WITH impeccable timing, the morning’s post included a copy of the just-published 2020 Irish, European and World rankings for thoroughbreds.

The front cover featured pictures of six horses, two of which would have particular relevance later in the day, one that would bring me to the edge of the Curragh, and the home of one of Ireland’s most successful, and ground-breaking, trainers.

Dermot Weld is less than a year away from holding a licence to train horses for 50 years. He took over from his father at Rosewell House in 1972, a recently qualified veterinary surgeon who had already established himself as an amateur rider of note.

He had also travelled the world, a world he was to later conquer by becoming the only European trainer to saddle the winner of a leg of the US Triple Crown, and the first European to win the Melbourne Cup, a race he went on to win again. These are just some of the frontiers Weld has crossed, the challenges suiting his pioneering nature.

Whatever he does, he does well, with thoroughness and attention to detail, a trait he inherited from his late mother. More of that anon. He knows about pedigrees, and the son of leading trainer Charlie, and successful breeder Marguerite, is always keen to acknowledge their influence throughout his life and career.

World champion

The catalyst for my visit was the recent announcement that Ghaiyyath, a horse whose history spans the influence of both Marguerite and Dermot Weld, was named the world champion racehorse for 2020, and last weekend earned Dermot an Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association award.

However, Ghaiyyath found racecourse glory for the Godolphin team, while, closer to home, Weld has carved out the racing career of the joint champion older filly in Europe, His Highness the Aga Khan’s homebred Tarnawa. Last year also saw the master of Rosewell saddle a repeat winner of the Irish St Leger with Search For A Song.

Ghaiyyath is not too far away from the place of his birth, a week or so ahead of embarking on his new career as a stallion at Kildangan Stud.

Excitingly, both Tarnawa and Search For A Song remain in training, and hopes are high that 2021 will match, or better, their achievements of the past 12 months.

Nestled in a quiet spot, not too far from his home and stables, Weld has Springbank Way Stud, run by his son Mark and inherited from his mother. She moved there from the famous Pipers Hill Stud outside Naas when that town’s expansion made raising horses an increasingly difficult task.

Weld has what one might call a boutique farm at Springbank Way. “We just nowadays keep half a dozen mares, but they are quality mares. We are a commercial farm, the same as my mother ran it. We follow in her footsteps the best we can,” he said.

The start

The story of Ghaiyyath starts with a mare called Caumshinaun, a name that means much to the family, being a lake in the Comeragh Mountains where Marguerite Weld came from. Weld explains how the story began. “My other and I decided one year that we would buy a well-bred yearling filly, and I was always a big fan of Indian Ridge as a sire of fillies. We saw this filly at Goffs, decided we’d try to buy her, but thought we would find it difficult to do so.

“To cut a long story short, she was withdrawn because she went lame at the sale, though when we looked at her she was perfectly sound. She was for sale from the Irish National Stud and John Clarke was left pulling his hair out.

“John wasn’t too happy as he said she was the best filly they had, that they had bred, and she went lame after some vets had been examining her. It was a freak sort of thing, but she was duly returned to the farm. I decided I’d follow her up and over the coming weeks I made an offer and John submitted it to the board.

“They went back to the original people who had her vetted and gave them an opportunity to make an offer. They said no thank you. I got Joe O’Donnell to look at her and he said take a chance, and we bought Caumshinaun. She turned out to be a very good racemare.

“As a four-year-old she won five on the trot for us. She won over six and seven furlongs and then she stretched out to win the [Listed] Platinum Stakes over a mile at Cork. As her ratings went up she wound up being the champion older mare in Ireland.”

Galileo

Having become a stakes winner, Caumshinaun headed to stud. Choosing a stallion was next on the agenda and one horse was to the fore, thanks to Weld having taken a keen interest in him while he raced.

“Galileo was, in my opinion, a brilliant racehorse. I was training Vinnie Roe at the time and we took on Galileo three times as a three-year-old, and every time Galileo beat mine. Remember, Vinnie Roe went on to win four consecutive Irish St Legers, a French St Leger and run second in the Melbourne Cup. I loved everything about Galileo, his toughness, his consistency and temperament.

