IF anyone had started to wonder whether the extraordinary momentum he started his training career with could really be maintained after a slight dip in success last season, the response from Paddy Twomey has been a resounding one in 2025.
By June 1st, he had already matched his entire tally of winners for the previous campaign (19), and he now looks well on course to beat his highest ever total for a calendar year.
Another victory at Killarney on Wednesday evening with Elana Osario brought him to 26 winners for the year domestically. Given we’re only in mid-July, there is ample time to chase down the career-high 32 winners he recorded in 2022. But the year has been so much more than about numbers for the Golden, Co Tipperary-based handler. It also has yielded a breakthrough winner at Royal Ascot, with rapid improver Carmers taking another step forward to land the Queen’s Vase under Twomey’s key ally Billy Lee.
Only five days earlier, the trainer took out the Group 3 Munster Oaks with €500,000 purchase Magical Hope, while One Look (Group 3 Park Express Stakes) and Bubble Gum (Noblesse Stakes) have put blacktype wins on the board this term too.
“It’s a hard thing for someone to break into the Irish jurisdiction when you start from zero.
A strong showing so far this season has come as no surprise to the two-time Group 1-winning trainer, based on what he was seeing in the early stages of the spring.
“We’ve been building incrementally year on year since I started training fully in 2018,” says Twomey.
“It’s a hard thing for someone to break into the Irish jurisdiction when you start from zero. We’re lucky to have been supported more and more each year, and our ownership base has grown, as has the standard of horse quality. We had year-on-year improvement all the way along until maybe last year, when we had plenty of horses running well but plenty finishing second – and we didn’t run a lot of two-year-olds last year.
“I heard plenty of grumblings, which I take no notice of, saying that I can’t train any more, but I was away on holidays in January and pulled up a list of horses in training from the previous spring. I looked at it and wondered how we did so well last year with the horses we had, as it transpired. I knew this spring that we had a nice bunch who were training well. It turns out that they are a good group.
Meeting expectations
“Like anyone doing anything, no matter who you are, you can only get the best out of the horses in your care. That’s what we aim to do every year. We’re looking to do better every year, but that’s relative to the stock you have in any given year.”
The scrutiny of his training approach that Twomey refers to was raised in different facets of the media during last season, but he insists that he was unaffected by any such talk. Once entering the top table of trainers in one of the toughest jurisdictions in world racing, the attention on any operation is bound to increase.
“Last year, I think we had a 22% strike rate and about 50% of our runners were in the first two. Somehow that’s deemed as failure,” Twomey quips.
“You understand that expectations are high, but I don’t take any notice of what goes on outside of what I’m doing. I have a strong mind, a strong mentality and take no notice of what others are saying about me or anyone else. I’m happy that I do my best every day to succeed. I like Mark Johnston’s line ‘Always trying’. I suffer with the same thing; always trying to win.” The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and one of Twomey’s sweetest successes at this year’s Royal Meeting was founded on the learnings of previous visits to the most famous five days in the global flat racing programme.
“Royal Ascot has taken on a major place in the calendar and it’s very important as a trainer to be competing there,” he says. “We’d been there a couple of times in the past with horses we’d sold to people as ‘Ascot two-year-old’ types. Some were bought to go there and I probably knew in my heart and soul they weren’t good enough heading over. They finished fifth and seventh, or something like that.
“The first four in any race go left under the tunnel at Ascot, everyone else turns right. I said it after one of the years that I didn’t want to come back here again unless we were going under that tunnel. I didn’t have runners last year because I didn’t feel I had the horses, and I felt this year we had ones good enough to be competitive. It’s lovely that it worked out with Carmers.”
Victories like in this year’s Queen’s Vase will surely only boost what is already an extremely broad base of international owners’ silks in Twomey’s colours room at Athassel House. What sort of feedback has he been receiving from overseas clients about the ownership outlook in Irish racing?
“I think international owners might view Ireland as a difficult jurisdiction to break into,” he explains.
“You have some owners who are slightly intimidated by the Coolmore-O’Brien factor, they think it might be hard to compete there. I did a quick tally of the top 10 [in the trainers’ championship] this week; the O’Brien family have around €5.5 million won in prize money and the rest of the top 10 have roughly €2.5 million. You can understand why international owners might find it difficult.
Irish landscape
“Myself and some others are offering a legitimate alternative to that sort of a stranglehold on the business, and it’s good to see international people supporting Irish racing. A lot of the overseas owners attracted to have horses with me or anyone else often have other horses in Britain or America or France too – a lot are pretty open-minded.
