McGuinness tops best ever year with Dundalk title Ado McGuinness has hailed the importance of Dundalk after celebrating his first trainer's title at the all-weather venue in 2023. The Lusk handler has enjoyed the finest season of his career this year and was delighted to emerge as champion trainer at the track which has provided him with so many winners in recent years. McGuinness sealed the title with a meeting to spare on Wednesday and said yesterday:- “It's brilliant to win it and a privilege. “I hadn't started out at the start of the season to win it, it was just the way the season fell, our horses were in good form at the backend. “It got very tight at the end and I always thought Joseph (O'Brien) would overtake me, but it didn't happen. “Up until Wednesday Ger (Lyons) was also breathing down my neck. “It's very competitive, you go and try to win a maiden up there with an average horse and it won't happen. “Even trying to win any of the handicaps, lads will say 'this is a bad race' but you try and win it then. “We've always kept a few for the winter. Harry's Bar is a specialist up there as is Skontonovski. Dream Today has done plenty of winning there as well. “We've always had a few of those types of horses to keep going. “We won a nursery there this year as well, if you have a two-year-old that's not great on the grass and they handle good ground Dundalk is the place for them at the backend of the year. “We've a few new faces coming back in January. The likes of Apache Outlaw is going to go on a break, as is Hodd's Girl. “We'll target the all-weather finals in Newcastle with a few horses.” Like so many Irish trainers the introduction of the all-weather at Dundalk in 2007 was a game changer that kept yards in business all year around. “If Dundalk wasn't there I wouldn't be here because it kept me going for a long long time and it still keeps me going. “You can't just turn your business off at the end of October and expect to open it back up in March, and to keep staff for that length of time. “With the Flat training you have to stay going all year because you won't survive otherwise. “For an ordinary, smaller, trainer Dundalk is a God-send.” With his best ever year in the books McGuinness is looking ahead to 2024 and is set to upgrade the facilities at his Lusk base. “I'm just building a new yard at the moment, it's still on the same farm but it's a completely new yard in a green field site. “The most we can take at a time is 50 horses. People think I have 100 or 150 horses but I certainly haven't. “We'll probably have scope for another 20 horses if we want but I'm not going to run out and try and fill the yard. I'm quite happy the way things are going at the moment. “If you have another 20 horses you need at least another three of four staff and they are very hard to get at the moment. “I have a great team of lads behind me, from the lads that muck out to the lads that ride out and the lads that come racing. “I have two star apprentices as well in Cian MacRedmond and Adam Caffrey. They work for me full-time and my place wouldn't work without them. They are a huge part of the team and the rest of the guys that ride out are as important. “This was the best season we've ever had as regards prize-money. “It's so competitive and it's great to have a bunch of horses to compete. “I'm privileged to have a great bunch of owners because if you don't have them you can't compete no matter how good you are. “We were very lucky as we got some nice two-year-olds this year. They are all sold now and it's a matter of going back to the chalkboard and trying to find the next one. “No matter how many winners you train in this country you still need to sell horses at the end to make the books balance. “We bought at the breeze-ups last year and we were very lucky with them, it worked out very well for us. We'll go shopping there again and we've a few yearlings in. “The beauty about the yearling game is that you just never know at the start of the year. I actually have A Case Of You's half-brother this year so I'm looking forward to him. “We have to start worrying about next year in a couple of weeks time. People will forget about 2023 in a very short time!”
