O'Dwyer looking ahead after gallop investment: 'Hopefully this time next year we have a full barn'

Conor O’Dwyer opened his gates to the press this morning as he showcased a new gallop at his Curragh base, which he hopes can help him diversify his business.

The Gold Cup winning jockey has seen his numbers decrease in recent years and has invested in the two furlong round sand surface as he targets ‘pre-trainers’ to bolster the numbers at Rossmore House.

After a tough few years for the O’Dwyer family they are looking to the future with the new facility and are aiming to build again.

“It’s two furlongs round, deep Wexford sand. It’s brilliant for pre-training and since we put it in we’ve had winners off it too, including Solsbury Hill,” said O’Dwyer.

“Getting horses in to train has become harder and harder and we couldn’t take in pre-trainers previously because of the Curragh fees so we said we’d have to bite the bullet and put in a gallop.

“I’d prefer to fill the barn with horses to train but the way things have gone we have to do something to try and keep everything afloat.

“It’s about getting horses’ heads over doors and see what we can make of it.

“We had gone down to 12 or 13 horses and it’s not nearly enough. You need a minimum of 20 all the time to make things pay.”

The O’Dwyer family was dealt a cruel blow almost four years ago when the trainer’s wife Audrey suffered a brain aneurysm, which saw her spend seven months in hospital.

The injury put a major strain on both the family and their business but they are determined to look to the future now and embrace change.

“Even without trying to keep a business going it was a stressful time for everybody. (Our son) David came home from New Zealand and gave us a hand.

“It came out of the blue. Six days beforehand I had a hip replacement so everything together was a disaster.

“It was the type of injury that you didn’t know what was coming or what you were going to get.

“With something like a heart attack you have a prognosis but with Audrey’s aneurysm we didn’t know what the future held.

“You look at things differently after it but we still have to get on with life and run a business.

“Having Audrey back doing so well it looks like we are getting a second chance at things and we’ll just try and make the most of it when we can.

“It’s always been the two of us and all of a sudden you are on your own and you can’t do these things on your own.

“She was brilliant at getting owners in. That hasn’t been happening for the last few years and we’ve missed that.

“I’ve no problem doing anything to get owners in but we’ve just found it hard without runners and winners and without Audrey.

“Things were gradually slipping away. Eventually you end up sitting down and saying something has to be done or it’s going to be gone.

“(Our son) Charlie is great and it’s great to have him around. He loves it and without him I might have said ‘I’m done’.

“This was the only thing we could think of to change things and give us a chance of keeping things alive.

“We’re here 18 years and have made a nice place. To see it slipping away was gutting and it was a bit of a wake up call.”

With such a concentration of horses among a handful of yards many smaller trainers are feeling the pinch and O’Dwyer felt he had to look at other avenues to keep his head above water.

“It’s the way things have gone. Most people want to be with the likes of Willie (Mullins), Henry de Bromhead or Gavin (Cromwell).

“There’s no point saying that they are doing this or that. They weren’t handed it either, they’ve made their way and you have to make your own way.

“It’s just the way life is and you just have to change with it and do something to make it work or get left behind.

“We’re not going to lie down anyway. It was a lot of money and it is a gamble putting in the gallop but hopefully it’s one that will pay off.

“There is no such things as retirement in this game. Kevin Prendergast was 90 odd and was still first man on the Curragh every morning.

“You are always pushing on to keep going.

“On the Curragh there is no pre-training really because of the fees and hopefully we’re going to be one of the first.

“We have the facilities and the paddocks, which are huge in my opinion — especially for mares to keep them sweet and happy.

“It’s a boutique type operation here. I don’t want 50 horses as we like to be personal with the horses and have more time for them.

“Hopefully this time next year we have a full barn.”