JUST when it felt as if we were living out of the pages of a George Orwell novel last year with the onslaught of Covid-19, T.J. Comerford, one of Aidan O’Brien’s two travelling head lads was busy taking a leaf out of Jules Verne’s book Around the World in Eighty Days.

He played an integral role in bringing some of Ballydoyle’s best abroad to run in the world’s elite races, as well as keeping an eye on some of Joseph’s big-race runners.

T.J. finally returned home on November 10th after spending almost five months away, keeping to a tight schedule that ensured he was present at various airports to take the Ballydoyle superstars off the plane and transport them to different racecourses around the globe.

He then drove them back to the airport again later the same day for their return flight to Shannon and, on occasions, stayed at the airport if there were other horses flying in to race the following day.

It was a major undertaking and responsibility for him but O’Brien had complete faith and the results speak for themselves with Group 1 successes in Hong Kong, France, America, Ireland and Britain.

“He was absolutely vital,” said Aidan. “He’s a great fellow with incredible knowledge and he’s a major part of our team. He’s an incredible horseman and no-one knows more about travelling horses than T.J.”

Pat Keating is the stable’s other travelling head lad but he has a wife and family and opted to stay at home in Ireland. T.J, on the other hand, is single and said with a laugh: “I’m very expendable and was the ideal candidate to go.”

Asked to describe his time away, his memory never falters as he moves from one racecourse to another in his mind.

First day

Rarely lost for words. T.J. begins: “June 4th? That was our first day. Me and five lads flew into Stansted for that week. We only had two runners on the Friday in the Coronation Cup which is normally run at Epsom – Anthony Van Dyck and Broome – and we drove them back to Stansted afterwards for the flight home.

“Saturday was 2000 Guineas day and we had Arizona and Wichita who was second in it. They were in and out the same day and then we had Love in the 1000 Guineas.

“We brought her back to the plane that evening because it was only 25 minutes down the road from Newmarket where we were based all the year.

“I drove down the next day with two horses again and took the couple of lads who had brought them over to add to our team. The way it worked was that I met them at the top of the ramp of the plane and took them to the races. Once they brought the horses over, we looked after them for the day.”

T.J. is really into his stride now and barely pauses for breath as he moves onto the next meeting at Epsom on July 4th.

“There we had the Derby and the Oaks on the same day, so we drove to Farnborough and stayed there, meeting the horses coming in and bringing them back to the plane after racing.

“We had six runners in the Derby which Serpentine won, but there was an hour and five minutes between the two races, so I juggled it by weighing the jockeys out and saddling the horses while the others were running in the Oaks, although we had to wait for Ryan Moore, Padraig Beggy and Seamie Heffernan who were riding in the race.

“It was busy but doable and, having no crowd to run through, made it easier!

“Royal Ascot was a bit busier with 30 runners for the week which was very manageable – we usually could have 50 runners there. It might sound a lot but it was only five or six a day and we divided them up so that we’d have enough lads to look after them.

“We had a couple of winners there – Santiago, and Circus Maximus in the Queen Anne – and plenty of horses that were placed, but it was a bit different than usual and the ground was different as well.”

The mixed-up racing schedule sums up 2020 in a nutshell. T.J, however, is seemingly unflappable and remained focused on the task in hand.

Need a drink of water yet? Not T.J., who recalled: “Then shortly after that was the Eclipse and we had Japan and Magic Wand in that, so we stayed at Farnborough airport to meet them off the plane the next day and bring them to Sandown.

“York was after that where the horses flew into Leeds/Bradford airport. Magical was second in the Juddmonte and the next day Love won the Yorkshire Oaks and, once we finished there, we went back to Newmarket. From there I was over and back to France through the tunnel at weekends to meet the horses off the plane for Deauville and take those from the other side.”

Busy

Busy times indeed for the Irish raiders and T.J. reflected: “I suppose whenever the festivals were on we were busy and then we had the Saturdays in England and the Sunday meetings in France which often clashed with Irish meetings. It was well organised through the office and everyone at home and it worked well.

“We didn’t really mix with anyone, wore our masks and washed our hands and England was in lockdown and the pubs were closed, so there were no distractions and it wasn’t a problem.

“We didn’t want to be picking up the virus or spreading it and when you’re tested as often as we were, you’re just trying to stay clear of it but the work had to be done and we all got it done.”

So July and August was Deauville and T.J. was over there for a couple of consecutive weekends and he had Newmarket’s July meeting in between where Ballydoyle had runners every day bar the Friday.

