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Tom Taaffe Open Day

Tom Taaffe Open Day


By Alan Magee

Tom Taaffe opened his Portree Stables near Straffan to the press on Monday November 23 and gave an insightful outline of his hopes for a mainly young 50 strong equine team this season.

Well-known names such as Ninetieth Minute, Glenfinn Captain, Finger Onthe Pulse, Treacle, Cane Brake and Kings Advocate will continue to fly the flag for the Cheltenham Gold Cup winning handler, while there is always a steady stream of fresh talent coming through on the Taaffe conveyer belt.

He explained, “I like to train between 45 and 55 but we always have about another 30 stores waiting in the wings. I buy them as foals and when they get to three we really find out if they have ability and get them to jump. The aim is to come up with a couple of good horses each year, ideally a Gold Cup type or at least something good enough to bring to Cheltenham.”

Taaffe has a number of gallops beside his yard including an all-weather measuring about a mile with a stiff uphill finish and a smaller four and a half furlong circuit sand gallop. A staff of 15 keep the operation running smoothly, while the likes of Paul Townend, Paddy Flood, John Cullen and Adrian Joyce will share a lot of the rides.


Tom Taaffe. © Healy Racing Photos“We plan to use the best available but Barry (Geraghty) has been very lucky for us in the past and we will continue to use him when possible. It is a great asset for any trainer to get feed-back from an experienced rider. It may be just a quick comment after jumping off but that can be invaluable.”

Here is a briefing on the stables main hopes for this season.

Ninetieth Minute: Runs in the ’Hattons Grace’ at Fairyhouse and hopefully will be campaigned in good staying hurdles with the woodiesdiy.com Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown also on the agenda. “He’s rated 147 at the moment and needs to improve quite a bit to compete in Grade 1 company. I was thrilled with his comeback at Navan where he stayed on well.”

Glenfinn Captain: “He ran a bit free in the Clonmel Oil Chase and not surprisingly didn’t get home. The plan is to go now for the Hilly Way Chase at Cork and then on to the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas”

Kings Advocate: “The Paddy Power Chase is the target providing we can get a run into him beforehand. He had muscle trouble last season but seems to be over that now. You need to get a run into a horse if you want to have a winning chance in the ’Paddy Power’. Otherwise he could head to Limerick at Christmas.”

Cane Brake: The former Paddy Power Chase winner is hoping to take advantage of a lenient hurdle mark in the coming weeks. “He’s rated 30lb lower over hurdles and will probably be aimed at a three mile handicap at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival. The long-term aim is the Grand National, and he may not go back chasing until the Hennessy at Leopardstown.”


TREACLE and Adrain Joyce pops the last to win for trainer Tom Taaffe. Listowel 1st June.
© Healy Racing PhotosTreacle: “He’s a big old style chaser and was brave in winning the Munster National as the ground was softer than he would like. He was literally on the floor after the first in the Troytown Chase at Navan and ran a good race considering. He will probably not run again now until the spring, and the Grand National is his target.”