“It’s the person that they’re looking for who fits their criteria, who fits their hopes and aims for the bloodstock business they’re involved in. Ireland is the hardest jurisdiction to compete in on a daily basis. Yes, you could train more winners if you were elsewhere, it’s generally one meeting a day for probably four days a week, on average, but you know that when you set out on this journey. You need a definite plan of what you want to achieve.”
He adds: “I started training my own horses under a permit 13 years ago and I like training, I like the challenge of it. I’m a public trainer, I’m open for business. I have a background in the bloodstock business from before I was a trainer - I was selling horses to many of these owners before I began training for them. I’m keen to expand and get as high up that trainers’ table as I can, winning as many stakes races as I can and continuing to build.”
Twomey certainly isn’t the only trainer to voice concerns over one crucial area of the racing experience in Ireland, prize money.
“Irish prize money has never been worse. It’s in a disgraceful state,” he says.
“People say that England is terrible, but I’m looking at £40,000 novice races most days in Britain, and £100,000 heritage handicaps regularly. The top race meetings in Britain have exceptional prize money, while the Irish listed and group races are now down to pitiful levels. They can be worth a fraction of what they were worth 20 years ago.
’It’s in trouble’
“When you have a horse capable of running in a listed race, and you’re competing for a prize fund of around €40,000, it beggars belief. Prize money is well spoken of. It’s in trouble. Irish racing is going to have to look at it seriously, because there is an issue associated with it. A lot of people can’t afford to have horses in training because the cost is high and the return is poor.
“Nobody expects prize money to return on their outlay of buying the horse, but you’d like the idea of it being self-sustaining if you had a good horse. It’s hard to find a horse good enough to win a maiden, run well or win a stakes race, and yet when you look at what they’re earning at the end of the year… It hasn’t even covered the training costs in some cases. That’s not a sustainable business model.”
Twomey has made investments of his own in boosting his service offered to owners this season by bringing Emma Nagle on board to assist with media, communication and office duties. Known to many through her work with IrishRacing.com, she has been hailed by the leading trainer as a bright addition to the yard with her multimedia and horse background.
“We’re very lucky that Emma has come on board as the office manager, while running all the media interactions and owner communications,” says Twomey.
“She organises everything and has made a huge difference to the efficiency of how we operate, as well as growing the awareness of the place on different platforms online. When it came to owner communications, I probably believed that when I sent you the invoice at the end of the month that was your communication taken care of, but Emma has fixed that and brought us to the 21st century! You’re always trying to move forward.”
Paddy Twomey and Billy Lee shook up the National Hunt big guns with prominent bumper victories at Cheltenham and Aintree last season \ Healy Racing
Electric Linn
Another evolution in the Twomey operation came during the National Hunt season just gone when recording two landmark successes with bumper mare Seo Linn. Taking on the big jumping guns in blacktype events at Cheltenham and Aintree isn’t the norm for most flat handlers. Beating them at marquee fixtures is even more rare.
“Anthony Phelan and Dr Jerry Beckett kindly sent Seo Linn to us. Now, there were a couple of raised eyebrows when it was said we’d go the bumper route at the time, but it ended up being a great season,” says Twomey.
“There was a bit of buzz with Billy riding a bumper winner at Aintree and Cheltenham, something both of us enjoyed. It was novel, but at the same time, the filly is now a Grade 2 winner in the bumper sphere and the owners had a great spin with her.”
Twomey is unfortunately set to be without his stable jockey for the immediate future after Lee suffered a broken collarbone in a nasty fall at Limerick last weekend. He firmly believes that a first jockeys’ championship would be a fitting reward for a rider of Lee’s talents.
“Billy rode my first winner in 2012 when I got my permit and has been a fabric of what I’m doing from the very start,” Twomey says.
“He rode breezers for me before that and rode work on bumper horses prior to that when I had a few for Punchestown. He came in when David Wachman retired and the relationship grew. He was extremely patient and had the foresight to come in when I had six or seven horses riding out - I was scratching my head at the time thinking this guy was mad, but it worked out for both of us.
“I trust him implicitly with riding the horses and he is as good as there is around. I’m very confident in his ability. He works hard and there’s every chance he’ll be champion jockey some day, because he’s good enough.”
Remarkable record
A sensational strike rate of 31% so far in 2025 puts Twomey in standout territory of his own in the Irish training ranks. Some have pointed to a selective approach regarding where and when the Innishannon, Co Cork native runs his string, but Twomey insists his race programming is no way tied to maintaining his remarkable statistical record.
