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Jamie Codd Q&A: The Legendary Rider Talks All Things Cheltenham And More

Jamie Codd is an amateur jockey in name only. One of the finest National Hunt riders that Ireland has ever produced, Codd can count 10 Cheltenham Festival winners to his name, and has strong claims of adding to his tally next week.

But it's not just about the action on the track with Codd. In his role with Tattersalls Ireland, Codd will put in many hours behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the Cheltenham Sale, of which Gold Cup livewire Bravemansgame and Brown Advisory Novice Chase hotpot Gerri Colombe are graduates.

In this week's Starfield Stud-sponsored Q&A, Codd talks about his Cheltenham Festival rides, his interests outside the saddle and much more.

Brian Sheerin: You have a good book of rides next week-what are you most looking forward to?

Jamie Codd: When you are riding for Gordon Elliott, he's one of the best trainers in Cheltenham Festival history, so, to be in the lucky position to be riding for him in the amateur races, you are going to be in with a chance of winning races there. I'm not sure if I have a standout ride at Cheltenham this year but I do have five or six who have good chances. That's all you can ask for going into any big festival.

And what would those 'good chances' be?

There are a few in the bumper-Time To Wait is there and Better Days Ahead would be a very good ride in that as well. I'll be happy to ride whichever one Gordon puts me up on. Dunboyne will be a very good ride in the Kim Muir and Chemical Energy has solid claims in the National Hunt Chase although Gaillard Du Mesnil looks the one to beat in that. What Chemical Energy has going for him though is course form so hopefully we can make a race of it.

“If there is a horse to beat Delta Work in the race, I think Galvin could be the one,”- Jamie Codd

Do you ride Galvin in the cross-country?

A lot of people have asked me that! I'd like to ride him but I haven't been told I'm riding him yet. Galvin hasn't been running well all year but Gordon has tweaked a few things with him since Christmas and the horse has been freshened up, put on weight and he looks fantastic now. He seems to be in good form so, if he comes back to last year's form and with the way he's taken to the cross-country in his schooling, then he has a big chance. If there is a horse to beat Delta Work in the race, I think Galvin could be the one.

It was terrible news about Jack Kennedy not being fit in time to ride next week. Would you envisage yourself playing more of a role for Gordon next week in the handicaps etc?

I wouldn't have thought so. I'd say the cross-country and the bumper might be the only ones outside of the amateur races that I will have a ride in. But in Jordan Gainford, Gordon has a really good young rider. Sam Ewing is coming along as well and Davy Russell and Denis O'Regan will obviously ride plenty as well. Between them, they are going to ride the majority of them.

How real is the worry of losing a race at Cheltenham because of the new whip rules?

I'm not worried about losing a race because, with the new rules, you know the number. I don't think many people are going five, six or seven over the number nowadays. Riders are conscious of the number and I don't think we will see any disqualifications.

But it's not just going over the limit because Brian Hughes got done for using his whip over the permitted height.

This is the thing. They tried to bring in the change with the whip in the backhand and the forehand and then that got quashed. Now they are going hard on the height. I do think that, when things are slowed down on camera, it makes it all look way worse. In real time, it doesn't look bad. Introducing the number, that should have been it. They should have left it at that. They seem to be treating jockeys very harshly and, when the backhand and forehand thing got quashed, they should have parked it with a view towards revisiting it all at the beginning of the new season. It's going to be very hard on the Irish jockeys going over there.

It's not just about the action on the track for you next week. The excitement must be building for the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale.

Absolutely. It's a busy week and we're hoping to have between 25 and 28 horses for the sale on Thursday night. The sale has become so popular and, when you have the likes of Bravemansgame, Gerri Colombe, Love Envoi, Envoi Allen, graduates like that, it's pretty impressive.

I can imagine that it's a bit of a balancing act for yourself.

It's a brilliant week and you have to enjoy it. I'll arrive on Monday morning and the sales horses will start to arrive shortly after that. On Tuesday morning, I'll ride out for Gordon and we usually pull out at around half seven. I ride one or two lots for him and then it's back down to the sales horses to touch base with vendors and get ready for the vetting process the following morning. All the horses get vetted on Wednesday and then the viewing will commence on from then right through to Thursday. It's a bit of a juggling act between riding out and in the races and then working at the sales but it all fits together. It's nice to be in a position to be able to juggle it all.

These boutique sales have taken on a life of their own. Did you ever think you'd see the day where National Hunt horses were regularly walking into a half a million at public auction?

