YESTERDAY week in Dundalk was a dream come true as Boxer Dunford (known as Rocky at home) credited me with my first win as a trainer. I only have my licence since the end of June and we currently have only one horse in training.
To fulfil a dream with what was just my fourth runner on the track was unbelievable. To make the day even more memorable he was ridden by my son Ross. Arthur Connick, father of my wife Maria and part-owner of the horse, was present to enjoy the win. Unfortunately Maria, who does all the day-time feeding and mucking out as required, wasn’t there as she was too busy looking after our other three boys, Gavin, Andrew and Paddy. Nevertheless I heard they nearly screamed the house down with excitement!
Our operation is a small family one based from home in Doneaney, Kildare where, we are next door to the magnificent state-of-the-art training complex of Michael Halford. I often joke that we are polar opposites! I have a Curragh licence, however, which means I have some of the best facilities in Ireland at my disposal, and I use the sand gallop at the schooling grounds for routine work and usually go up the Old Vic once a week.
Before I got my licence I used Oghill Gallops and the Faheys also kindly let me use their facilities. I ride out every morning before work (as managing director of Vygon Ireland, a subsidiary of a French medical device manufacturer) and Rocky then spends his day in the paddock with his buddy, 18-year-old Neon Tiger who won over 20 races for us on the horse and pony racing. Prior to that he won six for Ger Lyons when known as In Theory. This routine seems to work perfectly and ensures a happy and contented horse.
When Rocky sees my car coming in the evening he makes his own way down to the gate as he knows feeding time has arrived. When it comes to the races, I let Ross decide his own tactics, as I think he is a brilliant judge of a race and there is no point in tying him down with instructions when I don’t know how the race will work out. As I read in Declan Murphy’s recent book Centaur, you “ride the race to suit the horse”.
Unlike the other people who did the trainers’ course with me, a career as a racehorse trainer is not feasible for me and I will always have a small-scale operation – two horses is probably ideal for our set-up. Boxer Dunford started off his racing career in the ownership of Michael Ryan of Al Eile Stud and was in training with Johnny Murtagh where Ross is an apprentice. We owe the two of them a big debt of gratitude for their kindness in gifting the horse to us two years ago.
The racing spark in me was lit in Glenbeigh, Co Kerry, the birthplace of my mother, where as a kid I worked in the riding stables of Tom and Martin Cournane. The Glenbeigh Races on Rossbeigh Strand were the highlight of our summer and once I had my first spin as an 11-year-old I was hooked. My interest was further fuelled by the fact that my father’s first cousin, the well-known businessman Denis Coakley, owned a number of well-known horses including Sea Break, who was winter favourite for the 1975 Derby, and Bunkilla, named after the family home place in Donoughmore, Cork.
After finishing school at Oatlands College, Dublin, I spent the best part of a year working for Paul (P.V.) Doyle on the Curragh, followed by a spell with Francis Shortt, before sense prevailed and I started studying Business in Trinity. I combined studying with riding as an amateur for Tony McLoughlin who was a private trainer for William Macauley. Over the following years I had intermittent spells riding as an amateur with infrequent success, the highlights being a bumper winner for Pat Martin and a number of point-to-point winners (including two wins on the Pat Fahy-trained Dun Belle who was subsequently placed in an Irish Gold Cup so it would probably have been harder not to win on her!).
When Ross started to develop an interest in racing it wasn’t long before we started in the world of horse and pony racing. At one stage our stable grew to four horses and we shared some great moments including winners in Dingle and the Glenbeigh Derby. We also had a number of horses in training and Table Forty Six, on whom Ross rode three winners when trained by Denis Cullen, has given us some wonderful memories. I used to pre-train the horses myself until they were ready to run and I always had the idea that one day I would take out a restricted licence myself. Last Christmas, realising that I would be 55 in May, I decided if I didn’t do something about it soon I would never do it. I completed the trainers’ course in June. For the future it would be great to have a few more winners and hopefully Boxer Dunford will pick up another race or two over the coming years.
All going well he will be back in Dundalk on October 20th. Now that one dream has been fulfilled, the ultimate dream is that one day we will have a horse to take us to Royal Ascot.
Denis Coakley was in conversation with John O’Riordan