Greyhound Breeding

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I knew some mentioned it in the built up, can't knock him on that, I've always maintained it's a glorified hack race, no disrespect to connections, good on them, but our cups races have certainly changed over the years.

There is no escaping the irony that a man named Sonny has the potential to shine at the Dublin Racing Festival. That's if the weather Gods would relent and the meeting gets the go-ahead on Sunday.  Stephen Carey, best known as Sonny, will be doubly-represented by Brosna Shine and Lilannbee in the Grade 2 Mares Bumper on Sunday and describes the former as the best horse he has ever had through his hands.  That's saying something as the talented ex-National Hunt jockey, who cut his teeth with Arthur Moore and spent five years working for the dominant force that is Willie Mullins, has already had a couple of talented horses through his hands. But in Brosna Shine, Carey feels he could potentially be dealing with something a little bit different.  “Ah she is,” comes the 39-year-old's reply when asked if Brosna Shine is the best horse that he has ever managed. “Now, she has to go and do it but she definitely is. She shows an awful lot. Lilannbee is not a bad filly, either. She wouldn't be as big as Brosna Shine but she goes well and her first two runs were my fault as she wasn't herself. I think she is improving and I think she will run well. She's owned by my wife and the local publican, so two very important people!” You may be forgiven for thinking that, if you weren't born a Mullins or an Elliott, these big National Hunt meetings in Ireland might be off limits. But that is not the case. Yes, Carey was put in a fortunate position to be sent to the sales with a six-figure order to fill but by God did he fill it. A daughter of arguably the hottest jumps stallions there is in No Risk At All, Brosna Shine boasts a good pedigree being a daughter of the highly-rated King's Theatre mare Baby Shine. She fetched €105,000 at the Goffs Arkle Sale – Sonny couldn't exactly shop elsewhere given his wife, Mary, is the bloodstock manager at Goffs – and that six-figure sum is beginning to look value.  “Mary's uncle, Tony Kilduff, wanted to buy a nice mare to hopefully race and then breed from later. We went to the Arkle Sale at Goffs and, between myself, my wife and Michael O'Sullivan, we managed to pick her out. She has a beautiful pedigree, is a beautiful individual and she seems to have a big engine. We bought another filly for Tony, Brosna Queen, and she won her bumper last June so they are two nice fillies to have for him.”  Brosna Shine will line out at Leopardstown after getting off the mark in very good style second time up at Fairyhouse back in December. That performance was by no means out of the blue given she travelled like the best horse in the race in last year's Goffs December Bumper before ultimately finishing third. She is deserving of her place towards the head of the betting in Sunday's race while the battle-hardened Lilannbee has rock-solid each-way claims. To have two fillies capable of running at a meeting as big as the Dublin Racing Festival certainly isn't lost on Carey.  Sonny Carey and Marky Kilduff | Tattersalls “It's great, isn't it? To have the two of them going for the race is brilliant but I do think that they are entitled to go there. We've only two horses in training and I just hope they run well because I think they are capable of it. But, if they don't, what about it?” That nonchalant approach shouldn't be taken for a lack of focus. Carey has already sent out his best-ever tally of six winners this season and is operating at a 21 per cent strike-rate. He has already experienced winning big at Leopardstown over the Christmas period when The Nagger Reidy battled to a last-gasp success on Savills Chase day. This is a man enjoying something of a golden period and, what's more impressive, is that the training arm of his operation is not even the bread and butter of the business.  He explained, “I rent 40 stables off Arthur Moore, who I started off with when I was 13 or 14. I rode a few winners for Arthur before spending five years with Willie Mullins. I came back and I set up my own business pre-training and we have built up some brilliant clients. The racing and the whole training has just been something on the side. A little bit of fun. We've basically been training a couple of family horses and horses on behalf of a few friends but it has been going really well and we've even managed to get a few horses sold along the way, which has been great. We're getting a bit busier but, definitely, the main job is the pre-training and the breaking.” He added, “I don't agree with the narrative of, 'how can you compete in Ireland?' Gordon Elliott, Gavin Cromwell and plenty of other trainers came from nothing. I was very lucky to have seen how Willie does things. The attention to detail in Closutton is amazing. Willie does everything off eye, everything off feel and his wife Jackie is just as big of a cog in the wheel as he is. She spots things in horses that would amaze you and I've seen the tiniest things that she has spotted make the biggest of differences. You wouldn't believe it. I tried to learn as much as I could in my five years there and my only regret is that I couldn't spend another five years in Willie's because you'd never stop learning.” The lion's share of Carey's business would revolve around National Hunt horses but he bought, trained and sold Nunc Est Bibendum, who is now a three-time winner for Gary and Josh Moore. He also enjoyed a dream debut consigning at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale last year when selling a £3,500 yearling purchase by Invincible Spirit for a cool £85,000. What's more, that filly, who was named Vishaka, came out and won on debut for David Simcock.  In Carey's own words, he would “throw his hand to anything,” and it shouldn't be a major surprise that it usually works out for him. Sonny is the son of Paddy and Sally Carey, who are well-renowned in the industry, while his brother Jim is the hugely regarded stud manager at Newgate Stud in Australia.  Sunday represents a massive opportunity for the spotlight to deservedly shine on Sonny. There would be few better stories to brighten up the Dublin Racing Festival. The post Brosna Shine Bids To Put Sonny Carey In The Spotlight At The Dublin Racing Festival appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

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Surely he didn't