Comeback kid Cian O’Connor
While Olympic boxing champion Katie Taylor enjoys well-earned plaudits, elsewhere a remarkable performance in the showjumping ring has brought an unexpected boost to the Irish horse sport sector.
Cian O’Connor’s bronze medal will cheer up the thousands of people working across the rural economy and should raise the profile of Irish breeders, riders and trainers.
O’Connor’s horse, Blue Lloyd 12, is Norwegian bred. Nevertheless, these Olympics have been good for Irish breeders, with three of the top 10 horses sourced here.
If ever there was a comeback kid, it is 32-year-old O’Connor, grandson of Rugby Triple Crown winner, the late Karl Mullen. Eight years ago, O’Connor appeared to have landed Ireland’s first medal, a gold, at the Athens Olympics only to be stripped of it after his horse tested positive.
He arrived at the London Games only after Denis Lynch, the German-based Irish showjumper, was forced to withdraw.
O’Connor was unfazed, but since the Athens controversy he has opted to keep the head down and build from the ground up a serious business operation. He has also raised serious questions about the running of the Irish equestrian industry.
The Olympian is currently based out of the Waterside Stud near Tara, within striking distance of Dublin airport. There he operates Karlswood Stables, having leased the premises for the past six years. Not so long ago, there were 40 horses at Karlswood — this has fallen to 25, although O’Connor can accommodate a further 15 visiting horses. “I need to generate around €500,000 a year. I have to find a balance between the business and my riding. I am often too busy doing the business side.”
O’Connor is one of a minority of international showjumpers who operates out of Ireland. While keen to stress that it is winning a medal that really counts, he is aware of the potential commercial implications of the win.
Already, he coaches many overseas riders and is heavily involved in the buying and selling of horses.
As he tells the Irish Examiner, “I am quite sought after in the Middle East. It is all about building a reputation — I had to get a reputation as a guy who will sell a good horse. You get back what you put in.”
The recession has had an impact across the horse world, but internationally, there are still plenty of buyers out there.
Early in his career, O’Connor received backing from Anthony O’Reilly. Cian rode, with considerable success, a horse called Waterford Crystal. The O’Reilly connection led many to believe that young Cian was very much on the pig’s back. This was not the case, he says. “I was given a serious leg up with the horses, but not a financial sponsorship.” In fact, only now with the medal in hand can O’Connor contemplate the possibility of a major sponsorship.
Max Clifford will not be on the phone, but there could be real openings.
O’Connor is hatching other plans. He is planning a move to a new base, or “centre of excellence” near to his present operation. He is involved in a breeding joint venture in Kilkenny. He expects this will grow in importance, eventually taking over when his career winds down.
Cian acknowledges the achievements of Noel Duggan at Millstreet. He believes that Dublin would be the best location for an indoor venue, with existing facilities at the RDS and Citywest being obvious runners.
O’Connor has been something of a thorn in the side of the establishment in the form of Horse Sport Ireland and the Equestrian Federation, while at the same time having clocked up a huge number of ‘caps’ representing Ireland in Grand Prix events.
He has called for an overhaul of the sport with a view to increasing investment from horse owners. Ironically, his medal win owes a lot to the efforts of compatriots Denis Lynch and Corkman Billy Twomey in carving out individual places for Irish riders.
He has criticised the governing body for the lack of a support mechanism for riders operating from Ireland while acknowledging the efforts of Team manager Robert Splaine and the investment from Horse Sport Ireland, whose chairman, Joe Walsh, was a long serving Agriculture Minister.
The costs of transport of horses to events alone can be crippling. The Economist recently estimated that the bill for transport of a showjumper between London and the US runs to almost €20,000. O’Connor helps to defray these costs with trips to the Middle East, offering his services as a coach. He calls on the authorities to be more proactive in negotiating group travel and insurance packages for those whom he describes as “ambassadors of sport”.
One of O’Connor’s horse owners is the trainer, Jim Bolger. He agrees that the thoroughbred race horse breeders provide an important template for the showjumpers, but whatever his frustrations he will be unlikely to move his base abroad.
“I’m a home bird.” And newly married since New Year’s Eve, he now has a nesting partner.
* Age: 32.
* Born: Dublin.
* Grew up in Poulaphuca, Wicklow, the US and Kildare.
* Education: Belvedere Jesuit College, Dublin.
* Family: Married to Ruth Maybin. Sister is model Pippa O’Connor.
* Career: Member of 85 Irish Nations Cup teams; Ranked 75th in the world; Bronze medal winner, individual showjumping, London Olympics.
* Other: Owner of Waterside Stud; Involved with Andrew Hyland in breeding business, Kilkenny.
Irish sports horse sector:
* Economic worth: €400m per annum.
* Full-time job equivalent: 16,000.
* Numbers regularly involved with sport horses in Ireland: 53,000.
* December 2005 report by Karen Hennessy, Katherine Quinn, UCD.
* Irish horses ridden by leading overseas riders: High Kingdom ridden by Zara Phillips, three-day event team, gold medal winner, London Olympics.
Flexible part of US team, London Olympics.
Temple Road ridden by top 10 Ukrainian rider, London showjumping Olympics.
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