THE minute-by-minute enhancements in technology and science mean that in business and sport, standing still is actually regression because others are moving forward.

The higher you climb, the more incremental the progress can be but to get to Everest, it is the fine margins that make the difference.

Michael Halford has always known that. Perhaps being just 21 when he started out 33 years ago, he was more receptive to new ways. Or maybe it was his absolute lack of ego and acknowledgement that he had so much to learn.

He is an avowed fan of the methods of Gary Witheford, who starts up (rather than breaks in) the Aga Khan’s yearlings, having seen the Englishman work his magic at first hand for four years before His Highness opted to have that process take place at base camp before sending the horses out to his trainers.

“I’ve never met a more capable, competent man around horses,” says Halford of the man who manages in three days what is generally seen as a six-week exercise. It is why Witheford is viewed with suspicion by some but not at Copper Beech Stables.

“Looking back now, what he could tell you about them after just a morning with them, was scary. An awful lot of stuff that he told me came true. They were all good rides when he was finished and then I had good riders and staff here to bring that on.”

He is always striving, which is why 11 years ago, when he had survived particularly tough times to establish himself firmly as a trainer of top-tier horses, he launched headlong off the precipice without a safety net by purchasing a green field site, designing his dream training facility and building it.

That move from Pollardstown to Doneaney, just outside Kildare town, has paid off, with Godolphin and the Aga Khan included in a lengthy client list, but he is still improving. Last year, a canter-down was added to the gallop and a new surface to walk horses off is being built.

The most interesting advancement, in place just over a month, comes in the form of lighting in the boxes.

Halford has been experimenting for a few years in this area before plumping for the system developed by Sam Murphy that spreads the light perfectly evenly throughout the stable, giving them a perception of a longer summer.

The investment has been significant but Halford is confident it will be worthwhile, with studies emphasising the benefits in keeping various funguses at bay, making horses’ skins look better, generally bringing on younger horses more quickly and overall, making the residents more comfortable and happy. He has already seen the positive impact, he says.

KNOWLEDGEABLE

He was always inquisitive. His father, a well-known farrier around Kildare for many years, told him often that a question was never stupid if you didn’t know the answer. So when the amateur jockey turned his hand to training so young, he surrounded himself with knowledgeable people like Paddy Fortune, and asked questions of everyone.

In those early days, when being a Group 1/Grade 1 winner on the flat and over jumps was a pipedream, Con Collins was a neighbour and willingly offered advice. John Murphy, Liam Browne and Dermot Weld were extremely helpful, with the latter giving him horses to work his first flagbearer Cockney Lass with, as he had nothing of similar ability.

He soaked it up from the experienced jockeys too, men of the calibre of Pat Gilson, Tommy Carmody, Stephen Craine, John Shortt and Conor O’Dwyer. He will still look for sounding boards when planning anything. It is something he has in common with stable jockey, Shane Foley.

“I remember Pat Gilson saying to me one morning ‘That’s a good young lad. He’s constantly beside me asking questions.’ He’d be watching them all. He has that fire inside. He reminds me of Johnny Murtagh in lots of ways. That will to win is deep in him.”

Halford has always derived satisfaction from his riders progressing. Conor Hoban, Tadhg O’Shea, Rory Cleary and Gary Carroll are others who have benefited from his tutelage, while Sean Corby was a brilliant talent who is now at Neil Mulholland’s as a conditional, having grown too tall for the flat game. In more recent times, Conor McGovern and Robert Smithers have been riding winners for him.

“It was always great to have good riders in the yard, to have riders who wanted to make something of themselves. It was easier to encourage them to be better if that was what they wanted.

“The only thing I ever said to them, and I still say to this day, if the day ever came that I hadn’t enough opportunities for them or they got too heavy and needed to go jumping, I’d tell them.

“After that, they’d be getting a good education and be put through their paces. If they wanted it enough, they’d do what was asked of them and the ones that didn’t, the results would reflect that.”

