AMONG the more popular personalities in the training ranks, ‘Shark’ Hanlon has been firing noticeably fewer bullets during the summer than is customarily the case at this time of year.
It is a reflection of the times and he is inclined to think that the increasing concentration of numbers of horses, not to mind quality, in a few yards is to the detriment of racing.
Much and all as Hanlon finds himself in a battle for survival however, he continues to display his skills by making optimum use of the ammunition at his disposal, hitting the target at a very good rate.
Rather than bemoan circumstances, he has re-evaluated his position, sourced new opportunities and is targeting different ones.
That is not to say that he is giving up the dream of landing a Grade 1 victory. It would mean the world to him to do so but until such time as the right horse materialises, he will put his heart and soul into making the business pay as best he can for himself and his owners.
Based on figures prior to racing on Thursday, the season to date has produced four winners from 55 runs at a 7% strike-rate over jumps in Ireland, one winner from four runs at (25%) over jumps in Britain and two winners from seven runs (29%) on the flat in Ireland.
It is a testament to the ability of the former cattle dealer and horse lorry driver to squeeze the very best he can out of his materials.
The six-year-old Most Honourable is just one example, having been bought for €600 and given Andrew McNamara his last win as jockey in the Croom native’s last ride, Rachael Blackmore her first win as a professional and then the first leg of Blackmore’s first ever double on the track - all the while, doing the most important part of his job in accumulating prize money for connections.
“I have a smaller team for Galway this year because I have less horses than I had last year” explains Hanlon. “All I have for the summer is 10 or 12 horses. We’re after having a great season to start. We’re after kicking in a right few on the flat and in England - everywhere.”
“We went to England (Cartmel) last week with Baby Jake - I saw a nice race for him (a lady riders’ handicap hurdle) and he won. The owner’s happy and Rachael Blackmore got a £5,000 bonus necklace. I was delighted for her.
“You have to have your head stuck in the calendar the whole time. You’re going through the English one and the Irish one the whole time. When you haven’t got a big team of horses you can place a horse much better as you have more time to deal with them.”
PRIZE MONEY
While much is made of the prize money deficit across the water compared to Ireland, and it clearly exists, the competitiveness on these shores often means that even doubling potential winnings would make little difference to many handlers.
There are nice prizes to be cherry-picked in Britain with some shrewd placing and there are other superior experiences as well.
“The race I won last week was a £10,000 race with (nearly) £6,500 to the winner. That day there was a handicap hurdle Gordon Elliott won (with Eshtiaal) worth £25,000. If you stay rooting around England you can get plenty prize money.
“If you have two horses going, it’s no more expensive than going to Kilbeggan. We have a small two-box. We tipped across the other day and ‘twudn’t have cost €400 in total. And if you’d two horses going, that’s €200 a horse.
“The owner of Baby Jake came in the lorry with us and he loves going. He’d rather have runners in England than Ireland. ‘Tis unreal when you go over there, the hospitality that the owners get. It’s brilliant.”
Not too many know the flame-haired giant as John, John Joseph or JJ, having being given a nickname that stuck by Kilkenny legend Pa Dillon after taking some unfortunate defence to the cleaners when lining out for Paulstown’s Barrow Rangers in an U14 hurling match.
The Bagenalstown-based trainer has a select group making the trip to Ballybrit. He has enjoyed some good fortune there, going back to Truckers Delight in 2008. The horses-for-courses maxim was proved once more three years later when Michael Mee’s gelding entered the winner’s enclosure once more.
Patrick Mullins was on board when Truckers Delight claimed the qualified riders’ handicap hurdle eight years ago and is most likely to be in the plate if, as seems most probable, Hidden Cyclone faces the tapes for the QR flat handicap on Monday.
Hidden Cyclone, the ill-fated Luska Lad, and Western Leader have provided Hanlon with a number of Grade 2 successes, but Cyclone - bred by partner Rachel O’Neill’s father Ronnie - has finished in the first three in an incredible eight Grade 1 affairs. He has been a fantastic servant to Hanlon and the Mee family, who also owned Truckers Delight and trusted the trainer’s judgement when he suggested acquiring the Stowaway gelding.
