Red bull will give wings to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown pedigree Angus sale next week
Michael O’Leary of Ryanair says there is no need to wear his famous lucky tweed racing jacket at his Gigginstown House Angus sale on Saturday week.
“The bull sale is run by Joe [farm manager Joe O’Mahony] and he has a great team of people who work on the farm.” he says.
“There will be no need for the jacket and besides, it would be highly inappropriate at the bull sale, since I would probably get it filthy in no time.
“I generally go to the bull sale wearing plenty of old clothes. It’s not an event suited to the tweed jacket.”
He was wearing the jacket when his racehorses won top events such the Aintree Grand National last Saturday and in 2016, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But his attention switches to his cattle at the Gigginstown House Angus sale, on Saturday, April 28, at Fennor Farm, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, beginning at 12 noon.
On offer will be 50 pedigree Angus cattle, evenly split between bulls and heifers. All are rated four-star or five-star for Euro-Star breeding index.
“The heifers will be a mix of maiden heifers, in-calf heifers and some with calves at foot”, says O’Leary.
“The bulls are aged between a year and a year and a half, and are suitable for both dairy and beef farmers.”
Because of our location, we tend to get a great deal of buyers from both the North and the South. And we deliver purchases too, with Joe perfectly happy to head down south, any excuse really to head to his beloved West Cork.
“The Beef Data Genomics Programme is something that works well with us. The ratings we received were high to start with, and with a requirement that 50% of your herd needs to be 4 to 5-star by October 2020, this means we should see continued interest in our sales.
“This year, the weakness in sterling may deter some Northern buyers, although we have a very good repeat business from buyers and breeders [75% of Angus buyers at Gigginstown are repeat buyers].
“The one advantage of holding our Angus sale a little later this year means that the weather will hopefully have settled down, cattle will be out, and farmers will be looking forward to the breeding season, instead of looking back at the winter.
“This year, we will also have a few red Angus cattle on offer. One bull and two heifers.
“I’m fascinated by the way people come from the four corners of the country to buy red Angus. They are a rarity, and usually sell remarkably well.
Our sale is not the biggest bull sale in the country, but it has a solid reputation. It’s run well. We are not in the business of puffing stock. Cattle are sold without a reserve. We stand over our stock and look after our buyers.
“We also try and provide a day out for other members of the family, with face painting, bouncy castle and catering available, and also, as in previous years, former champion racehorses like Don Cossack will be on display, hopefully making it more than just your typical bull sale."
Speaking of racehorses, I asked the Gigginstown boss about his recent successes at Cheltenham [which have since been crowned by his Tiger Roll winning one of the world’s most famous races, the Aintree Grand National].
“I wouldn’t look at it in what was achieved by Gigginstown, but what was achieved by this country,” says O’Leary.
“I think what has been achieved by Ireland over the past number of years has been phenomenal.”
“We are living in a golden age, certainly, of National Hunt racing in Ireland.
“Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliot are rewriting the history books. The fact that both of them are based here in Ireland is a fantastic thing.
“I’m old enough to remember when, at the turn of the century, we’d be lucky to have one winner at Cheltenham during the week.
“We had 19 winners two years ago. This year we had 17 winners out of 28.
“And what is really fantastic coming from the success, is that people can now go to Fairyhouse on the Easter weekend or Punchestown at the end of April and see these champion racehorses in action, the winners at Cheltenham coming back and racing here on their doorstep.”
What was his own highlight at Cheltenham? Was there one moment in the week that really summed up success?
Was it the cheerful wave of an old friend? Or the kindly words of a wise old racing sage?
“No,” Michael replies, in his matter of fact way.
“It was much more selfish than that. It was winning the Ryanair Chase.
“I’ve spent 14 years sponsoring the Ryanair Chase. 14 years, and I never managed to win it. I had been second four times, third three times. I had been placed seven times and never won it.
“I go to Cheltenham every year hoping to win the Gold Cup or Champion Hurdle. But short of winning these races, the one I’d most like to win is the Ryanair Chase.
“We won it this year with Balko Des Flos, and we probably won’t win it for another 14 years, that was my undoubted highlight in Cheltenham. It was the first time in my entire life that my wife presented me with some jewellery. Usually the jewellery is going the other way!”
The contribution played by Irish farmers in breeding first rate racehorses is enormous, according to O’Leary.
“We have a wonderful tradition here in Ireland of farmers keeping three of four mares. And when you look at the most successful jump racing horses, you will find that nearly all were bred on Irish farms.
“Horses like Samcro were bred by individual breeders here in Ireland. There is a huge value in this.”
Back to Cheltenham, and this ‘lucky’ tweed jacket of Michael O’Leary’s that made headlines during the Cheltenham racing week.
How much did it cost? How lucky is it? And does your wife really hate it?
“It only cost about 150 quid. I bought it in some shop in Dublin. I thought it was a great buy, but my wife hates it.
“The first year I wore it to Cheltenham, we won the Gold Cup.
“And than about three weeks later, I wore it to Aintree and we won the Grand National, with Rule The World.
“So from then on, it became my lucky jacket.
“This year at Cheltenham, I didn’t wear it on Tuesday, and we had no winners.
“I wore it on Wednesday and we had two winners. I wore it again on Friday and we had two more winners.
“Now I said to my wife, ‘I don’t care if you like it or not, it’s my lucky jacket.’”