“The July Cup was on Saturday and then I went to France the next day for the Prix Maurice de Gheest. After that, it was back to France the following weekend where Mogul won his Group 1 in the Grand Prix de Paris and Anthony Van Dyck ran in the Prix Foy at Longchamp.”

In between, T.J. and his merry band also found the time to prep four or five horses for the Newmarket Sales.

“Then we went straight to Australia where we and the lads who came out to ride the horses were in quarantine for two weeks in Sydney in separate hotel rooms. We were tested once a week and then we went to Melbourne where we were put into apartments and couldn’t go outside the 5km limit.

Breakfast was left outside their rooms in a bag, followed by lunch and dinner and T.J. helped kill the time by walking five miles around his room twice a day “with the blinds pulled in case I ended up on someone’s Whatsapp group!”

He added: “We were just catering for ourselves or cooking and that’s not unusual for lads working in racing but we had to wear face masks every time we went out. Australia was very strict on that with big fines for anyone who didn’t. Then we went to Werribee which is 40 minutes outside Melbourne – it’s a little country track a mile round on grass and all the European horses were kept there, so we were able to train them every day.”

Six weeks

T.J. spent six weeks in Melbourne, a trip that yielded runner-up slots in Australia’s three biggest races, the Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup won by Joseph’s Twilight Payment. As he said: “We like to bring back winners but it doesn’t always go to plan.”

That experience was followed by a challenging trip to Hong Kong with Magical, Mogul and Order Of Australia.

Pat Keating and his crew went ahead on this occasion because the horses had to be out there two weeks before their races and he was accompanied by Ballydoyle’s regular flying grooms Des Dully and John Dooley.

“I just brought the horses out to Pat in Hong Kong and the JRA brought the lads to the airport to unload them into a lorry and bring them out to Sha Tin where they were handed over to Pat.

“Then on the day they were coming back, I unloaded them off the plane, so it was quite easy.”

On the plane

T.J. then explained what goes on once horses get onto a plane, saying: “We set up the jet stalls as best as we can so that they are comfortable and tie them up.

“Then we let them loose after take-off and put in their hay, food and water. Coming in to land, we tie them up again and once we know we’re going to land again in Hong Kong we do the same thing just to lessen the risk of anything going wrong.

“We do a lot of travelling with Aidan’s horses so they’re well-prepared but the majority of them have never flown before. The American-bred horses have, so it seems to be straightforward for them. I suppose it’s all well and good until something goes wrong but we have the right lads with them to keep them relaxed.”

He said: “I remember going to Australia two years ago when the windscreen cracked on the plane as we were flying to Sharjah. The pilot decided it wasn’t enough of a problem to stop the flight but, going down the runway, it cracked some more.

“We, together with 10 or 12 horses were on that plane for 20 hours in Sharjah because they had to take out the windscreen and replace it and it took five to six hours for the glue to dry. It was a long 20 hours and nearly messed up my quarantine for Australia because we had to quarantine for 14 days but they allowed it because we didn’t leave the plane for one of the days.”

Comerford’s marathon tour finally came to an end in November.

“We picked up the horses from Hong Kong and that was the end of my racing for the year!” he said. “I think other lads had it busier than me. I was just swapping things over on the England side and trying to do things right.

“Once the horses are finished racing, we just bring them back to Ballydoyle but I’ve been doing it for so long it’s fairly straightforward.

“It’s all great when it works out and it’s a massive relief when it’s over. You have to be on the ball and obviously if something does go wrong, you have to say it to Aidan but, bar a major problem, it can be dealt with in the usual way. You don’t want to be ringing Aidan with bad news.

“Both myself and Pat know exactly what is needed on the day for racing, so we’ll never be short of anything but, once the plane takes off, there’s no going back!

“That’s why I have my own tack, so that if something is needed, I only have to go out to the horsebox, just like I would at the Curragh or Leopardstown.”

Comerford concluded: “We use our own stuff in England and France, separate to Ireland and bring our own feed, hay and water from Ballydoyle.

“We also have our own buckets, cheekpieces, pads and quarter sheets for places like Melbourne where they can have freakish weather.”

With all the packing that involves, it’s no wonder the last thing T.J. wanted when he got home was to get back on a plane for a holiday in the sun.

He has been long-reining horses that are on the easy list, having a bit of a break or returning from injury since his return but freely admitted: “Once the first day of the flat starts, it’ll all begin all over again.”