Ross O'Sullivan: 'It was a great promotion for the yard and a high-profile winner like that does help hugely' ROSS O’SULLIVAN continues to strive forward in the training ranks and is still beaming following his recent big race Curragh success. On September 26th the success of Chally Chute in the €500,000 Friends Of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch at the home of the classics was O’Sullivan’s biggest so far as a trainer. Named after an eccentric neighbour who played a pivotal role in O’Sullivan’s childhood by allowing him and his sister keep their ponies on his land, the victory brought back great memories. “It’s a very good story because it goes back to when we were kids growing up and we lived on the edge of the Curragh in a small bungalow and we didn't have any stables or land, but Chally Chute lived down the road from us beside the Maddenstown gallops and he had stables. “My sister Robyn and I got a pony each and my father went down and asked Chally would there be any chance of using a stable or two for the kids and he agreed. He was a lovely man and was very good to us.” This proved the stepping stone for O’Sullivan who would subsequently acquire an amateur licence at the age of 16 and rode his first winner aboard Commedia (Jim Kavanagh) who was stabled there in a bumper first time out. Fast forward to today, O’Sullivan, who rode 31 winners as an amateur, has a dual-purpose team of 75 horses under his care at his Kill, Co Kildare base where his wife Katie Walsh was born. “The whole association with Chally from kids to riding a winner in a Roscommon bumper that he had asked us to name and then for a horse to come along with the same name a good few years later and for me to train it [to win the Cesarewitch] was a nice story. It was a great promotion for the yard and a high-profile winner like that does help hugely. “We’re just so lucky to have got the horse. After Mick [Halford] retired, Julie [White, owner] sent him over to us and last month at the Curragh was an incredible day and a little extra special with the name. “Julie named the horse after Chally and was brought up on that side of the Curragh as her father was head lad with Mick O’Toole and she knew the name, so it was just a great story that kind of had different little bits to it.” O’Sullivan, who started training in 2011 and saddled his first winner He’s Our Man ridden by Andrew McNamara at Limerick in May the following year, has seen his numbers grow annually and enjoys both codes. “We’d have around 35 flat horses and around 40 jump horses, a good mix of both. In the summertime, you’re hoping to come across a nice flat horse or a nice two-year-old and in the wintertime you’re trying to find a nice national hunt horse. It also keeps the business going all year round and all the staff going and keeps the figures right. It’s nice to be dual purpose and I enjoy both sides of it.” On the jumping side of the business the success of Baie Des Iles in France eight years ago was another day that stands out. Baie Des Iles won three times for O’Sullivan including the National Trial at Punchestown in 2017 under his wife Katie before Paul Townend steered the grey mare to victory in a Grade 2 at Auteuil the following year. “A few high-profile horses came along like Baie Des Iles and Call It Magic and that got the wheels in motion and it started to grow a bit more and got a bit bigger and bigger.” O’Sullivan, who spent five years working for Jessica Harrington after a couple of months riding out with Peter McCreery, acknowledges it’s a real team effort. “We have a really great team of 15 staff and they all get on very well and there is a good atmosphere in the yard which has a good effect on the horses.” While working with the Harringtons he rode several bumper winners notably Macs Joy who went on to become a triple Grade 1-winning hurdler. “At the time in the early 2000s Jessie was mainly training jumpers and it was a great yard to work in and a good place to learn, I really enjoyed it. I rode winners there but probably got beat on some I should have won on! “Macs Joy was tough and Jessie used to ride him out herself and he won a bumper first time out for me at Tralee,” recalls the former amateur rider who fondly remembers another big name he was associated with. “I used to go down to Colm Murphy one day a week around the same time he had Brave Inca and Fethard Lady came along and I won two bumpers on her. “Colm gave me my first ride at Cheltenham in 2007 aboard Cheeky Lady and we finished third in the Kim Muir. I enjoyed my time riding as an amateur and met loads of people including [wife] Katie.” “It was a great education for going down the training road as you had plenty of ups and downs back then, plenty of highs and lows, which did you no harm as you experience the same when training horses.” Before the age of 30, Ross O’Sullivan had his stall set out for the next phase of his life with horses. “I had my last ride when I was about 29 and then started off pre-training first and breaking a few and having the odd runner in a point-to-point and things grew from there. “Lucky enough Ted [Walsh, father of wife Katie] gave us a site and we built the yard there and things really started to grow.” The Galway Festival in 2024 was another boost with his quartet of winners from just six runners. “That was massive and we did get a good few owners and inquiries after that as it was a great profile for the yard. We had two winners that week for the Monroes who have a pub in the middle of Galway and it’s their Cheltenham really so that was a huge thing for the yard.” O’Sullivan doesn’t ride out any more on the gallops with the focus now on keeping a close eye on his string from the ground. “When we had the smaller numbers I rode out alright but not anymore because when you get up to 14 or 15 riding out in one lot you don’t get to see them all so nowadays I’m on the ground watching it all. “Also my phone would be ringing a good bit and at least when your phone rings you wouldn’t be holding the lads up waiting for you to get off the phone to get onto the gallop so I felt it was better watching it from the side on.” Targeting his local tracks is something that O’Sullivan does and he saddled a 1-2 in the Red Mills Auction Series Final at the Punchestown festival last season when Raise You Up defeated stable companion De Jour En Jour. His association with Raise You Up’s owner, Englishman Richard Muphy’s Lorus Projects Limited, came about via the internet. “Richard emailed me a couple of years ago and I didn’t know him, but it was a cold call basically and I got to know him from that email. He is based in London and got involved with a couple of horses after. We bought Raise You Up off Jamie Codd, my brother-in-law, who recommended him after he finished second in a point-to-point. “The previous year we got Strong Link off Jamie and he turned out to be a nice horse too winning a bumper and twice over hurdles. Richard had just missed out on him and he was kicking himself, so he wasn’t going to miss out on Raise You Up when Jamie recommended him. He’ll probably go novice chasing this year.” Ross O’Sullivan has steadily grown his training business in recent years and has proven he can compete at the top table under both codes.
