CAPTURE The Drama validated the old saying that “age is just a number” when winning readily at Clonmel last month. Despite having entered his 14th year back in January, the gelding is still enjoying life and showing no signs of stopping. I have always been of the opinion that we will only keep going until he tells us he has had enough; at that point, he will be retired immediately. However, to judge from his most recent win, there may well be another day or two in the old horse yet.

My dad had a big interest in greyhounds and horses, owning both at various stages. During the 70s, my sister Imelda held a permit and he ran a few horses under that. Over the years, he also had horses in training with Buster Harty, the Browne’s, Michael Conheady, Mike Neville and John Brassil.

School holidays

I learned how to ride at Burke’s Riding School, in Ballycar (Co Clare), before going on to hunt and show jump. During my teenage years, I attended boarding school, so my involvement was confined to school holidays, when I rode out for Michael Conheady. Both Michael and the Lynch’s, Pat and John, taught me a lot over the years.

They are great horsemen who are always willing to share their knowledge. I also hunted with the County Clares; something I did until quite recently. For a number of years, I was also involved in the committee of that hunt.

Racing was a common denominator that my dad and I shared throughout his life. It was through him that I developed an interest in and love for horses. I rode in a few point-to-points around 18 or 19 but that was the extent of my exploits in the saddle.

After finishing college in Galway, I joined the family car rental business. Then, in 1981, I established my own transport and warehousing company; something I have been involved with full-time ever since. My brother Karl went on to take over the car hire and executive travel business.

Dego Dancer

Over the next decade, I continued to accompany dad to the races and follow the horses he had in training. However, by 1991, most of the horses had either been sold on or retired, so I went out and bought a mare named Dego Dancer. Dad was quite ill at the time and I just wanted a horse to keep the interest going and give him something to look forward to. As we had no permit at that time, I trained the horse together with family friend Patrick McAllen. Sadly, dad passed away a few months before she won her first of three races for us.

By the time her first foal, Dego Dante, came along, I had my own permit. Having won with the mare, I went on to train her offspring to win at Cork in 2004. He had been my first runner as a trainer three years earlier and was placed a couple of times before getting his head in front. After Dego Dante retired in 2010/11, I had little or no runners under rules. However, I continued to run a couple in point-to-points - I gave Robbie McNamara his first two wins on Commanche Crow and Gelato.

Financial crash

During those years, I threw myself back into the main business full-time. I had bought a farm in the late 90s, building stables and a sand gallop. In one way, I was fortunate, as horses probably saved me from the financial crash. Although I invested in a few properties, the vast majority was ploughed into the training venture.

Capture The Drama and Change The Rules, two horses I bought on the same afternoon, were the ones that brought me back to the track. The former won his point-to-point in April 2014 but it was another two years before he was successful under rules. He proved a very difficult horse to train but, in the end, it was certainly worth the wait.

Strike rate

We never use whips on the horses at home and I think that was crucial in his case - if he had been hit, he would have been lost for good. Both Capture The Drama and Change The Rules won within a month of each other in 2015/16; giving us a 100% strike rate from runners to winners. The latter won again the following season but we sadly lost him in a point-to-point after, when he cut his leg on birch and it became infected.

Capture The Drama went on to win five races in 2016/17 and another three in subsequent campaigns. However, despite being placed on numerous occasions since 2018, he had failed to add to his nine wins under rules. The horse was bred by Kate Rudd, who along with her late father, always maintained a great interest in his career.

Well Tom came along and won for us, while in later years Fill The Tank and Gold Creek did likewise. However, given that his enthusiasm remained as strong as ever, we continued to race Capture The Drama. It is hard to put an age on the horse at home; he behaves like he is young. We aren’t hard on the horses in general but especially so the older ones.

Lack of interest

Going to Clonmel last week, we had been talking about retiring Capture The Drama but more so because of his form rather than any lack of interest in his job. However, I felt that point-to-pointing wasn’t really an option and you would have to keep him going while he has such an appetite for training.

At least off a mark around 80 he can compete against horses in his own grade, whereas in open lightweights you are taking on 140-150 ex-graded performers. As it happened, Capture The Drama made a very pleasing return to form, making much of the running before battling back bravely after being headed. It was a performance that showed us that he isn’t quite finished yet.

I also broke new ground this year with Miss Cunning becoming my first official runner and winner on the flat. Capture The Drama had a run in the Students Derby last year but that was specifically to give Mark McDonagh a ride in that race.

Miss Cunning was bought for Jessica O’Gorman to ride under rules. Her father, Anthony, is an important part of the team here and I just wanted to give Jessica more experience.

It was definitely a shock when Miss Cunning won at 40/1 on her debut for us at Dundalk in February! She subsequently went on to win a second race at Listowel under Jake Coen. At the moment, the plan is to return to Dundalk over the winter, where Jessica will hopefully get another chance to shine.

Aengus King was in conversation with John O’Riordan