When I started off point-to-pointing, there wasn't as much emphasis on those younger maidens but then you had your few people who were selling, the likes of Wilson Dennison, who was strong up north. The Costellos and Liam Burke were also very strong at the time. But the current era of point-to-point handlers have stepped into the market and started with the August Sale-type horse, you know, buying the 15-grand horse and trying to turn him into 30 or 40 grand. They did that quite successfully and kept building the thing up. Now they are operating at such a high level. It's amazing even the way training set-ups have progressed. The Flat operators have experienced something similar with the breeze-up sales. The breeze-ups and point-to-point handlers are almost pre-training and half-trying these young horses for the trainers. It's a longer wait if a trainer or an owner buys a yearling or a store. By paying more money for a horse who has come through the point-to-point system, you are hoping that you are getting a Bravemansgame or a Gerri Colmobe. That's the key thing.

That's it. And not only that, you don't have to buy as many yearlings or stores when you are buying the ready-made horse. That's probably factored into the thing.

One hundred per cent. When Gigginstown came into it, they bought a lot of stores-between 30 and 40 a year. Now, it did work but they went through a lot of horses. They have reined it back in and seem to be buying the form horses now and just the odd store horse as well. Everything evolves and this has gone to a new level with the point-to-point handlers pushing on. It has created a market that is viable and strong. Everybody wants a good horse, so maybe that's the only worrying thing, that the middle market might fall at some stage. But at the minute, we're going very well and there's plenty of good owners out there who are willing to spend the money.

Sean Doyle touched on the middle market when I was down with him-he said that the middle market is in many ways being propped up by the strength of the horses-in-training sales on the Flat. Gone are the days where a trainer can go and buy a few horses with a nice rating off the Flat to go jumping with. They've turned to the placed horses in point-to-points and even those who are winning the older maidens instead. Not only that, but Anthony Bromley said recently that, because France has become so expensive to buy out of, he's turned to buying the placed horses from the Irish points more and more as well.

Nail on the head. Guys like Sean Doyle and Anthony Bromley, they know the industry and the Flat market has gone extremely strong, largely driven by the demand for horses in the Middle East. The likes of Gordon, he'd to pay 225,000gns to buy Pied Piper, a good horse from off the Flat. So that's the level you have to go to if you want to compete with the foreign market for the good Flat horses. People find it easier to buy a point-to-pointer and they know what they are getting.

And what about the private market?

I think the strength of our sales drives the private market and that's a testament to what we have done. People want to go in and try and buy these horses privately but, ultimately, I think the sales ring prices them very well. Sometimes vendors would prefer to sell horses privately, and that may be to keep a relationship going with a trainer, but they all know that, if they have a good one, the sales ring is where they will make the most money. Walter Connors for example, he would sell a lot at home, but every now and again he'll throw one into the ring. He threw Envoi Allen into the ring and he made £400,000 and he got big money for a No Risk At All gelding recently as well.

Everyone knows you for being one of the best amateur jockeys of all time but what would you like to go on and achieve outside of the saddle with Tattersalls.

I don't know where the ceiling is in Tattersalls as it's a big company and there are a lot of layers to it. I am a representative for Tattersalls Ireland and I spend a lot of time on the road and do a lot of work at the racecourses and at the point-to-points. I look at the stores, the yearlings on the Flat and, while I don't know what the next step is, I am very happy with what I do and it allows me to have my racing and trade a little bit from our home place at Churchlands Stables. Tattersalls have opened up a lot of doors for me and they are a great company to work for and I enjoy it.

How many horses do you have at home and what's the breakdown?

I try to buy five to eight foals every year and then sell them on as stores. I could buy a Flat yearling to try and store as well. I could even buy a 3-year-old and put it in training with one of the lads, the likes of Denis Murphy for example, so I'm not tied down to one thing. I like to buy my foals and rear them and basically try and get a twist out of every horse that I buy.

And would you have any opinion on what is popular on the jumps side of things?

It's a hard time for a National Hunt stallion to get going in Ireland right now. We are probably quick to judge a stallion after his first year and then we can jump on the train when they do start to get results. The breeders know that the pinhookers are trying to get these horses on the select stores sales so they are breeding to the stallions who will do that. They are breeding to supply the pinhookers and the pinhookers are buying the horse who they feel will make as much money as possible at the store sales. It's a funny time but I do believe that a good stallion will always come through and Stowaway is a good example of that. It did take him a while to come through but he did come through. Blue Bresil and Walk In The Park are a good age now. It takes a while to make a stallion over jumps and some of those younger stallions, if they can get the results in the first three years, there's always a chance they can come back into fashion. Yeats for example, he's a bit of a forgotten horse, but his results on the track have been good. It is becoming a bit polarised but the pinhookers have driven that.

