The best of both worlds
I MAY have just committed journalist suicide. I am standing on the edge of Ballydoyle, the most famous equine postal code in the world, on a mild January morning to meet a man about a dog.
Forty-eight hours earlier, one of its most famous residents, George Washington, had been named the top two-year-old in Europe while stable companions like Oratorio, Horatio Nelson and Scorpion are among seven Aidan O'Brien-trained horses highlighted in international rankings.
And instead of delivering, or worse still even attempting to deliver, a world exclusive on this most fabled place and its inhabitants, I choose to drive past the imposing entry gates and am heading down a mazy side road far from the hustle, bustle and potential award-winning headline yarns that for a few seconds lurked so agonisingly close.
Kevin Barry knows my pain. Barry loves horses too. But he loves dogs more. Born and raised in the shadow of this Premier County paradise, he has spent all his working life in the employment of first Vincent and then Aidan O'Brien and John Magnier.
In past times he used to ride out some of the best talents in the game, while in later years he ensures that the grass gallops are maintained to the exact specifications of his paymasters. And while the O'Brien name is synonymous with the flat racing game, Barry is bidding to stake his own claim in the coursing world as his stud dogs are responsible for not one but two dogs heading the betting for the Irish Derby. And for good measure he also trains Derby hopeful Doonard House and Oaks candidate Dawn Air.
The family had a long tradition in dogs. But as a hobby. In a place where the local sports field is called Nijinksy Park, well, you can guess where people's priorities lie.
"My brother Pio and myself have always tricked about with dogs but only as a sideline," admits Barry.
"But in recent years stud dogs have come more and more into play."
The interest was sparked by the legendary Brendan Matthews, who produced top sires like Newry Hill and Hilltown.
If you look for a definition of coursing institution, take it Matthews' picture wouldn't be too far away.
"I met Brendan through the dogs. I did a lot of work for Matt O'Donnell years ago on the track scene and that time I used to do a lot of driving - especially the long distance trips like Dunmore Park - and that is where I first came to know Brendan.
"The Matthews family were always a great help and great friends, not just for me but for a lot of doggy people coming up from this side.
"You must remember that we were going up North during troubled times and it was always better to be with someone who knew the ropes. Had you got lost, it was not the place to be driving around at night trying to explain away your southern registration and a couple of dogs."
Matthews convinced Barry that he should consider this new route. "We had seen these 'flying machines' in action but obviously their ability at stud would be unknown.
"As everyone in the game knows, just because they are top performers doesn't mean that they will carry that through at stud. But there is a higher chance - it is the same with the horses. If you have class there is a better chance that you will breed class.
"As the fellow said, they don't pick it up off the side of the road either. Class comes down the line."
The truth of that theory may be decided in the next week as the well -fancied progeny of Bar Time, Courthouse and Multibet are running at Clonmel and as Barry says matter-of-factly, it "will tell the tale if they are going to really make it or not.
"We are going in with the two market leaders in the Derby which is a big thing. Can we get a result? I don't know."
The first is Musical Time (out of Bar Time), a dog for which Barry has a special affinity. "I bred and reared Musical Time and from day one he always showed he had class. He always looked a very active and speedy dog."
What should have been an easy passage for qualification became something of a struggle.
"We started out in Killsheelan where we were more than confident of winning the trial stake. But things went badly wrong.
"He opened his first course very impressively but met with problems in his second course, which he still won, but we were not happy that all was well. We played safe and withdrew him and we found out later that there were problems. So we were happy that the decision was justified because we could have caused serious damage if we had continued to run him."
Despite that decision, word was out. Barry had something special.
"We were left with a talking dog with nothing won," he continues. "He had caught the imagination of the public because he had been seen and his clocks were fast. A lot of people knew as much about him as we did ourselves.
"That generated a lot of talk. One night at a friend's house, I got a phone call from Patsy Byrne in London.
"I did have business with him before as we had Castle Pines here during the off season and had a few other dogs of his."
