JUST a few minutes chatting to Bobby O’Ryan and you think it’s no wonder he has been such a successful thoroughbred bloodstock agent. This is one of the most gentlemanly, engaging individuals you are likely to encounter in any walk of life. How could you turn him down?

Of course his longevity has little or nothing to do with that really. Personality will earn you clients but it won’t keep them if you keep buying duds and it won’t persuade vendors to sell cheaply, especially in the ring, where he does most of his business.

Prices tend to be too high in one-on-one dealings and finding value has been the O’Ryan stock and trade now for almost 25 years.

It isn’t that he has never splurged - he forked out €325,000 for Empire Of Dirt on behalf of Gigginstown at Tattersalls’ Derby Sale in 2010, the son of Westerner being out of the Grade 2 winning mare Rose Of Inchiquin. Jumping issues have prevented the Colm Murphy-trained eight-year-old from realising his potential to date.

This is not his normal modus operandi however, and buying cheaply hasn’t prevented him sourcing winners for owners all over the world, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, China, Australia, Canada, Italy and Poland as well, of course, as Ireland, England and France.

Big winners too. He has been involved in the purchase of a number of Cheltenham victors for Howard Johnson and Graham Wylie, as well as the former trainer’s Royal Ascot successes.

Pride of place sits with the English and Irish 2000 Guineas hero Cockney Rebel, who like fellow Group 1 winners Wootton Bassett and Casamento, was bought for less than €50,000.

JUDGEMENT

This is a man who when asked in an interview more than a decade ago now, what he would aim for and who he would ask advice of if offered 500,000gns to buy a horse, responded that he would back his own judgement and pick up five.

So while budgets form part of the practicality of how he operates, it is a choice too. There is no doubt that part of the thrill for O’Ryan is finding the hidden gem. Trusting his eye rather than going by the formula of the page. And that goes back to a lifetime in the game, and a horseman’s gene that has tumbled through the generations.

It is 50 years now since the then 12-year-old began working with his father Paddy, who trained and broke horses. Amongst those to pass through Paddy’s hands were Grand National winner Rag Trade, and Tied Cottage, who was so close to landing two Gold Cups, falling when leading at the last in 1979 and finishing first past the post the following year, only to be disqualified.

Paddy’s father R.J. rode and trained horses. His brother, also R.J. and after whom Bobby was named, rode Distel to win the 1946 Champion Hurdle for Darby Rogers and Dorothy Paget, and enjoyed a good relationship with Vincent O’Brien, riding the brilliant Hatton’s Grace to win an Irish Champion Hurdle. He would subsequently be head lad for Rufus Beasley and Pat Rohan in Malton.

Bobby’s cousin, Tom, rode plenty of winners before establishing himself as a hugely respected journalist with the Racing Post and Racing UK, while another cousin, Robin, is assistant trainer with Richard Fahey. Indeed Robin, Bobby, Bobby’s son Aidan and Fahey combine forces spectacularly at sales.

It seems the gene and passion has passed on, with Aidan now a key player in the O’Ryan operation. Son Kevin rode numerous winners for Willie Mullins, Frances Crowley and Dermot Weld as an amateur, and piloted future hurdling legend Hardy Eustace to victory in the Land Rover Bumper. He is now a jockeys’ agent who also works for At The Races.

What’s more, Kevin’s three children seem to have the bug and the likelihood is that if their grandfather Bobby is not at the sales, looking at a foal somewhere or racing, he is beaming with pride watching them jumping their ponies.

Passion is undoubtedly the word to describe how O’Ryan feels about what he does. The flame hasn’t dimmed one bit. When contact was first made about speaking to The Irish Field, the 62-year-old was in hospital and would have to take a rain check.

“I was at Newmarket at the horses in training sale (and) I got a stone in my kidney,” he explains again. “Bloody hell! I had to come home. It was the first time in 20-odd years that I missed Newmarket. I gave nine days in hospital. When I came out I went to Goffs for the one-day sale. Then I was to judge at Fairyhouse but I missed all that week. I went back to Goffs for the foals and that flattened me a bit so I missed Newmarket. I’m not so bad now after a bit of a rest.”