Is there anything under the radar that you have cottoned on to?

I'm a trader and will try to find value at whatever level. I could buy a foal from a thousand to 40 thousand. As long as I get my five foals every year, I'm happy enough. Once I see an angle in that horse, I'm happy. The game has become a bit fickle but there are stallions there who are covering big books-Affinisea and even Workforce is coming through now-and then the Coolmore stallions seem to be going well as well. Order Of St George and Crystal Ocean are doing good numbers. I don't know if I could nail down one and say that it is the second coming because I don't think anyone knows!

And away from your own interests at Cheltenham, what would you say you are most looking forward to next week?

I'm most looking forward to the Gold Cup. It's the pinnacle of the week and I think it's going to be a brilliant race. There are so many horses there with chances. You want Galopin Des Champs to be a superstar but then you have A Plus Tard, Conflated, Bravemansgame, Noble Yeats-there's so many. There is a list of seven or eight horses who I genuinely believe could win the Gold Cup. It's going to be a brilliant race and I'm really looking forward to it.

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Johnny Collins: ‘I Bounce Out Of Bed Every Morning – I Love This Job’

No shortage of hard work and bundles of perseverance lie behind Johnny Collins's achievement in turning his Brown Island Stables into one of the finest nurseries of equine talent there is.

It is all the more remarkable in that he achieved this with no racing background and just his own eye and pocket to get the whole thing off the ground.

Competitive and ambitious, the 46-year-old counts several million euros worth of stock at his County Cork base, which is the culmination of over 15 years producing top-class horses over both codes.

And when it comes to identifying young stock, few do it better. Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro), a dual Grade I winner and the best Flat horse that Collins has had through his hands, cost just $10,000 as a yearling at Keeneland but rocked into €170,000 at the Arqana breeze-up sale the following summer in 2012.

“You have to experience the disappointment for when they don't work out to appreciate the satisfaction for when it does,” – Johnny Collins

Then there has been mammoth success over jumps as well. Irish Champion Hurdle winner Petit Mouchoir (Fr) (Al Namix {Fr}) and Champion Bumper winner Relegate (Ire) (Flemensfirth) were the first big names to fly the flag in that sphere for Collins, who is now a regular sale-topping consignor at the major breeze-up and store sales in Europe.

With this year's breeze-ups on the horizon, Collins can count 24 2-year-olds to represent him from Dubai to Deauville. But it's not a case of just turning up. Oh no. Last year was forgettable to say the least as Collins took a haircut on a lot of his breezers and it was the stores that came to his rescue later in the spring.

It takes a certain amount of resolve to make this game pay. A great deal more of the stuff is required when things aren't exactly going your way. Taking his medicine is something Collins became accustomed to in the early days and, while success has been more plentiful in recent times, he has dealt with the disappointments the same right the way through: by building back bigger and stronger.

“My horses weren't good enough last year,” says Collins, straight to the point. “Even in tough years, if we had good horses and they performed well, we never had any trouble selling them. It's when your stock is below average, that's when you'll suffer.

“But, every now and then, you need a shake to keep yourself focussed in this game. That will open your eyes and remind you that it's not that simple. If it was only a matter of going around and buying them with your eyes closed, well then anyone could do it.”

He added, “You can get complacent at this job. You could think you can walk on water sometimes and that everything you touch will turn to gold. We didn't have a good year last year. Our first sale was our best sale at the Craven and after that we probably just held our own. I probably just about washed my face with the breezers. But then I'd a very good year with the stores.

“The one thing you wouldn't want to do when you've had a bad year is to go and change too many things. What we've done in the past few years in developing horses and the system here, it works, so there's no point in changing that. All that part of it is fine. We just didn't have enough good horses last year. It's all about the horses.”

An operation the size of Brown Island Stables is only ever a few bad years away from hitting the rocks. This is a ship that navigates the most unpredictable of waters and one that carries millions of euros worth of cargo. With so much at risk, one would forgive Collins for resembling a German Shepard with a headache on a mid-February work morning, but he and his loyal bunch of staff are unfailingly helpful.

