The Pat Smullen Column: Up and Running

[Wandering Eyes]

It’s great to be back on the turf and we had a very informative first day of the season in Ireland, even though the ground was very testing. The horses needed to be fit to win, but what we learned is that Jim Bolger has hit the ground running and has his horses in tremendous form. They have been running well throughout the winter, too, so it was no surprise to see that continue on the grass, with Kevin Manning riding exceptionally well.

The 2-year-old race was interesting with Red Epaulette (Ire) winning impressively for Michael O’Callaghan. Michael started at the breeze-ups and he’s capable of training anything but he’s exceptionally good at getting the 2-year-olds ready, as we’ve seen over a number of seasons. The ground was holding on Sunday so they needed to be physically strong to get through it and his Epaulette (Aus) colt was powerful looking.

Ger Lyons has done awfully well once again to get a horse like Karawaan (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who was bought pretty reasonably at the sales. This isn’t the first time he’s done something like this with a horse he’s taken on from elsewhere. To me, he won the Lincolnshire like a stakes horse, travelling like the best horse through the race and quickening up nicely. Ger is very informative through his blog and tells it like it is. I think we could do with more of that.

There’s been a bit of a merry-go-round of jockeys in Ireland over the winter and it was great to see Leigh Roche get off the mark in the 2-year-old race as he’s just been appointed as stable jockey to Michael O’Callaghan. The same goes for Shane Foley with Still Standing (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in his new role for Jessica Harrington.

Appreciating a Champion

With the turf season about to start in England, it’s been great to see champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa riding so well in Hong Kong. The best way to describe Silvestre is to say he’s like a little machine—that’s what he is. It goes without saying that he’s a very talented rider but he’s blessed with his physique and stature, he’s just the perfect size for a jockey. He doesn’t have to think about anything other than riding. He’s a little barrel, full of strength and energy, and that’s what you need to succeed in Hong Kong. The workload is quite intense and he’s able to deal with that well.

Silvestre has just improved year on year and he’s a very nice fella with it. When he came to Ireland first from Brazil he was riding at Dermot Weld’s, so I’ve known him for a long time, and I’m thrilled that things have gone so well for him. What he’s achieved in his time in Hong Kong, riding over 40 winners, is quite remarkable. He’ll come back to England now with a good job for King Power Racing, an operation with a lot of horses, and he’ll be very difficult to beat in the championship again. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s not some pressure on him in the near future to take up a more permanent role in Hong Kong.

Winx a Credit to Waller

Full marks to Chris Waller and his team for what they’ve achieved with Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}). Personally I don’t think it will ever be achieved again. To win 24 Group 1 races straight is actually quite hard to get your mind around. She’s an exceptional racehorse—I’ve got up early in the mornings to watch her run and to my eye she’s an unbelievable athlete.

All you can do in any career is beat what’s put in front of you. She does everything effortlessly, she gives horses ground out of the gate—that’s just her style of racing—but she picks them up easily and wins. Her owners took the decision not to travel her to Europe, and of course we would have loved to see her at Royal Ascot, but it’s important to understand that the prize-money is so good in Australia that it would be hard to give up million-dollar races to come to the other side of the world to compete. I think Hugh Bowman has built up a huge rapport with the mare and rides her so well.

I’m fortunate enough to be friendly with Hugh. He met his wife Christine in Australia while she was there looking after Vinnie Roe (Ire) (Definite Article {GB}) when Dermot Weld took him down for the Melbourne Cup. I’ve spoken to him on numerous occasions about Winx and I think some of the criticism of the mare on this side of the world is just a typical example of when you’re at the top everyone wants to knock you.

For the Love of the Horse

With all the current talk about welfare, you only need to look at a horse like Winx and her longevity to see how well our equine athletes are taken care of. In my opinion, we’re in a very fragile time as regards how our industry is portrayed on the welfare issue. I’ve worked with horses all my life and I know how well they are looked after, but I think there’s an onus on the trainers, the studs, all of us, to get that message out there.

A great example is a horse like Famous Name (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who had seven or eight unbelievable seasons. He won 21 of his 38 races but he was a horse who needed a lot of minding and a lot of physiotherapy. The work that went into that horse was just amazing and I think that’s an important thing to get across. They are taken care of better than most human beings. It’s very important that we don’t allow the general public to start thinking the wrong thing. When you say welfare, people can misinterpret that as cruelty, and I think we are at a sticky stage. We have to get a hold of things and reassure the public that if they make an investment in a racehorse they are looked after as well as many humans.

Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt—human or equine—and unfortunately it does happen from time to time, but we are putting out a negative vibe about our industry to the general public and that could be very damaging. I’d like to see the BHA come back to the grassroots and realise that the trainers are very capable, caring and thorough in how they go about their work. I just think that shouldn’t be lost in the middle of everything that’s going on at the moment.

My wife Frances and I live on a small stud and there’s a huge amount of work that’s put into it with very little reward—all breeders know how hard it is—but we do it for the love of it. That must not be forgotten. For us, breeding is a hobby, it’s our enjoyment. All of us in racing got into working with horses because we love horses. I’d like to appeal to the studs and the trainers to use the power of social media to get clips out there showing all the little things that are done for horses every day, even starting from the deep beds they have in their stables and the really good nutrition. I want the public to realise that the people who are working with the horses genuinely have great affinity and love for them.

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