“He had everything I thought that a stallion should have for success. We bred Caumshinaun to him in his first season at stud,” adding with a laugh, “and at a fraction of what he costs today! Indeed, my mother had the honour of breeding his first classic winner, because the result of the mating was Nightime, who won the Irish 1000 Guineas in very impressive fashion by six lengths.”

Marguerite Weld with her homebred Nightime, the dam of Ghaiyyath, after the Irish 1000 Guineas \

That special day for the Weld family, with Pat Smullen in the saddle, came two years after the team won the Irish Derby with Grey Swallow, a champion two-year-old who trained on to beat the first four home in the Epsom Derby when they met at the Curragh. Grey Swallow was also bred by Mrs Weld and she part-owned him when he won the classic.

Slow starter

Nightime’s stud career was something of a slow burner, breeding winners but nothing as good as herself. Then along came Zhukova, and all changed for the better. “We bred Nightime to Fastnet Rock because he was a very good horse in Australia. She produced Zhukova and I trained her to win the Grade 1 Man O’War Stakes at Belmont.

To breed a world champion means a lot to me and my family. It gives you confidence in what you are doing

“Once we saw that Nightime had the ability to produce at Group 1 level we got the confidence to go to Dubawi with her, and the rest is history.”

With a price tag as a foal of €1.1 million, Ghaiyyath was a headline maker throughout his life, and his success did not come as a surprise to Weld. He said: “Ghaiyyath was special from the start.

“He was always an outstanding individual – he had the pedigree and the looks. To breed a world champion means a lot to me and my family. It gives you confidence in what you are doing – it’s a continuation of life.”

THERE was surprise in some quarters, and some disappointment in Rosewell House, that Tarnawa did not claim one of the coveted Eclipse Awards in the USA recently.

It is extremely difficult for outsiders to get the nod, but this time the vote was close, just nine votes in it, and some voters had even written in advance that they would like to keep the award at home. Partisanship at its best.

That said, there is no taking away from the achievements of Tarnawa, or from the admiration her trainer holds her in. She was the star runner in 2020 from the yard and captured three of their four Group 1 successes. Her improvement from the age of three to four did not surprise Weld.

“Tarnawa was a good three-year-old. You must remember she won the [Group 2] Blandford and two other group races, but you’d have to say she just wasn’t a Group 1 filly then. However, I always believed there was improvement in her. She was stakes-placed at two, although it is so competitive in this country that she didn’t win that year.

“She improved a lot from two to three, and she did so again throughout her second season. She was a filly I believed had a lot of physical improvement still to come. Mentally she was very tough. Now she has done it.

“She has beaten the very best fillies in Europe when she won the Vermeille and in the Prix de l’Opera; she’s won over 10 furlongs and a mile and a half. She’s won on very testing ground at ParisLongchamp, and won on firm ground at the Breeders’ Cup. We can come into this year with confidence, and there’s no pressure.

The 2020 Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf winner Tarnawa and Colin Keane

Arc target

“Her main target is to see if she could win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. That is why she is being kept in training. She has already achieved an awful lot, but definitely she has to improve again if she is to win the Arc.”

Going to war with a filly of Tarnawa’s quality alone would be enough for most trainers. Dermot Weld, however, goes to battle with a double-barrelled shotgun in the older mares’ category. He is thrilled to have an opportunity to aim for more Group 1 glory with Search For A Song, a mare who means so much to her connections.

Owned and bred by Eva Maria Boucher-Haefner’s Moyglare Stud, Search For A Song’s programme for 2021 has yet to be decided, though it would be easy to suggest she will try to win a third Irish St Leger, and in the process give Weld a record in a race that means so much to him.

Leger record

When Search For A Song won the Irish St Leger last September, she did so on a day when Tarnawa won the Prix Vermeille earlier in the afternoon, while Weld’s ninth win in the Irish classic equalled the achievement of Dr Vincent O’Brien.

