Damian English It’s been a great start to the year with six winners on the board from just 12 horses riding out so we can’t complain at all at the minute. We are currently preparing ourselves for the July Sale at Newmarket and we were just going through the stats there recently and we have 69% winners from the horses we bought at the sales at Newmarket. The dearest of those horses from Newmarket was €14,000 and that was the most I ever spent on a horse. When we first started buying these cheap horses I thought ‘We got lucky’ but now we realise that we’re not getting lucky we are actually doing something different with them. When I go to Newmarket next month I’ll be looking for a horse that has shown ability early in his career and for one reason or another has lost his way. If I go to the sales and someone tells me a horse is a burster my ears will prick because I love to hear that! We have a good system here with the beach and I think it suits horses that have had issues bursting and the great thing with my father, who has owned most of the runners, is that I was never under time pressure either. If you look at Tribal Path I think it took me over a year to win with him but once we did he won six so once you are under no time pressure it is a great help. We’ve been tweaking the system for a year or so now but I couldn’t be happier at the moment. We just want to get a horse fit and 100% healthy and once we get that we can run them all summer. Dance Alone is a prime example of that, he’s won twice already and was second twice and he’ll run away now for the summer. The beach is brilliant and freshens them up. You take horses out of a big yard in England and they are after being in the same routine day in day out where as we do a lot of swimming with the horses and we’d be on the beach every day with them and it just keeps them fresh. It’s completely different for them. We’d also do a lot of roadwork with the horses and every horse would do three weeks roadwork before they go to the beach and once we get them fit then we’d vary it with the beach and the roadwork. Going to the beach is great, especially at this time of year when it is a bit busier and you’d have people coming over taking photos and asking for winners and interacting with us and it’s good craic and very enjoyable for us and them. I started off training for my father and he gave me €3,000 to start up and rather than buy one horse I went and bought three for €1,000 each. My father has plenty going on in his own job at the minute and he just said to me, lets see if you can do it for other owners so we’ve got a few new syndicates in like Galaxy Racing, On Each Way and Bet Alchemist Racing as well as Cathal McGuckin who has sent us a few horses as well. These are all lads who are hard working and have their 9-5 jobs and they can’t believe the luck they’ve had already but that is what we do, we’ve bought these cheap horses for long enough and getting great fun out of it ourselves so now other people are investing in us and seeing the rewards. Red Avenger and Mokhalad were the two horses I bought for €14,000 and Red Avenger won three on the bounce when I got him back and Mokhalad has won twice and has a big season ahead of him this year. I’ve never had big budgets so obviously I’d love to have more. When I go to the sales I pick out 100 horses and you’d knock a few off the list for this, that or the other, and then I’d just sit at the side of the ring and wait for the ones that I can afford. There are times when you miss one you want because you are €5,000 short but we are slowly getting there and the new owners are a great boost. We love doing what we do. When you pick up a horse like Geological for 800 Guineas and he wins over €100,000 and Bluesbreaker for the same price and he’s won over €50,000 and he’s still not finished, it’s fantastic. I’m trying to get that across to owners that you don’t need to spend massive money to win races. If you buy a two-year-old for €10,000 or €20,000 it is not going to get you the one that will win a maiden whereas if you go to Newmarket and get two for €10,000 and you can win an awful lot of handicaps. Our record at the sales means that we can go there with our chest out and the big aim would be to win a Premier Handicap. That would be top of the list now and we might just have a couple of horses that can go close this summer. Last week we went to Gowran Park with four runners and had two close seconds and Red Avenger got a little injury in his race so to go there with our numbers and come so close to having a massive day shows that we are doing something right. Every day is a learning day. With regards hay, feeding and bedding I’ve realised that you can only put the best into them to get the best out of them. I was also very lucky to meet Aoife Quigley who was a vet just out of college and talking things through with her has been a big help and we work well together. It’s just great to be dreaming. If we were to win a Premier Handicap this year we might be thinking of something like Dubai with him. Geological last year was rated 99 and we were wondering about keeping him for Dundalk or going to Dubai and even to be thinking like that for a horse who cost 800 Guineas is unbelievable. You don’t get that every day of the week. The small guy can mix it with the big guy and the flat gives you that opportunity. At the minute life is just brilliant. We are down at the beach every day with the sun on our backs, the horses are running well, I have great staff and owners... you couldn’t ask for anymore.
