‘Last year, things really started to click for us. Our horses were running well’

Slane trainer Pat Downey will host his first HRI open morning on Sunday 8th October in what promises to be a fun and exciting day for anyone who attends the stables.

The HRI open mornings are an initiative set up by horse racing’s regularity board to give people an opportunity to see behind the scenes at trainers' yards and to incentivise more people to get involved in racing

This week, Pat gave the Meath Chronicle an insight into the day-to-day operation of training horses, the struggles of being a smaller fish in a big pond and what people can expect from his open morning.

Pat has spent his whole life around horses. His father bred some incredible horses including a Champion Novice Hurdle winner at Punchestown and a Galway Plate winner.

“I was brought up with horses all my life. My parents were breeders and very successful breeders at that. They had Grade 1 winners such as The Wad who won the Champion Novice Hurdle in Punchestown. We had Chow Mein who won the 1985 Galway Plate. Our family have been breeding since. One mare here has bred about 20 winners alone herself," he explained.

“Twelve years ago, we started training horses.

“A neighbour of ours, John Rogers, a former attorney general, was influential in getting us going. He has always supported us and continues to do so. We were doing a lot of pre-training and breaking at the time and he convinced us to stop doing all the work for other trainers.

"We started out at the point-to-points and began to grow slowly. Last year, things really started to click for us. Our horses were running well. My daughter Heather came on board more which made a huge difference. We have continued to learn and continue to grow.”

Heather is the third generation of Downey’s to fall in love with the game of horse racing. Known among those in the industry for her work with Equuip and HRI, she is now a staple in her father's business.

Along with regular duties such as race planning and looking after entries and declarations, Heather has used the skills gained from her career to build up the yard's presence on social media.

“I didn’t have much interest in horses until Dad started training," said Heather. "Then when we had our first winner I fell in love with the game. I did equine business in college. I would have worked for a good few of the race courses through school and collegedoing marketing work and that kind of thing.

"I would have a good role on the ground here in that regard. Through my work with Equuip and HRI, I am very lucky to be able to visit some of the top yards in the country. I am always trying to see what they are doing and bring some ideas back here.

"I help out as well with the race planning and the entries and declarations and all that sort of stuff. I also do all of our social media channels. We have found social media has been a great help to us in promoting ourselves and our winners and we have built up a nice following on it which is great.”

Advantages of small trainer over bigger yards

While Pat may not have the same resources and funding as some of the larger yards, he believes that he can provide owners with a more personal experience and hence provide better value for money than some of the bigger operations.

“There are some owners out there who might feel that the big trainers are unattainable. They would like to have a more one-to-one relationship with their trainer. We are very open. We will get owners in here at any time, particularly when the horses are doing fast work. We try and get them tickets for the races and different things like that to build up the relationship there. We would be very adamant that our owners feel welcome here and that they are getting value for their money.

“I still think more can be done to help smaller trainers such as ourselves. There was an initiative at Kilbeggan’s last meeting where there was a race for horses with trainers who had less than 15 winners the previous season.

"Those sorts of things give the smaller fella a chance. You know most of the big races are filled up with the top five or six trainers. Personally, I don’t think that is good for the sport. The more spread out and localised trainers are the better.

"Our community in Slane here gives us great support, but the bigger yards soak that local support away from the game. It is not good for the industry.”

Facilities and Method

Pat maintains that improvements in facilities as well as alternative training methods are the key to a huge improvement in the performances of his horses. Another key aspect of that success is ensuring that all the horses in the yard are fully healthy. Pat puts a huge emphasis on the welfare of the horses in his care.

“We have 13 horses in training and a few breakers as well. We have room here for 33 horses. Last autumn we built a new gallop which cost us €120,000. As a result, our horses have been running really well since. It’s a flat three-and-a-half-furlong gallop with 12 inches of sand on it. The deep sand is key to their fitness. We believe that horses get an awful lot of pelvic issues and hill training is a contributor to that.

"My view is to have them do the same piece of work on a flatter gallop. It is less stressful on their bodies and you know we are seeing good results from that method.

“We have improved massively in terms of fitness, quality staff but also the health of our horses. The health of our horses is very important for us. We would take a healthy horse who is not 100 per cent fit over a fit horse who is not healthy.

"We make sure we do our best for the horses that are in our care in that regard. We have Ted McLoughlin who works on our horses’ backs. The difference that he is making is phenomenal. We have seen the effects of that in our results as well.

"Nearly every horse in our yard at the moment has won or been placed and we attribute a lot of that to the job we do on the wellbeing and health of our horses.”

Open morning

Pat and Heather have a huge day of activities planned for their open morning on Sunday 8th October. There will be an MC to welcome people and carry out some interviews. The staff will do some work on the gallops. Everyone will be able to get close to the action in that regard.

Jason McKeown is going to do a demo on dentistry. Farrier Cathal Tuite will also do a demo.

There will also be a simulator so people can have a go at riding a finish on that. The Downeys want to immerse anyone that comes in everything that goes on here and show that they are very definitely a yard on the rise.