One by one, 20 2-year-olds whizz up the grass gallop close to Collins's base, with crucial notes made on the closest thing he has to hand, which in this case is a white envelope.

“I like to see them dropping their heads there now and going about their work,” says Collins in between lots. “If they are doing that and trying for you, there's a good chance they will go the right way because they'll do the same in their races.”

In the group of workers we have colts by Twirling Candy and Blame, who are bound for the first breeze-up of the year in Dubai on Mar. 21. There's six for the Craven and the same number will go to Doncaster with the remainder being divided up between France, Fairyhouse and Newmarket.

Johnny Collins and Norman Williamson | Tattersalls

“When I started breezing horses, we were buying ready-to-rock 2-year-olds. They were little five and six-furlong horses. It's changed an awful lot now. Look at last year for example, an Irish Guineas winner [Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB})] and a St Leger winner [Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})] came through the breeze-ups. It's amazing really.

“The yearlings were a great trade last year and it was hard to get them. I bought five at Book 2, two at Fairyhouse, two at the Somerville Sale, two at the Orby and the lads helped me out with six from America.”

The lads, as referenced by Collins, are international bloodstock agent Chad Schumer and his European representative Nancy Sexton, who have helped him to source stock from America while he was unable to travel to the States.

He continued, “I like a horse with a bit of strength and a bit of movement. There probably are sires who I wouldn't buy the progeny of because they haven't been lucky for me or they aren't commercial enough but I do try and go to the sales with as open a mind as possible. I'd cast a broad net and would look at as many as I could at a yearling sale.

“You can't overthink it, either. When you've your bundle of horses bought, you can only do the best with the horses you have. Of course it gets to you when they're not progressing the way you'd like them to be. For me, the beauty of it with the breezers is that I have a bunch of National Hunt horses to sell every year as well. So, even if you didn't have a great year with one code, you would be hoping to have a better year with the other. I'd be telling you a lie if I said that, coming close to the sales, there isn't an odd night where I'd be lying awake in bed thinking about it all. Of course there are.”

Collins endured his share of sleepless nights at the start. Whilst riding trackwork in America, he began to trade a few horses on the side but, by his own admission, was forced to learn by his mistakes.

“I went buying horses not really knowing what I was doing,” he explains. “I knew how to ride a horse but that was as far as it went. I had to make all of my own mistakes. I was at this a good while before I started making money. But, if you can sustain it, you won't keep making those mistakes. It would sharpen up your ideas and you won't make the same mistake twice. You get to look at your mistakes all year. Now, I wouldn't always buy a horse with perfect conformation but I'd know now what I could live with and what I could work with.”

So, when did the tide turn?

“For the first five or six years I really struggled. Even though I sold a couple of good horses, I was only barely making ends meet. The year I sold Mshawish, I also sold a horse by Street Boss, who made around €260,000. That really got the thing going.”

He added, “I was only making enough to survive and that was with no staff. Hopefully we can keep it going now. It takes a while to break into it. You've to make a lot of mistakes and you need connections, too. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to build up a relationship and a bit of trust. It's easy to break it then as well.

“With the best will in the world, you can never be sure what a horse will do when it's put to the pin of its collar. You could have a horse working well but he might not deliver on a racecourse. That happens to trainers as well. You could genuinely think you have a good one but they let you down. Horses have a habit of doing that.

“When push comes to shove, they might not have the heart or the mind to go through with it. That's why it's so satisfying when they work out because, you know, everything is on the line as a trader. You have to experience the disappointment for when they don't work out to appreciate the satisfaction for when it does.”

Like most people who are good at what they do, Collins lives for his work and that passion fuels a hectic but rewarding lifestyle surrounded by horses.

“I love it. I enjoy this job, I must say. I like bringing on young horses and watching them progress. Even the National Hunt horses, I love bringing them on as well. And if they go on to do well for the next man, it's just a great feeling. That's what defines success for me but, at the same time, you can't do it if it's not financially viable.

“Especially when you start off, you need to have good results in the sales ring to keep the whole thing going and to develop the business. Luckily enough, we've sold a few nice horses but you're always looking for the next Cheltenham winner or the next good horse on the Flat.”

He added, “When you have the operation built up, bar you have it in your head to scale down, you have to buy the same amount of stock each year if you want to keep the same number of staff and the thing going the way you have it.

“Look it, I'm happy with the way I have it. As long as I have enough help, I've no interest in scaling back. I wouldn't see myself slowing down ever, as long as my health allows, because I do live for it. I could retire if I sold all my stock but it wouldn't make me happy.

