Eoghain Ward

“HOW is that expensive filly Richie?” That was the regular line thrown at 25-year-old handler Richard Black for well over six months after he forked out £40,000 to buy a four-year-old King’s Theatre mare at the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale.

It was an almighty risk to take for the Wexford native, entering into just his second full season of training. His convictions had stood him well to that point and time would look on the decision as the best that he had ever made.

“I went over to the sales with Colin Bowe and Denis Murphy and we went through the whole catalogue ourselves the day before and there were two fillies that I liked at the sale.

“I don’t particularly set my mind on fillies or geldings, just the model that I like and pedigree. I absolutely fell in love with her the moment that I saw her. She was a four-year-old, but I didn’t mind that. She was a very big filly, over 17 hands. She had been for sale as a three-year-old but went unsold and her owners said she just needed time.”

Convincing his co-owner John Murphy, a tillage farmer from south Wexford that they were going to have to spend a few quid on this one, agreement was reached, and following a bidding tussle with Ryan Mahon, the mare was there’s for £40,000. There beginning the record-breaking Maire Banrigh story.

“From day one I thought that she was special. I loved her. But I got plenty of slagging for it. For six months I had to listen to ‘young Richie is mad he spent £40,000 on a bloody mare’. I didn’t care though, because I was confident with what we had with her, it was more than worth it.”

Incredibly positive bulletins from everyone who sat on her in a piece of work or schooling session, including alongside some smart four-year-olds of Colin Bowe, had Black swiftly plotting her route to target the Cheltenham Festival sale.

“Everything about her was so easy. She was a massive big mare, a very good mover and very correct - we quickly knew what we had with her. Barry O’Neill said to me very early on, ‘there is only one person to blame if this one doesn’t win first time out and that is you!’

“I had it planned a good bit out. I said to John (Murphy) around Christmas that she was something else - very special, and that we would head to Lingstown on the Sunday before the Cheltenham Festival and hopefully she will do the business there and we will send her over on the ferry to the Festival sale.”

When the time arrived for Black to take the covers off his pride and joy for the first time ahead of her competitive debut, Maire Banrigh did not disappoint.

Immediately sent to the front by Barry O’Neill as the white flag fell for the 13-runner maiden, the bay mare made every inch of the running, as she jumped like a seasoned chaser to record a facile five-length success without ever coming off the bridle.

Such was the ease of her performance, which clocked the quickest time of the day, some five seconds quicker than the four-year-old maiden, O’Neill was unable to pull her up. The delay waiting for the pair to return to the Lingstown parade ring, had Black fearing that something had gone wrong after the winning post.

Once those fears were allayed upon her return, the celebrations commenced as the phones immediately began to ring.

“There was a lot of interest in her. The vibes were very good going over to Cheltenham and there was a lot of talk about her. Everyone was coming to take a look at her so I knew from talking to the people over there - Richard Botterill, Jamie Codd and Richard Pugh - that she was going to make plenty, so I began to hope that she might top the sale.”

They were right to hold lofty expectations. As Black himself led the bay mare around the sales ring of the Cheltenham Festival winners enclosure, graced hours earlier by the likes of Yorkhill, Un De Sceaux and Nichols Canyon, the bidding intensified.

A sale-topping bid by Ryan Mahon, ironically the under bidder to Black when he had bought her 10 months earlier, was enough to seal her for owner John Hales.

At £320,000, she had realised the biggest sum of any point-to-point mare offered at public auction, trumping the £200,000 paid by Willie Mullins and Harold Kirk to purchase Redhotfillypeppers at the Cheltenham May sales 10 months previously.

“It was a nice achievement that the plan had all come together so well. I owned her with John so it was definitely the greatest chunk that I had coming my way, but it was really a sense of achievement more than anything else.”

The success is all the more remarkable, given that he had only sent out his first runner in his own name in May 2015.

The path to that point was paved with success for Black, the son of trainer Tony, who had a career within the training ranks front and centre of his thoughts from an early age.

“I always loved the training side of things, and never really wanted to be a jockey. Even during school and college I always wanted to be around the yard.

“When I finished school my mother made me do the Equine Science course in UCD. She didn’t particularly want me to go training horses, but I didn’t mind going to college too much because I grew up a bit. At college we were taught plenty about the importance of the health of the horse, nutrition and getting the most out of their metabolism. I use a lot of things that I would have learned from the course.”

A college placement in Colin Bowe’s led to a spell with the five-time champion handler, and an insight into the workings of one of the country’s leading yards. It was during this time that his run of successes at the sales, building to Maire Banrigh began, commencing with another mare, Peggy Do.

That Pierre mare was the first horse that John Murphy had in training with the Blacks. A winner of consecutive point-to-points at Lisronagh and Fairyhouse, she was then sold for £100,000 at Brightwells.

It was that success which got the ball rolling for Black.

“I went off to the sales and we bought Thomas Do out of the money that we made from selling Peggy Do. He was the type of horse that I like, he is by Flemensfirth, and a nice big scopey horse. He cost €22,000 at the August Sale but I think he would have been a lot more expensive only that he was a bit turned in on his near leg. It was a bit of a confirmation flaw but at the same time I took a bit of a chance on him.

“He ran in three point-to-points for me. He finished second twice including second to Monalee, and then he won his maiden in Belclare. Donald McCain bought him for £70,000 at the Aintree Sales after that win. Out of his money I went and bought Maire Banrigh over in Doncaster.”

Following the success of Maire Banrigh plenty has changed for Black. He is now based out of a new purpose built yard on the lands of one of his owners, Henry Chamney, in Ballycarney, just outside of Ballindaggin.

“We have 10 boxes in a newly built barn, a large arena and a new sand gallop, which is just over three furlongs up a hill. We never had a gallop at home, we used to use Curracloe beach and I still use that too. My father had to use that a lot because we just used grass fields at home. We did plenty of hill work and I like the Idea of having the steep hill. Then when I went to Colin’s I was just blown away because I think his gallop is the best in the country.

“I knew Henry (Chamney) well, he is a family friend and was interested in getting a gallop put in. Its hilly land, so I picked where I wanted the gallop, where I thought it would work best, and Tom Furlong did the work on the gallops and did a great job.”

The move to a new yard is already paying dividends. Shantaluze, his sole runner this season, won well at Tinahely last month on his first start for the yard and is set to be offered at next week’s Cheltenham sales, with the signs looking good for the three-year-olds he has under his care for the spring.

“From the start I’ve said that the 10 boxes would only be full if I’m happy with the horses going in it. I’d rather have eight full and two empty boxes rather than putting in horses that I don’t like. I like putting the time and work into the nice horses rather than it purely being a numbers game.”

That approach of quality over quantity has stood him well to date. Few could ever dream of making the immediate impression that Black has made at such a young age, but it is clear that for this focussed and driven young trainer, it is about so much more than numbers and profits for him, this is his passion.

“I love training. I love it as a profession, it’s my life. I don’t look at it as a job, I love every day of it. I try not to dwell on the pressures. Obviously you are selling expensive horses, but if you put the time into them I don’t try to over phase myself. It’s not easy, but I’m only 25 so I’m not going to worry myself too much.”