He is renowned for his tireless approach. There aren’t many foals in Ireland that O’Ryan hasn’t run the rule over. Maybe the rest did him no harm.

“Absolutely killed me. The lads were telling me I was better off at home, the weather was bad, but it was a nightmare.” He laughs heartily.

THE BUZZ

So, you wonder, was it fear of missing something? “No. I just love the sales. I love looking at horses, I love the buzz of buying them. But luckily enough, Aidan is very much involved and he was a big help. He did what I wanted to do so it was great.”

Bobby’s wife Sheila has been attending to the administration side of the operation for many years but she also has managed to move with technology a lot more than her husband. So she set up the live feed to Newmarket on the computer. He was on the phone to Aidan a good bit, but trusted his son.

“He has a very good eye for a horse as well. He was a great help there the last couple of weeks when I wasn’t in Newmarket. He did quite a good bit of business for us.”

Bobby didn’t take a direct route into trading. After moving on from his father, he spent a year working with yearlings at Bruree Stud. After that, he was Adrian Maxwell’s head lad for six years.

He was married to Sheila by then, having met her after she arrived in Ireland from her native Scotland harbouring an ambition to be an equine vet. Shelia went with him to Spring Lodge and ran the office.

The litany of quality animal in that period yielded a vast array of prizes including the Coronation Stakes (Orchestration) to the Triumph Hurdle (Meladon), Irish Grand National (Billycan), Fairyhouse Gold Cup (Bunker Hill) and Anglesey Stakes (Snapper Point).

“When Adrian decided to relocate to America, he wanted us to go with him. We went for three weeks to Hialeah Racetrack, where he was basing himself, to have a look. Kevin and Aidan were only babies at the time and we decided it wasn’t a great place for bringing up kids. So we came home.

“I was very friendly with Declan Gillespie at the time and he asked me would I be interested in being head lad to Jim Bolger, who was relocating to Coolcullen from Phoenix Park. I went there for 12 months at the time of Flame Of Tara (Coronation Stakes), Give Thanks (Irish Oaks), Black Country and those. After 12 months we moved to the Curragh and I was head lad to Mick O’Toole for 10 years.”

He wanted to take out a licence himself and built up the necessary courses and documentation. But after thinking about it, he and Sheila opted to go a different route that has taken them all over the world.

“We bought a little place 23 years ago and started the business then. I was always involved in buying and selling a few horses but we made it formal. Sheila and myself visited all those countries: Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, China.”

CONTACTS

There was serious groundwork in making contacts, though O’Ryan makes little of it.

“You just get on a plane, head out to those places, you get on the racetrack early in the morning and get around to a few different people. We knew a few people, made a few more contacts and it blossomed from there.”

Success came quickly. Terrible Confusion won two legs of the original Singapore Triple Crown, the Raffles Cup and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, for trainer Keith Stone. In subsequent years, there have been many international successes while Fahey, Keith Dalgleish, Brian Ellison, James Ewart, Charlie Mann and Brendan Powell are just some of his English-based clients.

“Then we had a great relationship with Howard Johnson when he was training for Graham Wylie. Howard was brilliant to deal with. We had two Royal Ascot winners, many Cheltenham winners… plenty of good winners when he was training for Graham and some other owners there. I still buy some foals for Howard. He’s a great man to deal with.

“I do quite a lot of business with Dermot Weld as well. When you buy horses for the likes of Dermot Weld - he’s absolutely brilliant. He never worries about anything. He’s 150%; a great man to do business with. And I’d say that about any of the lads I deal with. Thank God, I never had any problem. You just build up a relationship with them.

“I bought a good few store horses for Aidan O’Brien for Sarah to ride in bumpers and it was great to see them win. It was nice to be asked to do that job.”