Search For A Song is quite a different proposition for Weld. “She gave me huge pleasure last year because she can be a very challenging filly. After she won the Irish St Leger in 2019 it was decided to keep her in training. In the early part of the year she was making life difficult for both of us – we were finding it very hard to get her to settle.

“She ran an excellent race when third to Magical in the [Group 1] Tattersalls Gold Cup over 10 furlongs. She likes to be fresh and in the Irish St Leger I thought she put up the best performance of her life and she settled beautifully for Oisin Orr. She is staying in training and I think physically she’s done very well.”

“PAT Smullen is sorely missed by us all”. With that simple comment Dermot Weld sums up the feeling of all in the racing community.

Pat’s death in 2020 saddened many, and went well beyond just those in racing. His achievements out of the saddle brought him to the attention of the wider world.

The walls of Rosewell House are, as you might imagine, filled with paintings and photographs of many of the great winners trained from the adjoining yard.

Some 19 Irish classic winners, three English classic winners, including a much-loved 2000 Guineas winner and more recently Derby winner Harzand, and a Belmont Stakes hero have all been housed there.

Pat Smullen’s name is linked to many of them, but, as the trainer makes clear, for the partnership “winning the Epsom Derby on Harzand was the icing on the cake. It was just a wonderful day and, in hindsight, we now get to appreciate just how important it was.

“Harzand was a very tough, very good, beautifully-bred horse by Sea The Stars out of a very good Group 3 seven-furlong mare. As a three-year-old he started off winning his maiden by 14 lengths, he won the Group 3 at Leopardstown before winning at Epsom and then at the Curragh.”

Winning at Epsom is no mean feat ever, but Harzand faced more difficulties than most, as Weld explains. “He spread a plate in transit to Epsom, and it was touch and go for a while whether he was going to make the race or not. We had him in superb order, and Pat was completely confident that he would win.

“I left it to Pat that when he got down to the start that he would decide whether the horse would run or not. As they say, the rest is history. I see no reason why he won’t do very well as a stallion. I have a very nice filly for Moyglare called Port Sunlight who won her maiden in Gowran impressively. I expect her to be a stakes filly, and she has an entry in the Irish Oaks.”

Weld is well-known for his loyalty to jockeys, and theirs in return. Wally Swinburn, Michael Kinane and Pat Smullen all occupied the hot seat at Rosewell, and the latter two combined to enjoy 30 years of success with the trainer.

This year will see a slightly changed, but hugely significant, arrangement. “This year I have a smaller team of horses – we will have a maximum of 100 in training, which is a nice number for me. It will be my smallest team to train for a number of years, but it’s based very much on quality rather than quantity.”

What has been the secret of the successful partnerships Weld has forged with his retained riders? “I suppose it is my appreciation of their ability, my confidence in them, and their knowing that I supported them totally, even if things might not work out the way you would want them to in a race. All three of them [Swinburn, Kinane and Smullen] were brilliant riders.”

Colin Keane

The arrangements for 2021 include the continuation of what has already been a brilliant teaming up with Colin Keane. Weld unveiled his plans, while jokingly suggesting today’s jockeys might find him more difficult. “Oisin Orr rode a lot of winners for me last year and, of course, he will be riding for me this year. He has proven himself and rode a classic winner for me last year.

“Colin will ride as first jockey for Ger Lyons this year, but when he’s available he will be riding quite a bit for me. He will come and ride work once a week. Colin rode that brilliant race for me on Tarnawa in the Breeders’ Cup. As you know, Christophe Soumillon was all set to ride when he tested positive for Covid.

“So we have a $4 million Breeders’ Cup race and who is going to ride her? Your thoughts turn to the top American jockeys like Johnny Velazquez who rode two Grade 1 winners for me, and he was very much on my mind. Oisin Murphy, the English champion, had no ride in the race and his agent was on to me. He too had been successful for me.

