OVER 100 people turned out for Andy Oliver’s open day last Saturday.

The Co Tyrone trainer was unveiling upgraded facilities at his Caledon yard which he hopes will attract new owners and horses.

Andy, who started in racing as a veterinary surgeon for Yorkshire trainer Mark Johnston, built his name as a leading flat trainer in Northern Ireland through the exploits of First Cornerstone and Panama Hat, who were both successful in pattern company.

However, a couple of years ago he decided upon a change of strategy. He said: “What I thought I needed was to have everything at my disposal, so then the only limiting factor was the ability of the horse.

“We’ve put in a new gallop which would allow us to do fast work. So now we have three gallops - a sand one, a hill one and a new one of seven furlongs, on a gradient, with a pull-up circle of a furlong.

“The plan is that we can do our fast work on site so we don’t need to go anywhere.

“Also, I found that the hill gallop is great for conditioning but it is a bit hard on young horses, so the new gallop gives us the facility to train two-year-olds starting at the three-furlong marker, progressing to five furlongs through to seven furlongs.

“The following year, as three-year-olds, they start coming up the hill.

“The idea of the pull-up circle is that they don’t come to the end of their gallop and hit a brick wall - they are allowed to warm down before getting washed and going on the walker.”

Oliver aims to expand his dual-purpose training in line with the strategy.

He added: “To be a viable business in Ireland it has to last 365 days a year. I’m lucky in that Dundalk is handy to me but that is one night a week in the winter. Jumping keeps the yard going.

“To be able to have a good owner-base you’ve got to do a bit of everything.

“It is something that we have done and been successful with early on and I’m keen to rekindle that.

“There is a huge interest in National Hunt racing in the north.”