ALTHOUGH my name may not yet be that familiar to racegoers in Ireland, the recent success of Blairmayne will hopefully have raised my profile. The colt won two races inside a week earlier this month and wins like those are very important to a small up and coming trainer like myself.

As a child growing up just outside Milan, Italy, I had no background in racing but always had a great love for horses. My parents were very supportive and took me to pony club when I was 12. Having received an education in the art of riding and handling horses, I spent my summers at the bigger training yards in Milan where I worked with racehorses and watched them gallop on the track.

I knew even back then, at the age of 15 or 16, that I wanted to forge a career in the racing industry. However, prior to that dream becoming a reality, I went to college where I studied for a degree in psychology. When I was 19, I came to Ireland for the first time, going to work at a yard in Armagh where I looked after hunters. I really loved the time I spent over here and despite returning to Italy to complete my studies, I knew I would one day return to Ireland.

In 2012, I came over to Goresbridge Sales where I bought a two-year-old colt, later named Abstraction. My education had finished and I was based full-time in Ireland, which allowed me spend plenty of time with my new acquisition, watching him training and going to the races. After winning his maiden and progressing through the handicap ranks, Abstraction went on to compete at listed level and take me all over the world, including the Dubai Carnival at Meydan.

AMBITIONS

This success undoubtedly heightened my interest in racing and training and, as time went on, I began to harbour ambitions of one day taking out my own license. In 2014, the opportunity to rent a yard at Scarva House, Co Armagh, arose and I decided to give it a go. That October I completed the trainers course and the following June, once everything was organised, I had my first runners on the track. Unfortunately we had sickness in the yard and that eventually took its toll, meaning we had to wait until earlier this year before Alnahar gave us our first success. The horse had been running well for a couple of weeks prior to the race and I felt that we were turning a corner.

Blairmayne always pleased me since buying him at Goresbridge last May, but he needed plenty of time. It is only recently, as a three-year-old, that he began to show his true ability and our patience has paid off, with two wins since the beginning of June. I am particularly pleased to have won with the horse as he is owned by the Raintree Racing Partnership, a syndicate made up of some of the people I initially stayed with when I came to Ireland. They have been so kind to be throughout my time in this country and it was wonderful to be able to give something back.

At the moment we have eight horses here at Scarva House, including a lovely Dandy Man filly and an unraced Invincible Spirit colt that I am really looking forward to. There is stabling for 23 horses in the barn and we have excellent facilities such as walkers, lunging ring and a four furlong woodchip gallop.

I am a firm believer in keeping a horse’s head right, ensuring they are happy and content in their work, thus allowing them to save their best for the racetrack. In that respect the grounds at Scarva House are an immense benefit. We hack around the estate daily and keep the horses interested in their work. I am also very lucky to have a very experienced team in the yard, as this game is all about team work. To be able to have jockeys of the calibre of Kieren Fallon and Seamie Heffernan on our side is also a huge bonus for a small yard.

My long-term ambitions are to fill the yard with good horses and owners, to be competitive at a high level and most importantly, always train the horses to be competitive. I intend to keep it as simple as possible, with the happiness and wellbeing of the horses my main priority. That has always worked for me in the past and going forward I see no reason to stray from the tried and trusted.

Natalia Lupini was in conversation with John O’Riordan