MICHAEL O’Callaghan has made a significant impact in the training ranks over the last 12 months and fresh from his first stakes success at Naas with Letters Of Note, this ambitious young man looks a trainer to follow.
“We are having a good year and we are pretty much at capacity with 37 horses. We will have some yearlings coming in soon and it’s possible that we might look at having a smaller satellite yard somewhere close to where we are.
“We don’t own where we are, so we won’t add any more boxes to the yard, but 60 horses would be a comfortable number to train over the course of a year,’’ he said.
“I don’t want to get too big too soon. We want to make sure that we can give the horses the attention that they need, so it will be a gradual process of building up the numbers.
“The first of the yearling sales start soon and we have some orders to fill and you need new blood into the yard and we’d always buy some on spec. I have found Twitter a help to sell horses. I am not sure how many I have sold via social media, but I would be a lot worse off without it,’’ he added.
“Apart from anything else, it is a great way to meet new people. You never know what might develop from those conversations. Our website michaelocallaghanracing.ie has been upgraded and it is nice and sharp. People want to know as much as they can about us and there is a lot about what we do on the website.’’
JUVENILES
He has some nice juveniles to run over the coming weeks and months: “I don’t want to mention them by name but we could have a special horse that has yet to run. We’ll get them started and see how they go but I think we have a few nice horses here.’’
AGGRESSION
3yo br c (1-4)
Marju - Radha
Qatar Racing Limited
He got a little bit sick after he ran at Cork and we had to back off him after that. There isn’t a great programme for three-year-old sprinters over here. He is coming back right now. I have no plans for him as yet but he is a very fast colt. I am not sure yet what his best ground is but I’d say he wouldn’t like extremes.
ALBERT ROAD
4yo b g NH (69) F(6)
Archipenko - Polish Lake
S.G. Keys
He could to Tramore at the weekend. We started him off in bumpers as we felt that he would stay – his owners love their National Hunt racing but then we switched him to the flat and he ran better than his finishing position would suggest at the Curragh. He travelled well into the race but the stiff mile and a half might have been a bit far for him. We’ll try and get a bit of form into him and move him in October. I think there is a day in him.
BAINNE
5yo b m (2033-6417)
Strategic Prince - Laemeen
Morning Fresh Syndicate
I bought her at the sales earlier this year for £5,000. She had some good form for Charlie Swan and was rated in the 80s at one stage, but she lost her way last year. She slotted into our way of doings things very quickly and she ran well at Navan before she won at the Curragh. Genuine good ground or softer ground is fine for her. I’d like to think that she can win another handicap. She is a nice sprint filly.
FASTIDIOUS
6yo b g (19727085)
Exceed And Excel - Felicitous
Michael O’Callaghan
He was the first horse that I bought when I started training. He is worth his weight in gold at home as he is a great work horse. He is a great yard stick. He will win his couple of races every year and he ran a cracker at Galway. The ground went just too soft for him that day – he will handle slow ground, but not as bad as it was at Galway. He pays his way every year.
INTREPID PRINCE
2yo b c (038)
Royal Applause - Intrepid Queen
MDOC Intrepid Syndicate
He is a lovely little horse but he has been a bit slow to learn. He has improved with racing although he was a bit disappointing the last day at Leopardstown. Hopefully he’ll be competitive in nurseries for the rest of the year.
INDIAN TOMAHAWK
3yo b g (54891-16)
Sleeping Indian - Elhida
Michael O’Callaghan
He did well for us in Dundalk earlier this year winning his maiden and a handicap. He hasn’t run since June at Leopardstown but we are in no rush with him. He is progressive and he might be a Dubai horse. He will be back for the back end and there is more to come from him.
I WILL EXCEL
3yo b g (52732-2580)
Exceed And Excel - Da’s Wish
Michael O’Callaghan
He had a lot of ability as a two-year-old and he still retains that ability but he has had problems with his wind. He has had surgery but he seems to have lost his confidence and it is up to us now to try and gets his confidence back. He is a sprinter, so we’ll stick to six furlongs with him. He’ll handle yielding ground no problem but he wouldn’t want it soft. The better the ground the better for him.