Johnny Collins with his son Daniel | Barbara Collins

“You could kick up your feet but what would you do then? I'm a late starter with regards to my family. My wife Barbara and I have a son, Daniel, and he's only 18 months old.

“I've a lot of friends working in jobs they don't like. They get up every morning to go to work and it's a struggle. I bounce out of bed every morning to go at this. It's not like work at all. It's very enjoyable.”

Facing the reality that comes with preparing over 120 horses for resale and the need to clear a couple of million euros annually to keep the business afloat would be enough to make most people baulk. Not Collins, whose search for a star–and to make a few quid along the way–sustains him.

“There was an old man I used to drink with below in the pub in Middleton, Denis Twomey was his name. He's since passed away but he used to have a great saying, and it stuck with me.

“He'd say, 'There are 20 years to come and there are 20 more to back it, now where is the man who can tell the man who wore the ragged jacket?' Every time I'd see Denis, I'd ask him to say it for me. No matter how many times I'd heard it before, I loved listening to it. It's a great saying, you know, and it's very true.”

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Penalties Tweaked Ahead of New Whip Rule Deployment

The previously announced new whip regulations will go into force on Monday, but the way penalties are calculated has been “marginally adjusted” according to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

Following feedback from jockeys, there were further amendments to the rules, and the bedding in period for jumps racing was extended by a week.

Under the new regulations, use of the whip in the forehand position will be allowed, with the BHA having reversed a previous decision to ban it after riders' objections. However, use of the whip has been reduced to six and seven strikes over the Flat and Jumps races, respectively.

The penalty structure was also strengthened, with the very worst whip offences potentially resulting in disqualification of horses and riding bans of 20 days–a tariff which will be doubled in Class 1 and 2 races.

In its latest update, the BHA confirmed only offences for use of the whip above the permitted level will be doubled and not offences for use above shoulder height. A tweak to how offences are aggregated where multiple offences are committed in the same ride has also been made.

In a statement, the BHA said, “The rules being implemented on Monday are the result of a detailed consultation process designed to foster more considered and judicious use of the whip.”

“They are being introduced after an extensive bedding-in period which has successfully allowed jockeys and officials to familiarise themselves with the new rules and guidance and identify where improvements can be made to their implementation, or where some jockeys might need to adapt their riding style. This was the purpose of the bedding-in period.”

“We are grateful for the input of the PJA (Professional Jockeys Association), NTF (National Trainers Federation) and a number of senior riders and trainers and we have now reached a position where the new rules and guidance will be implemented in the manner in which they were intended.”

“We were pleased to note jockeys stating that the responsibility now rests on them to ride within the new rules and adapt their riding style where necessary. We have already seen this happening during the bedding-in period, for which jockeys deserve great credit.”

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One Last Festival Hurrah for Honeysuckle

Kenny Alexander's dual Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) will make her swansong in the G1 Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle at next month's Cheltenham Festival.

The 9-year-old was beaten for the first time in 16 starts when tackling the Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in December, in which she was third. She went on to finish runner-up to State Man (Ire) in last weekend's Irish Champion Hurdle, a race she had won for the three previous seasons.

A 12-time Grade 1 victrix, Honeysuckle is also a treble winner at the Cheltenham Festival, having won the last two Champion Hurdles and the Mares' Hurdle in 2020.

Peter Molony, racing manager to Kenny Alexanxder, announced the news on Tuesday morning.

He told PA Media, “I think after Sunday, on mature reflection, most reasonable people would agree she has taken a step back. She still fought her heart out and when Vauban came to take second off her she put her head down and her ears back and went 'not on your life'.

“So she still has that competitive spirit, she's still a racehorse and that's why we've decided to give her one last hurrah. She deserves it and Cheltenham would be a lovely place to bow out.”

He added, “The whole day on Sunday, strangely enough, even though we got beat, was one of the best days we've had on a racecourse with Honey. The reception she got, the cheer when Rachael got legged up, the roars as she cantered down to the start–Rachael said when she got down to the start she had a stupid grin on her face from the huge reception they got.

“The public have really taken her to their hearts and it's wonderful, so Cheltenham is probably the right place for her to finish her career.”

Honeysuckle will retire eventually to Alexander's New Hall Stud in Scotland, where the owner-breeder is assembling a formidable team of National Hunt mares. The Ayrshire farm was the birthplace of Group 1 winner Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), who was bred by Gordon Thom and later found ever greater fame as the dam of Japanese Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

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