As Galwegians, the owners would love to taste success during the seven-day festival and will have a number of stabs at achieving that as Hidden Cyclone, Camlann and Try And Try Again all hold multiple entries. All being well, they will each run twice to maximise the possibilities.
There is no doubting the star of the team though and while victory in Galway has escaped Hidden Cyclone, he has been second and fourth in just two appearances. The latter attempt was a wonderful one in the Galway Hurdle and a repeat is a real possibility, albeit with 11lb more to carry than 12 months ago.
“Looking at it at the minute, he’ll probably go for the flat handicap on the Monday and I’d say the Galway Hurdle looks more likely than the Galway Plate but we’ll see nearer the time. He just has to improve in his jumping from the last day.
“There’s four races in Galway for him. On Monday you have the flat race 70-100, then on Wednesday you’ve the Galway Plate, on Thursday you have the Galway Hurdle and there’s a lovely handicap, the Ladbrokes Handicap over two mile, five on the Saturday as well.
“So we’ll try to get to Galway twice - that’s all I’ll say. He’s in great form and we had to do a little operation on him that seemed to work. I think he’s a better horse this year.
“Listen, it’s not easy to win a Galway Hurdle, it’s not easy to win a £100,000 handicap. He’s going to Galway with good chances without anything too exciting but he’s definitely going with chances.”
There has been an association with the Mullins clan for many years and he drove George’s lorries before working for his former schoolmate Tony for a couple of years before going out on his own.
Willie’s young lad has continued to thrive as a jockey and a key cog in the Closutton juggernaut since his success on Truckers Delight. The multiple champion amateur has a good record on Hidden Cyclone too, must recently getting the 11-year-old up for a short-head win over an odds-on shot on the flat in Killarney 11 days ago. It was the ideal prep.
“He would definitely improve for the run the last day and Patrick was really thrilled with him. His interview afterwards was very interesting. For me ‘twas very good because he said he felt like a five-year-old.
“Patrick rode him last year and said he felt a lot better this year. We ran in the Galway Hurdle last year and we finished fourth and were disappointed. 10st 13lb in the Hurdle is a lovely weight for him. He’s better treated over hurdles than he is over fences and that’s the reason that I’d be inclined to go that way.
“Patrick said to me that he would do his utmost to ride the horse (in the QR flat handicap). He rode him twice and he won twice on him. He said he’d talk to his father but he’d love to ride him.”
The prize money is magnificent throughout the week, with €1.9m on offer, so while the potential rewards are significant whatever route Hanlon chooses - and it appears that Europe’s richest handicap hurdle is certainly a likely option - any decision won’t be predicated on euros.
“The people that are involved in the horse, money is not a big factor. It’s more important to have a winner in Galway (as) they’re from Galway. It’s more important for me to have a winner in Galway.
“They own Camlann is well and I have three races picked for him too. They own the bumper horse on Monday evening as well, Try And Try Again. He’s a nice horse as well. I’ve three runners for them over the week and I’d be hopeful to bang one or two of them in. They’re probably three horses that will run twice.”
Camlann is coming off a win on the flat in Fairyhouse and is being targeted at potential engagements over hurdles on Monday and on the level later in the week.
“I don’t know how good he is but he’s a nice horse. To win a handicap in Galway is not easy.
“I’ve a horse an owner sent me out of Ascot last Tuesday week, Pirate Treasure for the 50-80 three-year-old handicap over seven furlongs. I don’t know much about the horse, I’ll only be finding out but he won three (in a row on the all-weather this year) and he’s not a bad horse to be getting.”
Able Dash will take his chance in a maiden hurdle towards the end of the week while the 11-year-old Honest Robber will run at the back-end of the festival too.
