A new O'Brien amongst training ranks

There is a new name in the training ranks in Ireland as Richard John O'Brien could send out his first runners at Dundalk on Friday.

County Limerick-based O'Brien has both Alans Pride and Khabaray entered in the Crowne Plaza Race & Stay Rated Race.

"I just got the licence about two weeks ago.  It's a little bit of a start but it's kind of low key being honest," revealed O'Brien.

"Khabaray is unlikely to get in, and the other fellow (Alans Pride) is a horse that we got from England.  He's only rated 50 but the rules dictate that he has to run in a conditions race in this country before the handicapper will give him a mark.

"He's basically twenty pounds wrong with those horses.  On recent form he shouldn't be able for them at all.

"It's very much about getting the run into him due to the peculiar rule.  He'll have to go there.  He could go to England but he isn't really showing enough at the moment to be making that trip with any great confidence."

O'Brien himself has recently returned from the UK after being there for five years, and he explained: "We bought a place in Ballingarry, County Limerick, a couple of years ago, and we've been developing it since.

"It's a small self-contained yard — a nice place — and we're happy just to get going.  We want to get this little business off the ground and build something.

"I'm going to focus mainly on the Flat.  I have four yearlings rising two and they'll probably be angled towards the breeze-up sales.  I have four older horses, including the two that are entered for Friday.

"I'd love to get some more people into the yard to try and build a bit of momentum. 

"I have a strong feeling that if we're here, working hard, sticking to the basic principles, keeping the horses healthy and running regularly, that hopefully success can follow."

O'Brien combined a profession with working with horses when cross-channel. 

He disclosed: "I'm a dentist by trade but I worked closely with David O'Meara when I was in the UK.  Every week then I would have done three days of dentistry, and for the remainder of the week I'd head to Yorkshire to Dave's place.

"My time there was the biggest influence on what I'll be doing here.  It was a fantastic place to learn and just to see how he goes about it.  We'd be from similar backgrounds here — our parents would have known each other and he's been a fantastic help to be honest."