Ian Brindle looks at the increasing influence of the Gigginstown Stud ahead of the Cheltenham Festival next week.
Gigginstown fortunes on the up
Ian Brindle looks at the increasing influence of Gigginstown Stud ahead of the Cheltenham Festival.
Just as Tony Blair's rise to power saw a mid-90's Britain undergo its transformation into Cool Britannia, the turn of the millennium saw Ireland trumpeted as a beacon of prosperity as the "Celtic Tiger" began to roar.
One of the principal voices in the roar was that of Michael O'Leary, who successfully revolutionised short-haul air travel with Ryanair.
The world of horse racing is not one where sudden expansion or market leadership is facilitated quickly but while there is an element of sale and acquisition, the "opportunity cost" of National Hunt racing comes with a high likelihood of asset depreciation.
Despite the paralysing effect of recession upon the Irish economy, the Gigginstown Stud colours have become increasingly more evident on the racecourse over the years and it looks likely to be that way for some time yet.
Eddie O' Leary, who is a key cog in the Gigginstown operation explained: "We try to find a horse anywhere but our main thing would be looking for Irish bred store horses. Though we also look at the point-to-pointers and National Hunt breeze ups.
"We buy big chasing horses and have a three year system. The first year we go point-to-pointing, the second is hurdling, and the third is the novice chase year. If we reach year four and they are not good enough - we sell and move on."
Early years
The Gigginstown story may have started in a small way through Tuco's victory in the Land Rover Bumper in 2001 though things clearly moved on with its most notable horse on the racecourse - War Of Attrition.
Although a promising novice over hurdles, staying and chasing were to be the main attributes of this physically imposing sort. He was to announce his arrival in the big league through the eclipse of the then Gold Cup hero, Kicking King, in a listed contest at Punchestown in late 2005.
This was to be a golden season in all senses of the word for the horse as he went on to take the double of the Cheltenham and Punchestown Gold Cups.
Despite the spectre of a leg injury that caused him to miss a season, War Of Attrition was switched to the smaller obstacles in the autumn of his career, where he carved out a campaign as a staying hurdler before stepping into retirement with a second in the Punchestown Gold Cup of 2010.
He was trained by Mouse Morris, who, like owner O'Leary, is a character who actively defies the convention of labels. With his wild red curls and a rolled up cigarette seldom far away from his hand, he seems a world away from the lavishness that his titled background might suggest.
Morris' presence within the operation has been a constant. The partnership enjoyed an Irish National success in 2008 with Hear The Echo before seeing the horse cruelly lose his life in front of the stands in the Aintree equivalent a year later.
A couple of seasons on, and Morris is dreaming of more success with First Lieutenant.
New brigade
He was purchased for a decent sum by National Hunt standards at the age of three and he could be their next big star.
The son of Presenting lowered the colours of Zaidpour at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting and is typical of the well bred individuals with which Gigginstown has focused on over the last few years.
O Leary explained: "Plenty of horses cost money and didn't run but this fellow is a nice horse. His whole career is about next year and as a novice chaser though we will go for the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle with him at the Festival."
Perhaps one of the defining features of Gigginstown is its decision to place its interest across a broad spectrum of training establishments.
While it has been common for the likes of Graham Wylie, David Johnson or Andy Stewart to not look beyond one major trainer - the Gigginstown model appears to be the exact opposite.
"It's all about not having all your eggs in one basket and supporting the young trainers on the up. We give the trainers complete autonomy as the trainers have to train the horses and we cannot train the from afar," O'Leary said.
Trainers
Although he had made his name on the hurling field, Paul Nolan was one such beneficiary of the policy. A relative unknown when Accordion Etoile burst onto the scene into the mid-2000's, the County Wexford handler still trains for Gigginstown to this day.
Charles Byrnes and Dessie Hughes would certainly not come into the category of new trainers by any stretch of the imagination but the performances of Weapons Amnesty in two Cheltenham Festival victories and Siegemaster, in an emphatic Thyestes success, shows the policy has not been without merit.
As Gigginstown head into Cheltenham with one of their largest entries in terms of number, the names of Philip Fenton and Gordon Elliott appear alongside the legends of the game such as Willie Mullins and Michael Hourigan.
Among the Mullins contingent is Sir Des Champs. Acquired privately from France, he made a successful Irish debut and is likely to head for the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at the Festival.
O'Leary said of the five-year-old: "He is not a novice this year but is a big fine horse. Our modus operandi is about finding chasers and in our view he needed a year before he went chasing."
If the recent years for the Gigginstown Stud are any guide, it would be no suprise to see the famous maroon colours carried into the winners' enclosure at the Cheltenham Festival.
