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My Racing Story

My Racing Story

Pat Flynn

Pat FlynnPat Flynn
© Photo Healy Racing

Glorious Forever was a deserving winner of the Hong Kong Cup on Sunday and it quickly brought back memories of Designs On Rome, who won it in 2014 as the reigning Horse of the Year.

The day I bought him I rang my wife and I said ‘I’m after buying the nicest horse I’ve ever bought in my life’ and I told the lads in the yard, ‘This will be the best horse that ever came into the place.’

His pedigree was fantastic but the minute I saw the horse walk out of the stable, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. That has only happened to me four or five times in my life and it has always proven a good pointer.

I’m restricted by budget and I see a lot of good horses I can’t buy, unless he has something like a splint that will put a lot of the buyers off.

With Designs On Rome, I just happened to go to the Orby Sale for a look that day. I had no big money to buy an Orby horse. I was having a cup of tea and I looked across and saw Moyglare Stud stables. I said I’d go over to have a look because I know the boss, Eva Bucher-Haefner, and because they always produce a lovely horse and I knew whatever I’d be looking at would be nice.

As it happened, Eva was in Switzerland but Fiona Craig was there and I asked Fiona if I could look at a Rock Of Gibraltar colt they had.

So I said. “I’m probably wasting my time here looking at him, I won’t be able to buy him.”

“Well”, she said, “we had a horse just came out there now unsold. We thought he’d make a hundred grand plus. We can’t believe it.”

“What horse was that?” I asked.

“The Holy Roman Emperor” she says and he was just after walking into the stable beside me. You wouldn’t believe it, it was like winning the Lotto! So I said I’d have a look at him and I knew straight away. I said nothing, kept talking away about the Rock Of Gibraltar horse, although of course I’d lost all interest in him.

Eventually I asked about this other fella and Fiona said there was a 20 grand reserve on him but I said I’d only 10. Fiona rang up Eva and told her the story, and once she heard it was me offering the 10, she said ‘Sell him to Pat.’ When we walked into the office, my hand was shaking. I couldn’t believe I was getting this horse for 10 grand.

And what was wrong with him? They were gone off the sire and he wasn’t walking that great in the ring but I thought he was the nicest horse I’d ever seen. I have unreal craic with Eva and Fiona over it now.

I didn’t sell any share in him because I wanted to be free to sell him. And that would always be the plan. If I had a couple of million in the bank, I would love to have held onto him but we have to get money to pay staff, bills and keep the place going.

Designs On Rome wasn’t really a two-year-old but he was so good he was able to win at two for us in Naas. He finished second then to Dawn Approach in the National Stakes and Danny Grant said to me if he’d another furlong he’d have won by three lengths. Seven furlongs was too short but as we saw in Hong Kong so often, he needed time to warm up, be last the whole way and then swoop around the outside to win.

When we sold him, I sent a message to his trainer, John Moore, that this would be one of the best horses that ever came into Hong Kong.

Myself and my son Mark flew over to watch him run in the Hong Kong Derby. It was some excitement when he won that. It was great to see him perform at such a high level and be named Horse of the Year. He won four Group 1s, including the Hong Kong Gold Cup twice.

It hasn’t had any positive impact on me other than the great money I got for him. I got no orders for two-year-olds or anything out of it. Sometimes you wonder what you have to do when you bought a horse like him, broke him and trained him. But that’s how it is.

We have always been a dual purpose yard and had some great days, with Montelado and French Ballerina winning the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, She’s Our Mark winning three Group 3s and Bahrain Storm winning the Galway Hurdle and the Grimes Hurdle.

French Ballerina was something else — she won a couple of listed races on the flat too and was probably the best we ever trained. I know it’s easy to say it now but she would have won the Gold Cup at Ascot when she broke her leg. Seamie Heffernan said she felt like a hovercraft going down to the start. Sue and John Magnier were with me when I saddled her up and they remarked on how magnificent she looked. She was absolutely glistening and in super form.

That started off a very bad run for us but we’re tipping away now building it back up. My son Stephen is getting very interested and we’re upping the ante now.

We have around 35 riding out at the moment, but would probably only have about 12 to go to war with.

We’re breaking 10 two-year-olds for next year now. The dearest one cost 30 grand and the rest of them are 10, 12, 15, but we’ll be hoping to sell enough of them to pay the bills. I have one very nice Starspangledbanner filly for next year that could be very nice.

Over jumps, Marmalade N Toast is going to be a very nice horse. He won first time out but was gone weak on us but he’s back in action and we’re very fond of him. He’ll run in Dundalk Friday if he gets in. I’m not sure he’d win there but he’ll win a hurdle race alright. Meanwhile, we’ll keep looking for the next champion.

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