Remarkably, the Court Cave product only made his racecourse debut at the beginning of the month in Bellewstown and followed-up six days later with a very promising effort in Cork. It would be a Hanlon special if he were to finish first past the post next week.
“He’ll win a race. Maybe it won’t be in Galway but he’ll win a race.
“I’m looking forward to Baby Jake who will run in the Martinstown Conditional Jockeys’ race, and Camlann might end up running in that race too.”
NET WIDER
It is his smallest representation in many years, indicative of the trends that have forced him to change his emphasis, and not just in terms of casting his net wider. HRI’s recent six-month figures revealed an increase in new owners and horses in training but the majority of those are on the flat and it appears that it is mostly those towards the top of the trainers’ table benefiting from any rise in National Hunt.
So the next year will see Hanlon focus heavily on the business model that has proved so successful for Colin Bowe, the Doyle brothers, William Codd, Denis Murphy and so many others.
“I used to have 20 or more during the summer but it’s very hard now. They’re all now with Gordon Elliott, Willie Mullins, maybe Henry de Bromhead and a couple of others that are taking over the thing. It’s not good for racing. Gordon Elliott said the other day he’d have 200 horses for the winter and he’d have 120 for the summer. That’s what you’re competing with.
“I’d be more inclined now to concentrate on the point-to-pointers. We have a nice bunch of three-year-olds this year that we got at Tattersalls, the Derby and the Land Rover Sales and sure one or two of them might go on and we might find an owner for them and hopefully sell the rest.
“If I could pick up one or two owners in Galway that would be great - they’re a lovely bunch, I’m very happy with them. A lot of them are broken now and they’ve been out in the field in the good weather.”
That has become an ultra-competitive sphere as well but Hanlon is backing his judgement and ability to bring about improvement. Such are the expenses involved in running a training establishment, he feels there is no other choice.
“That is where the twine is now so we have to go there,” is the succinct summation.
You wonder what he thinks of the aforementioned McNamara, with whom he enjoyed many a good day with Hidden Cyclone and others, taking out a licence to train. But then he took the plunge himself just before the recession took hold.
“It’s a very difficult game for the likes of Andy Mac or Robbie Mac or any new guy to be getting into. I started off the year after the foot and mouth. I was dealing cattle when things changed. I always reared a few horses and then I took out a licence.
“I was very lucky when I started that I had good horses straight away. We have some nice ones but I would love to have more good winter horses. But we’re cutting our cloth with a couple of winners in England and on the flat.
“I’m always on the eye out for opportunities on the flat for some of the (NH) horses with that bit of toe and it has worked out well. If there’s good prize money to be made, I don’t care if it’s on the flat or over hurdles.”
GOOD JOCKEYS
Having good jockeys connected to the yard is a significant resource. Hanlon has high praise for all his staff, with O’Neill playing a key role from riding out to admin work, while Brian Hayes is a vastly underrated pilot who has graduated to number one since McNamara called time on his riding career.
Rachael Blackmore has proved a phenomenally valuable operator too and it was Hanlon who suggested she turn professional. Blackmore has booted in 17 winners since making the switch including 10 this term alone.
“She has done an incredible job and I’m delighted for her. She comes in here, works hard and she’s very modest. It’s all about keeping her head down with her. She does her work here, goes and rides out for Tom Mullins in the afternoon maybe or somewhere else. And I give her the odd day off to go ride work.
“I said to her that she should look at turning professional, that I would do everything I could for her but I felt she would get more rides. And she’s been brilliant. She is a very good rider and very dedicated. You’ll be hard pushed to meet a more dedicated person.
“Her agent Gary Cribbin said to me that if he could sell the rest of the lads the way he is able to sell Rachael, he’d have no problem. He said there are some races he could have four rides for her. She’s after a good few winners now and that brings more success.”
Hopefully the same will apply to the Hanlon brigade in the week ahead.
“We’re after coming out of Galway nearly every year with a winner since we started. We didn’t last year so hopefully we’ll get back into the winners’ enclosure this year. That’s the aim.”