KOTONIC
2yo b f (75)
Kodiac - Teutonic
Michael O’Callaghan
She is a nice sprint filly. She came from the breeze-ups and she has just been a little over exuberant. We gave her a little break after her last run and she appears to have done well. I think if she settles a bit better, she might be up to winning a maiden over five furlongs on good ground.
LETTERS OF NOTE
3yo b f (4-18521)
Azamour - Boo Boo Bear
Pearl Bloodstock Ltd
It was great to win a listed race with her and I sold her on the basis that she was a stakes filly. We kept dropping her back in trip and we think six is the key to her. Pat Smullen really liked her and she’ll go for the Renaissance Stakes at the Curragh and while I haven’t spoken to her owners about it, I would imagine that she will remain in training next year. Sprinters get better with age and she will mature and strengthen up. There isn’t a great programme for three-year-old sprinters in Ireland and we might travel with her. She is a lovely actioned filly but I wouldn’t like to run her on anything worse that good to yielding.
MAKNIFICENT
3yo b f (64860P3)
Makfi - Sally Wood
Michael O’Callaghan
She is a tricky filly and it took us a while to figure her out. The soft ground helped and she ran well when third at Galway. We’ll keep her to three-year-old only handicaps if we can. The way she ran the last day suggests that she can win a little race somewhere.
MILITARY ANGEL
3yo b f (1-30422)
Big Brown - Hannabarbera
Military Syndicate
She was unlucky not to win a €100,000 handicap at the Curragh and she was also very unlucky not to win a listed race at Naas. I think she’ll remain in training next year. She has plenty of ability and she is learning all the time. She was a bit free and keen in the Guineas but Emmet looked after her that day. She has since come back to form well and she’ll go for the Fairy Bridge Stakes at Tipperary. That is for fillies only and after that we’ll see.
MR BOUNTY
5yo b g (1454-614970)
Bahamian Bounty - Zamindari
Michael O’Callaghan
He is a great yard stick at home and he wins his race every year. Everything has to be right for him - he is a big horse that has had a couple of wind jobs. He’ll be competitive in his own grade.
NOW OR NEVER
2yo b f (21)
Bushranger - Queenofthefairies
Now Or Never Partnership
She did it very well at Galway and she has come out of that race better than you could have hoped. I was taking the bandages off her myself that night and I couldn’t get her head out of the feed pot. She has thrived since and she’ll go for the Debutante and then the Moyglare will be her end of season target. You could never have expected her to win as well as she did at Galway and the way she won surprised me. She is one to look forward to. She is a very classy filly and because of that, I don’t think ground will be a problem for her. She is a big strong filly with a lot of growing to do. I think she’d appreciate an ease in the ground and next year I can see her getting a mile and a quarter. We’ll see how those races at the Curragh go but we may look at the fillies’ race at Paris on Arc day.
POWER GRID
2yo b c (6)
Frozen Power - Springfort
Michael O’Callaghan
He was a bit sick after he ran at Leopardstown so we backed off him. He is on the way back. I think he is well up to winning a maiden. He is a nice horse with plenty of size. The break in the middle of the year didn’t do him any harm. Six or seven furlongs on nice ground is what he wants.
RAPID APPLAUSE
3yo b c (1432-57)
Royal Applause - Madam Ninette
Equine Partners Syndicate
He got sick at the wrong time of the year. We ran him earlier in the year at Dundalk but he ran below par and he had to stand in for six weeks after that as he was very sick. I told the lads that he would come on a lot for his last run back at the Curragh and he has thrived since. We have seen a lot of improvement in him at home and he could go for the Renaissance Stakes as well. He has grown a lot and he had a few niggly problems last year but they have ironed themselves out. I hope to win a group race with him before the end of the year. You’d love to find a conditions race for him, just to help him win again. We’ll play it by ear and his next run will tell where he’ll go for the rest of the year.
SHOW ME LOVE
3yo b f (3-43)
Showcasing - Al Corniche
Michael O’Callaghan
She is a sprint maiden that I like. I think she will win her maiden - she has just bumped into one each time. She will have to take on the older sprinters but I’d expect her to be competitive in handicaps off her mark, which I think is fair. Good or better ground is what she wants.