There is a sign on the way into the East Cork village where Jimmy Mangan lives which declares boldly – "Conna – the home of Monty’s Pass." To many people this information might not mean much, but to those in the know, it highlights the fact that this tiny hamlet is a nest of National Hunt racing fervour and its proudest son won the sport’s biggest prize the Aintree Grand National in 2003.
‘Monty,’ of course was trained by the ebullient Conna native and he still resides at the handler’s base from where a modest string of just ten racehorses are sent out to represent the parish. There are many more horses on Jimmy’s farm because training is only part of the operation as the Corkman does a huge amount of business buying and selling and breeding racing and sport horses.
But it was Monty who put him on the map and the local celebrations when he won – he was paraded through Conna with the Castlelyons Pipe Band at the head of affairs – were long and joyous. Trade in the aptly named local – ‘The Winners’ Enclosure’ – was dynamite for weeks. And, the thing is that the pipe band might have to dust down their instruments again next April, because Jimmy Mangan has a new star in his yard.
Owned by some of the syndicate which owned Monty, this year’s Thyestes Chase winner Whinstone Boy is now headed for Aintree and has already been backed from 50/1 to 33/1 to follow in his illustrious companion’s hoof-prints.
Jimmy says that while Whinstone Boy has had a few problems in his career, there has been nothing major enough to hold him back in his career.
"He was bred in Belfast by one of the owners, but there is a local involvement because his dam was bred by Bobby McCarthy of the Beeches Stud down the road in Tallow. He did have a few problems with tendons and had a bit of a chip removed from his stifle – small things like that. In fairness, the owners were inclined to lose a bit of patience with him by times, but they gave him the time and they have been rewarded. He came good."
Ironically, if Whinstone Boy had not won the Thyestes, he’d never made the cut in the National because he was too far down in the weights, but Jimmy is happy with what the British handicapper allotted him – 10 st 4 lbs – and he will be ridden there again by Sean Flanagan who is a grand up-and-coming jockey.
"Even though he’s never been to Aintree, he gets on well with the horse and I hate upsetting a good combination," the trainer remarks.
In this regard, Jimmy says that there are a huge amount of talented young jockeys here in Ireland, but they are being stymied by the fact that they have come along at the same time as Paul Carberry, Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty, Davy Russell.
But it was Flanagan who was on board Whinstone Boy in the Thyestes and the trainer says that was a fantastic result, particularly as his father had won it 29 years previously. "It is a big race," he says, "and great horses have won it down the years – including the mighty Arkle. But for our fella, the National was never really the target all along, but we could see that he was a versatile horse and he had won over hurdles and fences over a variety of distances. And, he had been handicapped well, so it was possible to do things with him. In fact he had only run once over fences in public before the Thyestes, so that’s why he was on such a good mark for that race."
Going to Liverpool with such a relative novice over fences does not present Jimmy with much of a problem, particularly, as he says, the fences at Gowran take a lot of jumping. "Really and truly, he didn’t touch a twig that day," he reflects.
The horse carried a favourable 9 st 11 lbs over the three miles of the Thyestes, but when asked to carry 11 st 12 lbs in Clonmel less than a fortnight later, once more he didn’t touch a twig and won well.
"He made all the running that day and won well in a race which was only two-and-a-half miles. Four-and-a-half miles – the National trip – will be no problem to him and the only problem might be fast ground. I would still be confident though because the ground is always safe in Liverpool. They have a proper watering system and because the race is watched worldwide, the ground always has to be safe and I’m good with that.
"It is great to be going back to Liverpool and winning the race with Monty was fantastic. Not too many people might have heard of me before that, but it was great for the yard because we are a family-run affair, really."
One son – Patrick – is a conditional jockey with Edward O’Grady, while the other – Brian – is training to be a farrier in Kildare. That leaves Jimmy, his wife Mary and daughter Jane are at home running the show.
"Everyone has to pull together if you want results and I think we do that," Jimmy remarks.
LOOKING back at his National success in 2003, Jimmy Mangan reckons that it was as much as surprise to himself as anyone else that the horse was eventually good enough to win it.
"Monty won his first race at a point-to-point in Tallow and if anyone told me that day that he’d win the National, I’d have said they were off their heads," he laughs. "He was no star when he was young, but he stayed sound. A horse that stays sound and lucky should progress and that’s what happened with him.
"He was a bit unheralded going into that National, but people should remember that the year before, he was entered in the Galway Plate and was the first reserve. At the very last minute another horse pulled out and he got in. As the race was going on, the two fences down in the dip at Ballybrit had to be omitted because there was a jockey down injured. So, the last fence was way over on the far side and it was a flat gallop all the way home from there and Michael O’Brien’s horse Dovaly got up to win with our fella second. If those two fences had not been out, we would have won for sure. But then, maybe if we’d won that we’d never have won at Aintree.
"Anyway, he won the Kerry National after Galway and he was also second in the Topham Trophy at Aintree, so we knew he’d handle the big fences and the longer trip. We did fancy him pretty well for the National and, of course, one of the owners [Northern Ireland punter Mike Futter] won over a million on him in the race. Pretty much everyone in Co Cork was on him and I met the bookie Liam Cashman at a do afterwards and he said to me: ‘I don’t know whether to congratulate you or beat you up – you cost me a fortune.’"
Recent times have not been so good and as Jimmy says: "The Tiger blew in a lot of fellows, but they blew out again fairly quickly." It is, he reckons, only really the real genuine horsey fellas who hung in there.
"Things are way tougher now and money is very tight, so you have to be very careful when you’re taking in new clients. A lot of them will have no bother just walking away, if things don’t go right. The thing is that you’ve got to run your show and pay the staff every week."
But Jimmy is a realist and the main part of his business is selling horses rather than training them. "I would not survive if that was not the case. Training fees alone would not sustain the place and even then there is plenty can happen with horses you send to the sale. They might not pass the Vet. or they might be sent back to you if they misbehave in a new yard, so you take nothing for granted.
"Monty’s Pass made 4,000 guineas as a foal, but only 4,200 as a three-year-old because he had a murmur in his heart which he still has to this day. The man who bought him as a foal made almost nothing from him, so you can see there are two sides to this business."
It is worth noting that Jimmy’s association with the National does not end with Monty’s Pass, as he originally had sold the 2002 winner Bindaree into Nigel Twiston-Davies’ yard having bought him as a yearling and sold him as a three-year-old. The 2004 winner Amberleigh House was also born in Conna, so the yard has a unique association with the winner of the National on three successive years.
And just to cap off his association with famous winners, he can also claim that the great Dawn Run was foaled on his farm, having been bred by the late John O’Riordan from Rathcormac, while the Champion Hurdle winner of 1956, Doorknocker, was also bred by his father.
And now, another has emerged: Whinstone Boy and – who knows – he may yet feature on the sign entering Conna which has already immortalised Monty’s Pass.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, March 06, 2010