While he is happy to put time into the apprentices, he accepts that the demands on a trainer’s time are far greater than once was the case, so is in favour of the concept of jockey coaches. He is loud in his praise of research carried out and programmes implemented by Turf Club senior medical officer Dr Adrian McGoldrick and research and education officer Dr SarahJane Cullen to educate young riders in areas such as conditioning, nutrition and exercise.

The key, he argues, is not to rush young riders. Riding a lot of winners early is not necessarily best for their long-term development.

“It was always the job of the trainer to look out for the apprentices and to bring them along. That’s why you were serving your time. When I started, apprentices travelled in the lorry. You started at the bottom and did the work. Nowadays you’re in a different world between mobile phones, cars and agents, it’s not as simple as it was.

“I think a lot of the kids are in a hurry. There are some excellent trainers that bring them along really well and they stand out but then there are kids that are rushed and I don’t think that’s right. They should serve their time with somebody that has an interest in them. There needs to be a balance of riding winners and getting experience with it. It’s not all about riding winners and riding out your claim because then they’re left in No Man’s Land.”

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

He has enjoyed some good fortune at Dundalk of late with his dozen or so late two-year-olds or older horses. He has managed to sell some horses to owners in America, China, Kuwait and other markets as a result of form on the all-weather and is thankful to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their endeavours in opening up new trading opportunities, as well as to the management at Dundalk.

Right now, thoughts are turning towards Dubai, where he won the Dubai Gold Cup in 2014 with Certerach and has enjoyed further success with Russian Soul, Eastern Rules (twice) and Invincible Ash, the one who started it all when touching off Sole Power in 2012.

There is nothing not to like about the carnival, between prize money, facilities and owner experience. Hasanour and Wild Dude will travel under the watchful eye of Jamie Heavey and Halford is hopeful that they will flourish.

“I’m looking forward to running Wild Dude out there because he’s the first horse we’ve brought out who’s bred to run on dirt and has good form on dirt. Hasanour didn’t get the clearest of runs out there last year and is in tremendous shape for this year.”

Wild Dude is a dual Grade 1 and three-time Grade 2 winner on dirt in America. He is rising seven but Halford is excited about the possibilities.

“We only had him a short time when we ran him in Korea (for the Keeneland Korea Sprint in Seoul in September) and it didn’t go to plan. The surface was very deep and we were only getting to know the horse. But since then, he’s come back and done very well. We’re looking forward to getting him out there.”

You get him to reflect for a short while and there is no hesitation in selecting Portage’s victory in the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot as the highlight.

“Ascot was huge for us this year. It’s where all the top owners, trainers and jockeys want to be. It was a wonderful thrill for everybody.

“It’s a privilege to be training a horse for Godolphin and to have horses good enough to take there, but to have a winner for them, and with Sheikh Mohammed and (his wife) Princess Haya there, it was a very special day and one I’ll remember for a long time.”

Another Godolphin horse, Toscanini won the Phoenix Stakes to provide a welcome group win but Halford insists that he doesn’t measure success in numbers. That should not be mistaken with a lack of ambition however.

“I wouldn’t judge how well we’d done by where we finish in a table but if I got to the top of the table, it won’t worry me! I’d like to think that that’s where we’re aiming.

“With Aidan O’Brien around, Dermot Weld, John Oxx, Jim Bolger, it was never going to be easy. To break into the top six in Ireland was always gonna be a big achievement. And now you’ve Ger Lyons, Eddie Lynam, Willie McCreery coming along. So I always had it into my head that if we could break into the top six, that would be massive, and hold our own then.”

“I’m blessed with a very good team around me. What we try to do is get the maximum out of every horse and according to what they are, they are. This time of the year, you’d be reflecting back, and once I’m happy that we’ve done our best and done right by every horse as an individual, that’s enough.”

There were disappointments in terms of the setback that ruled Portage out of the second half of the season and Anamba’s enforced retirement but looking ahead, two of his 2016 juveniles could be difference-makers.

Rehana is a filly by Dark Angel, a sire he likes a lot. After finishing third first-time out, she beat Rhododendron and Sea Of Grace, and though finishing behind the former twice since, including when only two and a quarter lengths off Intricately in the Moyglare Stud Stakes in September, as an Aga Khan product, she is almost certain to improve significantly at three.

