this through.

It might take a few years but perhaps Luke Comer Junior could have a runner in the Irish St Leger in a few years. It might be a homebred but it might also be a good idea if Luke could ask Aidan tomorrow if there is another Chimes At Midnight going cheap.