“To be fair, Pat Downes and His Highness left the decision totally to me and there was no pressure either to use another French jockey. I said that I want to go for Colin Keane. I had watched Colin closely when he was in that titanic battle with Pat Smullen and beat him by one to become champion jockey. I had a huge appreciation for him already and how he rode.

“I thought he would suit Tarnawa as she likes to be ridden off the pace, and this style might not suit American jockeys.”

Success needs to be celebrated

FEW in Irish racing have more passion for the sport than Dermot Weld. His global successes have all contributed to bringing the sport, and its’ pre-eminence, to the attention of a world audience.

With an international client base, he is keenly aware of any reputational damage that could result from the current spate of bad press about the industry.

He is particularly keen to place emphasis on the facts. “The one point that has to be got across to the wider media is the success of Irish-trained horses around the world last year. We’ve spoken already about Tarnawa winning the Group 1s in France and at the Breeders’ Cup in America.

“Aidan O’Brien wins classics in England, the Breeders’ Cup Mile and one of the biggest races in Hong Kong. Donnacha O’Brien, Jim Bolger, Tony Mullins and Jessica Harrington all had Group 1 successes between England and France, while Joseph O’Brien won the Melbourne Cup.

“Similarly in National Hunt racing, we have had success at all levels and from so many trainers, the likes of Mick Winters winning at Cheltenham and more.

“Irish-trained horses won more than €22 million abroad in 2020. They have been tested by the most scientific laboratories in Hong Kong, Australia, America, France and not a single Irish-trained horse has come up positive.

“That’s not being got across. This is nothing new; these are very sound horses, running on their merits. I am not saying that everything is always going to be whiter than white, but our testing system is so good now that these things will be found.

“It is worth saying again and again. We should be more proud of our sport because we are not at the moment. Look what our horses achieved in 2020. That needs to be the story.”

Weld on ...

Ghaiyaath’s dam Nightime

“She is in foal, thank God, to Dubawi, and we have a yearling colt by Kingman. He will go to the yearling sales in the autumn. We also have a very nice daughter of Nightime. Her name is Sleeping Beauty and she is a stakes-placed daughter of Oasis Dream. She is in foal to Night Of Thunder. Nightime tends to throw colts, so it’s very nice to have a good daughter of hers.”

On his mother Marguerite

“Her attention to detail and her work rate was unbelievable. She was always looking ahead. Her success didn’t happen by chance. Maybe what I brought to the table is that I am fussy about conformation. It is important to have a mare with good conformation.”

On breeding

“I think I’ve been quoted saying that I believe we are overdoing the speed aspect. I can see where the quick buck is required, but I think we are breeding a lot of horses that race only as two-year-olds. I’m not in favour of this rush to pure speed all the time. The classics have stood the test of time; they were there before us and they’ll be there a long time after us.”

On his son Kris

“I am thrilled that Kris is an integral part of the training at Rosewell. He is a third-generation of the family to be involved in racing here.”

On staying races

“There is a definite move in both Ireland and Britain to improve the programme for the stayers. Look at the money that Stradivarius has won. We are on the right path and more needs to be done. Owners and breeders need to realise that the best resale horses nowadays are not sprinters, but milers and mile and a half horses. For them you have clients from Hong Kong, America and, of course, Australia.”

On training beside the Curragh

“We are very fortunate in that we have a beautiful situation to train horses from here. I have trained nearly 4,500 winners from here. It’s a wonderful yard; it’s airy, it can be cold in winter time, but it’s beautifully healthy. Winds come in across the Curragh and our horses in the early spring can take a couple of weeks to come around. Throughout the spring, summer and autumn it’s an extremely healthy yard.”

On the history of Rosewell House

“Rosewell was actually built by Morny Wing. He won the Irish Derby on a horse of the same name who was never beaten. Rosewell was trained on the Heath in Portlaoise by Colonel Blake and Morny Wing used the proceeds of his big wins to buy and build a yard here. It lay idle for a few years after the war and then my father bought it. He trained over 1,000 winners here.”