“She’s a very exciting filly. Potentially, I think she could be very good. She was weak. I went to see her recently at Giltown Stud and she’s doing well. She’ll come back to us pretty soon and we’ll get her ready slowly. She’s a good-ground filly with plenty of class about her and we’re really looking forward to her. She’s the sort of one that shortens the winter.”

The Godolphin-owned colt Ambassadorial didn’t appear in public until September, when he won a maiden comfortably at Dundalk. He followed up with an almost equally cosy success in a listed race at the same venue.

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IMPRESSIVE

“I like him a lot. We were very patient with him but he was very impressive when he came out and we decided to call it a day at that with him. He has done particularly well physically. There’s a touch of class about him and we have high hopes for him.”

Horses can make fools of you so happy in the knowledge that the owners won’t be heaping any pressure on him, Halford will let them tell him what they’re ready. But the possibilities are endless.

“We won’t be forced to run them before they’re ready but you’d like to think that they’re potential Guineas horses so we’ll be training them that way.”

Aidan O’Brien calls this period of the year ‘Dreaming Time’ and it is the next batch of babies that could turn out to be anything.

“At this time of year what you’re looking for is if they’ve good action, a bit of presence about them, have a good temperament, are clear-winded, never seem to get tired, come in fresher than when they’re going out - that’s usually a good sign! If they’re good rides, you’re happy.

“They’re changing before your eyes. I really find it interesting watching them. Some of them move on and are able for a bit more mentally and physically, some aren’t so you back off. You’re watching them all the time. It’s after Christmas when we’ll start doing some stronger cantering.”

STAFFING SHORTAGE

With 33 years in the game, Halford is one of longest-serving licence-holders in Ireland. He has seen it all. At present, one the biggest issues facing trainers is an acute staffing shortage, caused by the restrictions on giving permits to non-nationals.

“You need highly-skilled people. Horses are so valuable and so powerful, you need people who know what they are doing. It’s a problem that is affecting trainers across the board. The (Irish Racehorse) Trainers’ Association (IRTA) has been lobbying to have foreigners allowed in. The staff we have are great and they’re putting their shoulders to the wheel at the minute but you can only continue asking them to do that for so long.”

Wednesday’s announcement that the IRTA and Irish Stable Staff Association (ISSA) had reached an agreement on minimum pay and conditions, thanks in no small part to the contribution of HRI’s Carol Nolan, was very welcome and Halford insists that it was the right result.

“The majority of trainers really appreciate their staff and look after them. If anybody doesn’t appreciate their stable staff and doesn’t treat them right, the staff shouldn’t stay there because there are plenty of people out there who will.

“It’s not only in racing that it’s hard to make ends meet and for the majority of people working with horses, it’s more than a job, it’s a way of life. But they have to be paid properly and have proper conditions.”

That applies on the racetrack too of course.

“It’s very important that when they arrive, caring for some for the best and most valuable horses in the world, that they have the facilities to match it when they get there. That there’s somewhere warm to go if they need to wash, change their clothes; that the yards are kept well, that there’s a hot meal available at all tracks.

“It’s so important that they are appreciated and in most cases they are. It’s a very small minority that aren’t. The staff are the backbone of this game. We need each and every one of them, and more so now than ever.”

Owners are the other key stakeholders that are entitled to better than they have always gotten here but thanks to the likes of Aidan McGarry, firstly in an ownership role within ITM and now as HRI’s Owner Relations Manager, Halford has seen considerable improvement.

Meanwhile, he will look to continue making strides himself. He is thankful for the support of his wife Louise, who backed him unstintingly when others might have seen only risk. Fabian Burke is his assistant now, though his predecessor Robbie Gallagher isn’t doing retirement in the conventional sense and is in every morning.

It’s a tight-knit team that will reach around 30 in the height of the season and one he trusts inherently. They are all on the same page, focussing on marginal gains… and seeing where it takes them.