SOMETIMES horses struggle to gain credit for their achievements, the detractors looking to find excuses for the failure of the opposition or indeed, to crab their standard.

That was the way with Simply Ned for a while but one sensed a genuine appreciation for the durability and set-your-clock-by-him consistency of the Nicky Richards-trained gelding when he made light of a five-year age gap and powered past Footpad after the last to land the spoils in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown for the second consecutive season at Christmas.

Had he known, Ned might have been a shade insulted by the 16/1 SP, given he was the defending champion, had been triumphant in nine of his previous 39 races to that point, and never been out of the first three in five previous trips to Foxrock.

Being based in the north of England, he probably has no truck with what others think of him anyway. Being bred in Kildare by Irene Hatton, out of the Marju mare Bishops Lass and by the stallion Fruits Of Love, he clearly enjoys the return to native turf.

The 12-year-old will be back next weekend for the Dublin Chase, in which he was second to Min 12 months ago, and his trainer Nicky Richards reports the star of Greystoke to be “in grand order” and ready to produce his best once more.

Ned was placed behind Twinlight, Flemenstar and Douvan before bagging his two Grade 1s. The first came as a result of a stewards’ enquiry and not too many outside of the Min camp grumbled about the decision to reverse the placings.

Richards hadn’t been a stranger to Leopardstown, previously finishing second in the Lexus Chase twice with Money Trix and his reasoning for making Ned a regular is sound.

“The main two-mile chases in Ireland, especially the conditions chases, they don’t have many runners for one thing, and it’s good prize money for another.

“At the start we were all just happy to be finishing second and third. We hoped he would land one and it’s been absolutely fantastic.

“I know we got the race last year in the stewards’ room but there’s no doubt he deserved to get it. He probably would have won on merit if there’d been enough room up the rail. Then to do it again this year was absolutely fantastic.

FANTASTIC TRACK

“Leopardstown is a great, big, lovely, galloping track. Lovely fences, you’ve got to jump well around there and they always seem to go a nice, even gallop which suits him well. Having said that, it probably suits every horse. It’s a fantastic racetrack, isn’t it?

“They look after you, too. It’s a fantastic experience for any owner, I would imagine, that comes over and David and Nicky (Robinson) have a great time. Leopardstown pull out all the stops to make it a memorable day for them. Everything’s first class. Pat Keogh is a great man and it’s not just Pat, but all his staff are a credit to Leopardstown and the Irish people.”

Mark Walsh has become the go-to partner on the away trips. The Kildare man wouldn’t be the first jockey in the weigh room that would have Davy Russell to thank for landing a good gig.

RUSSELL

“We’ve used Davy Russell a good bit over the years in England, and he finished second in two Lexuses for me as well (on Money Trix). Davy’s a top-class jockey and he was the first man I rang up, to see if he could ride them. But as everyone knows, he got back in with Gigginstown and he’s got one or two other commitments. I think he had to ride Chris Jones’ horse last year (Ordinary World).

“So I said to him, ‘where should I go now?’ and there was no hesitation. He said, ‘Ring Mark Walsh up. He’s your man.’ So I thank Davy for that.”

The Dublin Racing Festival was a considerable success last year, and having an English-based trainer depart with a slice of the pie is an important part of that.

“The likes of Willie (Mullins) and Gordon (Elliott) and all the Irish boys are welcomed over here and everybody’s got to embrace competition, haven’t they? We all want jump racing to be competitive and interesting. And at that real top level it’s booming, isn’t it?”

Richards has been rewarded for not being afraid of one horse or indeed the depth of the leading Irish yards but if there was one disappointment about last year, it was that there wasn’t a greater English representation. This time around, Warren Greatrex is sending over his exciting mare La Bague Au Roi but it remains a trickle.

“I think it will take a little while. Some of the major trainers in England, the likes of Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and Philip Hobbs, traditionally, they’ll know what route they’re going in the English programme book leading up to the (Cheltenham) Festival but I’ve still no doubt it’ll slowly start with Nicky and Paul and the other big fellas down south. I think it’ll start to happen. Maybe not in a major way, but they’ll start sending some interesting horses over and help make it (the DRF) even better.”

The racing community in the north of England is almost a mini-Ireland and Richards has a lifelong association with Irish horsemen. His late father Gordon retained Ron Barry, the first northern-based jockey to be champion. Another Corkman, Jonjo O’Neill spent his early days in Greystoke. Brian Harding and Tony Dobbin enjoyed fruitful partnerships with the yard too and, nowadays, Richards uses Brian Hughes when he can.