“People are fixated with my strike rate, but I don’t actually put that much heed on it,” he explains.
“I just try to run the horses where I think they will be competitive, and most of my two-year-olds will need a run. I want to win every time - once the horse has experience. I get them experience through the grades and hopefully to the max of their ability.
“Once I feel a horse isn’t in love with it, I don’t believe in racing them beyond that point. I like to have a campaign for them and a profile to keep improving. I want to see that incremental improvement in the horses each time I run them through the year and to stay consistent. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but that’s what we’re aiming at.”
Judging by pretty much all metrics in 2025, Paddy Twomey is doing quite a good job of that, to say the least. And we’re also only a little more than halfway through the year. A statement season rich with the potential to get even better.
Arouet
“We bought him as a yearling in France and didn’t run him at two. He had a lovely introduction when second at Cork, built on that to win at Roscommon and then finished second on ground that was as quick as he’d like at Leopardstown the last day in the King George V Cup. The winner, Zahrann, was classy and quickened up by him but I thought our horse was good and ran all the way to the line. Given how dry the weather was, I opted to give him an easier time and we’re waiting for a small bit of juice in the ground with him. We’re looking forward to him in stakes races over a mile and a half. I’m sure he has a bright future in front of him.”
Beechwood
“A filly who joined us last year and was very impressive in winning the Oyster Stakes at Galway on her last start. She’s ready to run now, but would prefer an ease in the ground. On the basis it’s suitable for her in terms of conditions, she’ll take her chance in the Meadow Court Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday and I think she’ll run very well.”
Carmers
“A good, tough horse. He didn’t run at two, broke his maiden at Ballinrobe, eight days later won a listed race and, within the month, won the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot. He’s been given a freshen up after that and the plan is very much to go for the St Leger at Doncaster. Whether he’ll take in the Great Voltigeur or Vinnie Roe Stakes on the way, I’m not sure. If he needs a prep, he’ll run and if we feel he doesn’t, he won’t.”
Catalina Delcarpio
“We didn’t run her at two and she got a TDN Rising Star when she won her maiden at Leopardstown earlier this year. For an inexperienced filly, I thought she ran a great race in the Salsabil Stakes to finish second. I was convinced going there that she’d win, but just got caught flat-footed and showed real class to come out of the pack to chase down the winner. We went to the Ribblesdale Stakes hoping that she’d stay the mile and a half, but the reality is that she didn’t. We’ve decided to sidestep the Irish Oaks and are now looking at an autumn campaign. A race like the Blandford Stakes would make sense. The first day she ran, the ground was fast and I was half concerned, but Billy said she showed an electric turn of foot. When I asked him after Navan if the easier ground there helped her, he told me it didn’t, and that it only blunted her turn of foot. He thinks she’s happy on fast ground.”
City Of Memphis
“We bought her at the two-year-old sales last year but didn’t run her then. She was just ready to run when heading to Cork in May and ended up being explosive, the way that she won. We thought about going for a listed race, but then felt she’d be competitive in a Guineas and would stay a mile. She was a little unlucky in the Irish 1000 and had a wide draw, but ran a brave race. She’s rated 106 now. I’ve let her freshen up and she could go to Goodwood for the Oak Tree Stakes, but I’d imagine she’ll probably be kept home for a race like the Fairy Bridge Stakes at Tipperary. If she won something like that, I wouldn’t rule out the Matron Stakes. I’d say she’ll stay in training next year and she looks a high-class filly with a bright future.”
King Cuan
“He’s been a revelation, a great horse to have. He was a good two-year-old and only missed his three-year-old season due to small niggles; he never actually did any fast work. He ran well in listed company on his first start back, won nicely at Fairyhouse and I thought his run was good on Derby weekend in the listed race over six furlongs when third. We’re looking at the Phoenix Sprint with him next month, having cotemplated going for the Minstrel Stakes on Sunday before deciding against it. I don’t do a lot with him in between races, he keeps himself fit and trim through going racing and then going home to canter.”
Purple Lily
“She danced every dance last season and did just as we wanted, but we had a slow start with her this year. I was looking for a bit of easier ground and thought Roscommon would be ideal, but she jumped awkwardly from the stalls and never really recovered after that. Her work had been good going there and I was left a bit confused after the race, but she’s come home fine, is training well. I thought about running her iin the Meadow Court Stakes on Sunday but we’ve decided to wait for an alternative instead. We’ll have to say that her run in the Lenebane was a non-event.”
Rogue Legend
“He flew to Chicago last Saturday to continue his career with Wesley Ward. We wish his connections all the best.”