‘I’d Be Dead If I Didn’t Go To The Doctor – That Gave Me The Perspective I Needed To Give Training A Go’

[Wandering Eyes]

Martin Hassett, who worked with Coolmore for 36 years before concentrating on training, sent out Moonverrin to win at the Dublin Racing Festival

National Hunt racing returned to its roots on Sunday when small-time trainer Martin Hassett hit the headlines with 20-1 shot Moonverrin battling to victory in the Grade 2 Mares Bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival. This was a success that Hassett, who overcame a near-death experience before walking away from full-time employment at Coolmore Stud in a bid to concentrate entirely on training, had worked all of his life for. And boy did he celebrate.

However, the 61-year-old on Tuesday morning shared contrasting emotions after stablemate Battle Of Ridgeway could not be saved after suffering an injury and being forced to pull up in Monday's 2m1f handicap chase at Leopardstown.  

“We're gutted,” the County Tipperary handler said. “It's after ruining the whole thing to be honest. Couldn't have been better above in Leopardstown on Sunday and then the horse died on Monday. It's just gutting. We're absolutely devastated. We don't have a big number of horses and, to go to a Dublin Racing Festival with two of them, it's dream stuff. We really get behind our horses as well and sure this fella was a legend – he was only getting going.”

He added, “We only ran him on Monday because we thought he'd win and that would guarantee us a spot at Cheltenham. We were on top of the world on Sunday and I couldn't sleep that night because I was so wound up from the excitement of it all. I couldn't sleep last night but for a completely different reason – I was so depressed after losing the horse. It's an awful game at times.”

It was around this time six months ago that Hassett faced an altogether more serious setback. In two minds whether or not to ignore a little flutter in his chest, he decided to visit his doctor. It was then that the room fell silent and Hassett was provided with a whole new outlook on life. 

“I had a triple bypass about six months ago,” he said, just the same as if he was telling you he picked up bread and milk from the shop. “Before that, I gave 36 good years to Coolmore. My brother, Michael, is the same – he worked for Coolmore and Ballydoyle and only retired recently as well. I worked in one of the outside farms mainly with broodmares and a bit of weanlings in the off season. They were 36 great years and I worked with some seriously great people – the likes of Christy Grassick, Tom Lynch and Aidan Archdeacon, who is probably the greatest horseman I have ever come across. I could not say one bad word about my time there.”

He continued, “I had the triple bypass and the Magnier family never flinched. They were very good to me during that time and, it's as simple as this, if I had ignored the problem I'd be dead by now. I never drank, never smoked and I used to run when I was younger. I always considered myself to be the last man that would get heart problems. In fairness, I went to the doctor and I was lucky. He came to me and he said, 'bad news'.”

Just a few weeks later, stalwart sprinter Harry's Hill won at Tipperary. Up until that point, Hassett deservedly wore the title as being Irish racing's great early riser by getting his work done while many others were only rolling over in the bed. 

Training by and large in the dark before scuttling off to the day job at Coolmore wasn't exactly going badly, either. Hassett has consistently enjoyed decent tallies under both codes in recent times. But the triple heart bypass provided him with an opportunity to step back and take stock of it all. 

He explained, “Harry's Hill won for us in Tipperary shortly afterwards and your perspective on life changes when things like that happen. That's when I decided to give this training thing a proper go. We were going well with the horses we had but I was getting up mad early to muck out and get the work done here before going to the day job at Coolmore. We're going to give it one shot here and we've got 24 horses in at the minute. We're going to give it a right, good crack, I can tell you that. We always felt we could train a bit but it's all about getting the right horses. In Moonverrin, now we have the horse.”

Moonverrin's win was achieved in fortunate circumstances with Royal Hillsborough's rider Stephen O'Connor misjudging the winning post. Just a short head separated the two fillies at the line. Yet, Hassett admitted to being slightly peeved about the fact the postscript revolved around the runner-up rather than Moonverrin, who he believes is not being given the credit she deserves.

He said, “I'll be honest, I'm a small bit p****d off over the whole thing because I don't think we've got the credit we deserve. Now, I'm not downing the runner-up [Royal Hillsborough] and I genuinely feel sorry for the young fella, [Stephen O'Connor] but she's been a small bit disrespected given the manner in which the win came on Sunday.” 

On the added emotion surrounding Moonverrin's emergence as a top-notch prospect, Hassett added, “Ned Morris bred her and owns her. After she won at Cork, he said to me that he wasn't selling her unless we got a lot of money. There were plenty of offers but I did what Ned told me to do and I asked for a lot of money. I'd say they [the buyers] got shied off for the money we were asking for and, in the meantime, Ned's poor grandchild, David Lahart, was killed in a car accident just before Christmas. He was only 19 years of age. Ned didn't know whether to laugh or cry after the mare won shortly after David's passing. It was bloody emotional. I never felt as much pressure with a horse before in my life. It was nothing to do with winning or losing, nor money either. It was because the man was broken and all we were trying to do was provide the Lahart and Morris family with a reason to smile. That's all we were trying to do.

“Genuinely, when the mare won in Cork, I shed tears myself. After that, he told me not to sell the mare. But what's very funny about the whole thing is that I felt absolutely no pressure going to Leopardstown on Sunday. I don't know why but, in the build-up to the race, my biggest worry was the jeep breaking down on the way up to the races. I know lads will say, 'easy to say it now,' but I couldn't see her getting beaten. That's a fact.”

Hassett is leaning towards side-stepping the Cheltenham festival with Moonverrin in favour of a tilt at either Aintree or Fairyhouse in the spring. What's most exciting about the filly, according to the effervescent handler, is that she should develop into an even better jumper next season and beyond. Successes like this, and indeed Declan Queally's breakthrough Grade 1 triumph last month with I'll Sort That, have breathed new life into the National Hunt sphere of late and Hassett's outlook on the game – for all that it can tame lions at times – is a refreshing one. 

He concluded, “It was bred into us to just drive on – keep trying, keep trying, keep trying. My father used to train a few under a permit and I suppose that's where the love came into it. We're well able to do it. And so are a lot of other lads. Lads will say the game is dominated by Gordon Elliott or Willie Mullins but that's a narrative that lads put out there to down everyone else. What about Declan Queally and all of the other trainers who've had a great time of it over the jumps? There are plenty of trainers who are having a go at this game and that's what National Hunt racing was built on. If you know what you're doing, you'll make a living. We feel like we know what we're doing and we're not lying down. We're having a go.”

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