And deliver as required, as evidenced by Sarah O’Brien’s 30% strike-rate from bumpers last season, though that pales into comparison with the 15 winners from 29 rides (52%) so far this term.

“That’s why I love sales. I love going around. I look at the majority of horses at the sales. I love picking them out. I’m not into pedigrees and things like that. I’m not too worried about the pedigrees. I just pick an individual and try to get a bit of value. Hopefully they’ll be racehorses.

“It’s all about trying to get a bit of value. It’s very important to get a good individual and an athlete. That’s what we’re looking for.

“It’s an instinct. It all depends what strikes you. It’s like meeting a human being for the first time. You either like him or you don’t like him.

“We bought about 35 foals for clients last year and there was about 20 of them trebled their money. The dearest of those was €25,000 and the cheapest was €3,000. Plenty more doubled their money and I think there was only two that didn’t make money. So it’s not too bad.”

He places a high value on loyalty, and that is evident in the enduring relationships, right down to the veterinary experts and feed companies he employs.

PRINCIPLES

As for the industry, while much has changed since he began, the principles remain the same he argues. Indeed the fees being paid haven’t inflated in accordance with most other facets of life, he maintains.

“I don’t think the price of horses will ever change. I remember years ago bumper horses making two and three hundred thousand. That was 20 or 25 years ago. If you got two or three hundred thousand now for a bumper horse, they’d think you were after getting a fortune.

“You see all those big prices at the sales in Goffs or Newmarket down through the years… it’s the same old the story. If you’ve a nice horse you’ll get paid for him, if you haven’t, you won’t. It’s like you walk into a shop and you want to buy a suit of clothes. You’ll either like it or you won’t like it. It’s the same thing with horses.

“I do a lot of going around the country looking at young horses. I just find it hard to buy National Hunt horses private because I just find you can buy them cheaper in the sales ring than privately. You just keep this game as simple as possible.”

And the future?

“If you’re into the big stuff, there’s plenty of those Arab guys that will give plenty of money for them. For the market we deal in, rarely would we give more than €50,000 for a horse. We deal in any price from €1,000 up to €50,000.

“It is tough over here now though on the National Hunt side of it. It’s so competitive. But it’s the same old story. The cream comes to the top. You have to work seven days a week, 24/7.”

Which suits him down to the ground.

“I love looking at horses, I love buying horses and I love selling them.” It always comes back to looking for value.

“I think every horse I buy is value,” he says, breaking out in a loud guffaw. He means it though. “I go to a sales and I wouldn’t have an order for a horse. I’d see a horse and I think he’d suit x, y or z and ring him up. Nine times out of 10 they will say ‘Whatever you think, go and buy it.’”

It is a wonderful thing for your hobby to be your job. Sheila has a few mares she breeds from and that’s an outlet that goes back to Kevin’s riding days.

“I bought a mare for him for about two and a half thousand. He rode his first winner on her, in Kilbeggan. She was called Sarah Blue. After that I bought another mare - Native Shore was her name - in Doncaster for about three thousand I think. He was placed on her in three bumpers here in Ireland.

“He decided then to go to England and went to Charlie Mann in Lambourn for 12 months. We sent over the mare with him and he won five races on her in seven weeks over there. That was some thrill though, Kevin to be riding our own mare. It started from there.”

He jokes that his life is a sad one, given his obsession with horses, but really, it’s exhilarating. That enthusiasm is as electric as it was when he first saw a horse at home. Despite finding plenty superstars, he is driven by looking for the next one. “And can’t wait to buy it… as cheap as possible. I enjoy it, it’s a great game and long may it last.”

So there is no hint of slowing down, of passing on the torch.

“No. Definitely not. Definitely not. Definitely not.” Another laugh. And then, there is the essence of the man.

“I can’t wait for next week. We’ve one sale left now at Goffs, National Hunt foals. And then it’s quiet until just after Christmas and I can’t wait for the catalogue to come out for the January sales.”

And he says it more time.

“I just love it, you know?”