"Byrne got quickly to the point: 'I hear you have a fast dog,' he said. "We spoke about it briefly and he admitted that he had an interest in buying him. That put me in a bit of a position because it was hard to value that kind of a dog. After a few days we hummed and hawed about it before coming to a deal which hopefully both of us will relish."
Barry admits that selling to Byrne made the process a little easier. After all, they knew each other and the new owner was happy to leave the dog in Ballydoyle for training - though in the end both agreed that the legendary Pa Fitzgerald in Tralee would assume such responsibilities.
But while all this was going on, the dog was busy gearing up for another tilt at qualifying for Clonmel and the Listowel Trial Stake was targeted as it was only a 16.
Musical Time beat Uhoomagoo in the final and was assured a spot at next week's festival.
But that was not the end of an amazing day. Three minutes later, another star of Barry's breeding paddock was being cheered home.
Bexhill Eoin, son of Multibet and Eoin Ćg, romped to victory over Bradley. The bookmakers moved quickly to install Bexhill Eoin and Musical Time as first and second favourites respectively for the Derby.
"To see two top dogs in that space of time at the one meeting is unusual enough, but to have both is beyond all dreams. It is not easy to lay your hands on those kinds of dogs."
Was he surprised by the outcome - and the bookmakers' response? "We did know our own fellow (Musical Time) had a lot of class and the other fellow had shown us a lot in the few weeks before Newcastle West. There was no doubt that he was not fully wound up so we were more than happy with his performance and are thinking there are bigger things ahead."
Brendan Matthews showed interest soon after and acquired a half share in Bexhill Eoin from the owners, Glin duo Conor Sheehan and John Barrett, and subsequently the dog left Tipperary to be trained by him. "He wouldn't go backwards after leaving here," adds Barry. "Pa and Brendan are the best in the business. They are the top two men."
So if they are the top men, what would be their canine equivalent?
"I don't think I will ever see anything better than Hilltown," admits Barry. "Hopefully one of these two might be in time though! But he was something special. He was a great Derby winner but to really prove it he came back the year after and won the Champion Stakes. For me that really is the sign of a really great dog. There are a lot of good dogs but they only appear for a season. And I wouldn't give them full credit unless the came back and did it in an All Age.
"It is the same in the horses - you can have a real fast two-year-old but he is not a real horse, in my opinion, unless he comes back and does it again a year after."
How does all the work get done?
"We manage by working hard. It is early morning starts with the dogs. I am up at 6am with them and then start the real job at 8am. And Pio, Rita and young Emily all play their parts, as do my father and mother who live close by.
"There is always an hour in the day that someone is called on to do something with the dogs at some stage.
"The dogs are exercised in the morning but it is not bright enough to gallop at that time so we do that at lunchtime. A lot of people ask me have I a walking machine and I just point to Rita. But there is none of us who are shy about walking or galloping.
"If one is walking, the other can be getting feeds ready or vice versa. As Brendan Matthews is famous for saying: 'Never take your eye off the ball' and we try and live by that.
"But we are so lucky to have top -class facilities in Ballydoyle to exercise the dogs, which Mr Magnier does not mind."
"Some of the lads have developed an interest," he agrees. "One lad, David Hickey, is always there if we are stuck. He has a dog, along with Christy Ryan and Frank Hickey which won a reserve trial stake in Johnstown."
But what is the secret to winning? What is that sets the likes of Barry apart from those men and women applying science and technology in the pursuit of Clonmel glory?
"You must have your eye in," he explains. "It is when there is something wrong with the dogs that it is most important to have that ability to spot something is amiss.
"You must keep an eye in; when things go wrong you must be able to spot it and take immediate action.
"If you are on a winning streak you can be hard to topple - things will just keep going your way. But more often than not you get the other side of it. When you are on top enjoy it and when you are down you just have to suffer it, stick with it and get back in there.
"With Clonmel your luck starts the night of the draw. If you start the meeting right, it is a huge boost. It is six rounds of tough competition and there is no place to hide.
"Hopefully the results that come off the grass will bounce onto the dogs.
"We would hope to continue on the good name of Ballydoyle. It is lucky ground up there."
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