Tell me about your introduction to the horse racing industry.
Well, I’ve been following horses since I was a young boy, my father lived and grew up beside Vincent O’Brien’s yard in North Cork so we were steeped in horses, my mother’s side from Galway were into horses as well. My late wife Sally Sweetnam was keen for me to get into ownership.
My friend Frank Lynch has horses with Richard O’Brien. He suggested that I get a partnership together and send a horse to Richard. So, it started like that.
Richard went over to the Tattersalls Autumn horses-in-training sale in Newmarket last year, and contacted me to say that he’d found a good horse with potential by Dubawi, very good breeding and a dual-purpose horse.
I live close to Skibbereen so I contacted a number of locals so we put together a partnership, Richard bought the horse, and as you say, the rest is history. We’re delighted with Richard, because he’s just a fantastic horse person.
Who are the other partnership members?
We have Tim and Barry Loney, and they run the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen. After Frank and Richard had contacted me, I asked Tim and Barry, would they join the partnership and they were delighted.
The fourth and final person is Brian O’Neill from Skibbereen. He’s a breeder who operates the Woodford Stud; he bred Purple Lily who finished third in the Oaks. We all went to the Curragh to support him when she ran. He was thrilled to have a Dubawi. The strength of his offspring is there for everyone to see, and we’re able to draw on Brian’s expertise as well.
How did you choose the colours?
The colours come from our local GAA clubs, Ilen Rovers are the green, and O’Donovan Rossa make up the red. We also have Limerick and Cork connections in the partnership so we combined them.
What was the atmosphere like at Galway?
The atmosphere was electric, they were all following us in Skibbereen and they were all thrilled for us. It’s difficult to win at Galway, and difficult to win that particular race as well, because we knew that Willie Mullins had a very good horse in it called Sysko.
Mystical Power won it last year and he went on to do great things. Maybe in time Feud will become a very good horse as well. He is a relentless galloper, and nothing seems to faze him. Paul (Townend, rider of Sysko) must have known the qualities of Feud because he tracked him the whole way.
We’re delighted for Richard as well, because he had some misfortune recently. Base Of Fire lost his life at Ballinrobe when he was coming to win his race so it was a great boost to have the winner. It shows you how fickle the game of horse racing is.
Feud seems to have enjoyed a step up in trip.
Yeah, he actually was running on the flat with Ralph Beckett in England. We started him off on the flat here but it wasn’t a very promising run. Richard worked on him and suggested that he could potentially be a top-class hurdler.
Richard took Feud schooling over hurdles and he found that he took to it very well. He was very impressive first time out over hurdles at Listowel. Richard suggested that we take a step upwards and go for the novice hurdle at Galway, which we did, and he’s just thrived.
We’ve always felt that Danny Mullins is one of the best jockeys around, and he has been a huge bonus to us, we can see that he gives the horse tremendous confidence and rides with great aplomb, keeping him in a prominent position and out of trouble.
Feud is very resilient and very adaptable and hopefully a dual-purpose horse. We were hoping that he would become a middle distance flat horse, because there are very good middle class or middle distance races around the world.
Have you got a plan for Feud now?
We were talking about Listowel or Fairyhouse in September, he will take a step up in class now. We’ll give him a chance to recover after Galway, the health of the horse is primary with us, we all said on Monday, as long as the horse comes home safe and sound, that was the main thing. We’re in no hurry anyway we’re just savouring the moment.
We’re thrilled for the staff at Richard’s yard who don’t get the publicity. The hard work they put in from early in the morning is incredible and Richard has some very dedicated staff there. All credit goes to them, because they’re with the horses morning, noon and night.
In terms of ownership, has the industry improved?
There have been huge improvements, I find the service with Horse Racing Ireland is very good and very helpful, and they talk you through the whole process. They made it very easy for us when we were deciding whether to have a syndicate or a partnership. They gave us great advice and assistance.
Were there plenty of sore heads on Tuesday morning?
There was a celebration on Monday night, and we met up with a busload of locals who came up from near Skibbereen and they joined in on the celebrations. It went on to all hours, but we’re quite happy with the sore heads to think back on the remarkable achievement of the horse.