It has been noticeable how the northern scene is flourishing again in both codes in England, which is a welcome development.

“We’ve a little bit to catch up with Mark Johnston, Richard Fahey, Kevin Ryan and one or two of the (flat) boys but we’re getting stuck in and trying to hang onto their coat-tails, aye. It’s all about trying to advertise what you can do when you get a good horse, isn’t it?

“I think, slowly, one or two of them major owners are thinking ‘there’s some top-class jump trainers up the north that, when they get a good horse, they make a job of them’.”

Richards certainly fits into that bracket, with more than 800 winners and in excess of £5 million in prize money accumulated since taking over the reins in 1997.

That was 30 years after Gordon took five horses to the yard from his previous base in Northumberland. Nicky was 11 then and, in the intervening years, he stood by his father’s side and soaked up everything he could learn, eventually becoming assistant.

Lucius and Hallo Dandy famously won the Grand National, and the dashing grey One Man captured the hearts of the racing public and was a popular winner of the Champion Chase in 1997, not least because his trainer was seriously ill with cancer.

LOYAL WORKFORCE

Gordon died soon after, having saddled more than 2,000 winners. Nicky succeeded him and was fortunate to inherit a successful system and knowledgeable staff. While getting people to work in the industry is a massive problem on both sides of the Irish Sea, Richards admits that it hasn’t been an issue for him and is indebted to his workforce, many of whom have been with him more than 20 years.

“This game is changing all the time. Martin Pipe changed the way we train racehorses a bit. You’ve gotta always try to keep up with the times. You can’t stand still in this job. If there’s something you can improve, you’ve gotta try improve it. You’ve always gotta be open-minded but it’s still fantastic to have the knowledge that Father gave us.”

Monet’s Garden was a flagship operator, evoking memories of One Man, not just for his colour but for his attacking approach to jumping. Simply Ned is the star right now, but Reivers Lad is a novice chaser with promise. Guitar Pete is another popular resident of Rectory Farm. A winner of the Spring Juvenile Hurdle and Aintree Juvenile Hurdle and third in the Triumph when trained by Dessie Hughes, he lost his way a bit subsequently.

Joe Sloan and his wife Pat had had horses with Richards before and took a chance that a change of scenery might help. It certainly did, with the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup victory in December 2017 the highlight of a wonderfully consistent run of appearances in major handicaps.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic. He’s what you call a proper Saturday horse, where you can put him in a wagon and you can take him anywhere and he runs very consistent in them real top-class handicaps. We were lucky to win at Cheltenham with him, he won a good race at Wetherby. He’s been brilliant for us.”

When it comes to sourcing young horses, Gerry Griffin is Richards’ eyes and ears in Ireland. It was Griffin who acquired Simply Ned for him at the Tattersalls August Sale for €23,000 in 2010. Even then, acquiring unbroken three-year-olds was the preferred route and, nowadays, the four-year-old maiden winners are well out of his range. So he undergoes the education process himself and has the added advantage of being able to be as patient as necessary.

“Gerry was with my father and he’s been my agent all along. He’d be hunting around, trying to find a bit of value. I buy a lot of unbroken store horses. That’d be my game. I wouldn’t be able to afford them point-to-point horses but that has been quite lucky for us.

“It’s a little bit different, us doing them than the point-to-point boys. They have to have them ready to run as a four-year-old, whereas if one is a little bit weak, is a little backward or has a little knock on the leg, it’s no great deal and we can take a little bit of time. Those boys might have to press on a touch to try get them into those sales at Cheltenham and that.”

The family chain is continuing at Rectory Farm, with daughter Joey, who was groom to Monet’s Garden, now assistant. He knows the place will be in good hands when he heads to Ireland. And we’re all the better for that.

THE BHA’S DECISION TO MAKE BACK SHOES COMPULSORY [NOW DELAYED]

“I think it’s an absolute disgrace. I just don’t know where they’re coming from. I’ve got one horse, Bernardelli he’s called. A.P. (McCoy) won on him at Doncaster (in 2014) and he struck into himself with shoes on and he nearly severed his tendon. He had a year off and came back as good as ever but has never worn back shoes since and we’ve never had one problem with him. Not one problem. We take his shoes off on the day of a race and dress his feet and he’s never been a problem. He’s never once slipped or anything. I just don’t know, a horse like him, what’s going to be story with him now?

“It seems to have been done in an underhand way, where they’ve never come to any trainers or anybody and asked them what they think. You’ve got a great trainer there, Mick Easterby, and he’s nobody’s fool, and he runs a few horses with no back shoes on. We’re all trying to do best for the welfare of our horses.”