RACEGOERS on the way to last weekend’s Oldtown point-to-point may have noticed the well kept track and the imposing house at Springhill Stud, near Garristown.

Although you are in the heart of thoroughbred country, there’s more chance of seeing an Ayr Glory yearling than a Vinnie Roe or a Milan.

The land owner is Joe Sheridan. Gordon Garnett (former chairman of the British Harness Racing Club) knew the stud book backwards, and once described Joe Sheridan, in print, as ‘the master breeder.’

In many ways Joe’s journey from northside inner Dublin in the late 1960s to the professional stud he now runs, mirrors the development of the sport in Ireland since the revival around 1968.

Joe is another one of those links (naturally the numbers are thinning every year) to the days before mechanisation. Joe’s father Bill, ran a few Hansom cabs around the city and drew animal feed for a living. Joe can remember attending the much lamented Raheny track in his short trousers.

All the Sheridan boys inherited their father’s love of a trotter. Richard (now a successful businessman and owner in Australia), Andy, Tommy and Willie have all been involved to a greater or lesser degree.

GOOD SPORT

When Joe reached adulthhood, he and Willie raced Some Chance, a mare who, in turn, threw the useful Some Girl and members of that mare’s family provided good sport at Portmarnock for years.

“I’ve always had too many horses at one time,” says Joe, “it’s simply love of the game.”

Other early horses included Dannaways, bought from the North, Dean Garbo and later Columbus. In the 1970s Joe campaigned some journeyman types. Two horses he bought from the late Bobby Hanson took him to a higher level, namely the flashy chesnut Lucky Partner, and the speedy Slyville.

“Slyville went 2.04 when 2.04 was 2.04,” recalls Joe proudly. “Lucky was a wee bit hot. I sold him and bought him back a few times, as I could get him going when other men couldn’t.

ADMIRED

At the same time as racing these animals, Joe also stood Racing Knight at stud. Horsemen often differ about the merits of a sire, but Racing Knight was one stallion who everyone admired. “You have to remember that Racing Knight actually ran in the Little Brown Jug,” points out Joe, “that’s the sort of class he had.” [top three-year-old races for Standardbred horses in the US].

Joe always kept a few mares – right back to the days when the only real choice of stallions in Ireland was Hughie Richardson’s Gold Vision or Norman Brown’s Pipers Gold. However, around 2007, Sheridan took a punt and bought four fillies and a colt in Canada.

The fillies included Springhill Eyeful (by DM Dillinger) who was to be unraced due to injury. At stud she produced 2013 Musselburgh champion Springhill Alibi.

“There aren’t too many Irish breeders to have bred a horse that went into the free-for-all class in the USA,” said the breeder.

EXPENSIVE

Also on that plane load was Springhill Katie who had several wins in the UK and is now a successful broodmare. No less a judge than Mick Lord has her two-year-old filly, Springhill Miss Kate, the second most expensive filly ever sold at the York sale.

One sad aspect was the loss of only son John (16) in 1991 in a freak training accident in which a horse was also killed. John had actually just driven in his first apprentice race shortly before the tragedy.

Perhaps it’s the void left by the passing of John, but Joe has been a great backer of young drivers such as Kieran Morrison (now training in Canada), Martin Loughran and Gavin Murdock. Loughran and Springhill Biscuit dominated at Annaghmore in 2015 and 2016 churning out 1.59 clocks without turning a hair.

RUNNERS

John Richardson was already well established when Joe started putting him up on Springhill runners. “John has been very lucky to us,” says Joe with a cheeky confidence, “but then I was putting a decent horse under John. Many’s a time when I went to take the headcheck off a runner, John would say to me – you were right about this one.”

The wily Christy ‘Hopper’ Foran is another coachman who Joe rates highly.

Newcomers to the sport will be surprised to hear that Mark Flanagan and Paul Cullen learned the ropes at Joe Sheridan’s yard. “Every time I looked round they had another one yoked and away,” says Joe with a laugh.

Sheridan was specialising in trotters long before the current wave of Trotteurs Français.

In those days the horses came from Holland and Sweden. Yleen Zsheb, Daletta and Duran S all earned their corn. One trotter bred in England and bought from myself, was Tempered Yankee, a gelding who won Trotter of the Year for Joe in 1999 and 2000.

Joe reckons he took Trotter of the Year awards with at least four different horses.

With regard to Le Trot programme, Joe thinks it’s progress but would prefer that horsemen could bid for any horse they like and not be limited to the pool which the French organisers put forward. He also thought that the handicapping panel were a bit hard on Vif Du Layon last season.

On the pacing front, the Delaney Weekend has been a good shop window for Springhill racing stock. The lightly-built Springhill Ali (G Murdock) broke the two-year-old fillies record in 2016 and Springhill Catch gave Joe a nice each-way tickle in 2017.

Springhill Glory (by Joe’s own Ayr Glory) was second in the Alabar/Oakwood Derby last year and won seven races in 2017 for owner Jackie O’Neill and driver Patrick Kane junior.

Joe is fanatical about Ayr Glory as a sire. “He broke two minutes on grass and up to now anything by him that has raced has won,” says Joe, ever the salesman.

Joe ran the first and so far, only, breeze up sale for standardbreds for a few years until the economic downturn affected his buyers.

“I might bring it back,” states Joe. “The way my mares are producing people will travel to buy.”

Joe is at the moment in full on pre-season mode with a barn full of Ayr Glorys and of course the stable flag bearer in recent seasons the teak tough Springhill Biscuit who will be back at the races at the tender age of 12.

“Biccy” as he is known at home will be cheered to the line as always by Joe’s lovely wife of 45 years, Marion. Daughters Natasha, Lisa and Andrea and all the kids will be out in force.

“Mention the girls,” says Joe, “family is the backbone of everything that Marion and I do.”