TDN Horses of the Year: Moss Tucker

We all have our favourites, and this week members of TDN Europe's editorial team each select a horse who provided particular enjoyment in 2023. Kicking off the series, Brian Sheerin puts forward the case for the sprinter whose victory in the G1 Flying Five was made all the more special by his human connections.

I don't know about you, but I love an underdog story. Perhaps that is why I fell in love with National Hunt racing at a young age.

Danoli (Ire), Bobbyjo (Ire) and Papillon (Ire) developed something of a cult following in the late nineties and early noughties in Ireland while Flemenstar (Ire) is another who caught the imagination when mopping up a host of Grade 1s for the late Peter Casey, one of the game's great characters.

Sadly, it has been far too long since racing has supplied its audience with a narrative to grab hold of. Not only that, but the David and Goliath stories that we used to dine out on in the jumps sphere are now few and far between.

The tables have turned. It seems as though the smaller trainers and owners can now hold genuine hopes of coming across a horse capable of mixing it at the highest level on the Flat. It's just not the same over jumps any more.

Take Moss Tucker (Ire) winning the Flying Five for example. Already a Classic-winning trainer, Ken Condon is hardly what you would describe as a smaller trainer, but this is a result that resonated with many given that the horse was bred by his owner and former Munster rugby legend Donal Spring. Part of the Munster side which famously took the scalp of the All Blacks in Thomond Park back in 1978, Spring has a history of producing sporting shocks.

Moss Tucker, named in honour of Spring's teammates, the late Moss Keane and Colm Tucker, was said to have about as much chance of winning the Flying Five as the experts gave that fabled Munster side of blindsiding the All Blacks. But therein lies the beauty of sport.

Moss Tucker embodied everything that is brilliant about the game, chewing up the script and spitting out high-class sprinters like Highfield Princess (Fr), Bradsell (GB) and Art Power (Ire) in the process.

It must be said, the heavy rain that fell before the race was in Moss Tucker's favour. But take nothing away from Condon's charge, who fought tooth and nail for his big day and was thoroughly deserving of a breakthrough win at the highest level.

But it's the human side of this story that propels Moss Tucker to being one of the results of the year. You will be hard pressed to find a man who is as well-liked and respected universally as Condon. One of racing's good guys, Condon goes about his business in an understated manner and Moss Tucker proved once again that he is deadly when given the ammunition.

By Excelebration (Ire) and out of a mare who won twice over hurdles as well as on the Flat, where she reached a modest mark of 76, Moss Tucker would have raised few predictions of Group 1 aspirations, not least over sprint distances. But here is a horse who has benefited from Condon's softly-softly approach, culminating with that big-race triumph at the Irish Champions Festival on his 30th racecourse start.

It should also be noted that Moss Tucker winning the Flying Five came off the back of a below-par season by Condon's high standards.

He has trained just nine winners in 2023, down from 17 in 2022 and 18 in the Classic-winning season the Curragh operator sent out Romanised (Ire) to land the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2020.

To produce a result like Moss Tucker winning the Flying Five, one of the most fiercely-contested sprints in Europe, off the back of a difficult season is a measure of what a good trainer Condon is.

Billy Lee riding Moss Tucker sugar-coated what was one of the sweetest successes of the year. Criminally under-appreciated, Lee is pound-for-pound one of the best riders in Britain and Ireland and would almost certainly have been crowned champion in his native country by now had God blessed him by being an inch or two shorter.

 

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Brian Sheerin Appointed Sales Editor

Brian Sheerin has been promoted to sales editor for TDN Europe and will oversee the publication's extensive coverage of bloodstock auctions across all sectors.
Sheerin, who is based in Dublin, joined the TDN in May 2022 as an associate editor after six years working for the Racing Post in Ireland.
“The bloodstock sales calendar in Europe is growing all the time and, since Brian joined TDN, it is an area which he has embraced,” said TDN's European editor Emma Berry. “Through his extensive contacts and knowledge, Brian will undoubtedly continue to enhance our coverage of this vital sector of the breeding industry. It is a pleasure to work with someone who shows such enthusiasm and initiative.”
Brian Sheerin said, “I am extremely proud to be a part of the team behind the leading daily bloodstock publication. I'd especially like to thank Gary King and Emma Berry for introducing me to many of the great characters in the bloodstock industry and for helping me to share their stories since I joined the TDN Europe team last year. I'm excited to endeavour to continue to produce engaging content surrounded by a brilliant team of writers.”

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Brian Sheerin Joins TDN Europe

Brian Sheerin has joined the TDN as Associate Editor of TDN Europe. Based in Dublin, Sheerin has extensive knowledge and experience of the racing and bloodstock industry having spent six years with the Racing Post in Ireland, as well as contributing to the Irish Field and Racing TV. Prior to his journalistic roles, he worked as head lad for trainer Martin Lynch and for Galway Racecourse. 

Gary King, TDN's Senior Vice President, said, “We are delighted to welcome Brian to the TDN's European team. Having someone based full-time in Ireland, with Brian's experience and ability, will give our editorial coverage an extra dimension. We are always looking at new ways to inform and entertain, and Brian will be integral to those plans.”

Sheerin will work alongside TDN's Newmarket-based team of Emma Berry, Alayna Cullen and Sean Cronin, as well as Tom Frary in France and Gary King and Heather Anderson in the U.S. The team is supported by top journalists in TDN America and the feature writing of Chris McGrath and John Berry.

“I am delighted to have joined the team at TDN and am hugely excited for the future,” said Sheerin. “I have been a TDN subscriber for the past decade and the opportunity to work alongside some of the most esteemed voices of bloodstock on an international scale is a dream come true.

“I have had a lot of fun working with the Racing Post in Ireland, where I have forged and developed relationships with some of the leading stakeholders in Irish racing over the past six years, and I look forward to immersing myself in the world of bloodstock in the coming months and years with TDN.”

He added, “Bloodstock has always been an area of the industry that I have been fascinated with and I can't wait to roll up my sleeves and produce engaging content that will showcase some of the great characters and stories in the game that I love.”

TDN's European Editor Emma Berry said, “It's fantastic to have someone of Brian's obvious enthusiasm join our small, dedicated team of people who live and breathe racing and bloodstock. Ireland is obviously a hugely important country when it comes to matters of the Thoroughbred, and Brian's appointment can only enhance our coverage of the European industry, which is second to none.”

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