Stable Jockey News: Bolger Staying Loyal To Cleary And McAteer This Season

Jim Bolger has provided the strongest indication yet that the stable jockey vacancy left by his retired son-in-law Kevin Manning at Coolcullen Stables will not be filled by an outside rider and that the legendary trainer will be staying loyal to Rory Cleary and Luke McAteer this season.

Cleary has already tasted major success for his long-standing boss when partnering MacSwiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) to lead home a Bolger-trained one-two in the 2021 Irish 2,000 Guineas, outpointing Manning aboard the better-fancied Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}).

It was at Galway last October when Derby-winning jockey Manning, 55, called time on his storied career after riding Bolger's Vocal Studies (Ire) (Vocalised) to victory. 

His Derby win came in 2008 at Epsom aboard New Approach (Ire) and, all told, Manning was successful in eight British and Irish Classics.

Bolger failed to be drawn on a succession plan for his stable jockey of nearly 30 years back in October, however, with the Flat season a month away, hinted that Cleary and McAteer would share the rides going forward. 

When asked if he had made plans to appoint a stable jockey, the 81-year-old simply said on Tuesday, “I have been very well served by Rory Cleary and Luke McAteer in the past and I am sure that will remain the case into the future.”

He added, “Luke still has three pounds left on his claim and we will make full use of that.”

Luke McAteer | Racingfotos.com

Cleary is widely-regarded as one of the hardest-working riders in the weighroom and enjoyed another productive season last year when landing the G3 Eyrefield S. for Bolger at Leopardstown on Speirling Beag (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})

He also enjoyed notable success for Sheila Lavery at that track on Irish Champions Weekend last year when guiding Moracana (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) to victory in the “Petingo” Handicap.

McAteer is yet another quality apprentice to come through Bolger's famous production line. The Donegal native rode his first winner for the trainer in 2017 and has recorded tallies in the 20s for the past three consecutive seasons. 

Like Cleary, McAteer also enjoyed Group 3 success in the Eyrefield S. for Bolger, with that win coming in 2020 on Flying Visit (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}). 

While Bolger explained that “appearances will be scarce” in terms of going racing this season, he revealed that his Coolcullen operation still hums to the tune of about 100 horses and that he has already started to make plans for the best of them.

He said, “I'll have 100 horses this season. About 60 of those would be two-year-olds. Fleetfoot (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will run in the 2,000 Guineas Trial over a mile at Leopardstown.

“I have a couple for the fillies' trials as well. Comhra (Ire) (Vocalised), who was beaten a length by the Breeders' Cup winner [Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never)] is one and Clever And Cool (Ire) (Vocalised) is the other. She was bred by my late brother Patrick. He died a year ago and I miss him as he was a big help on the breeding side of things. There is improvement in those fillies this year.”

Asked about his breeding plans for the year, Bolger added, “We don't make plans until we see the foal. It's only then that we decide. But I will be using Dawn Approach big time. I'm still a believer. Also, I've always used New Approach, so I'll continue to use him. I'll send a few to him as well. We did some business last year with the O'Callaghans at Tally-Ho Stud. We sent a good few mares to Mehmas (Ire) and will send him more again.”

The post Stable Jockey News: Bolger Staying Loyal To Cleary And McAteer This Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘He’s The First Stallion Prospect I’ve Sold At Auction’ – Bolger Offers Mac Swiney At Goffs

Jim Bolger says that his Classic-winning stallion prospect Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}–Halla Na Saoire {Ire}, by Teofilo {Ire}) will appeal to just about any stud in the world when he is offered for sale online by Goffs on Friday, Jan. 20 but expressed a wish for the 2021 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner to stay in Ireland.

The reason being, according to Bolger, is that he'd like to support Mac Swiney with a dozen mares in his debut season at stud.

Bolger also revealed that, despite the fact the horse who led home stablemate Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) in that memorable Curragh Classic had been subject to a number of “nibbles,” the legendary trainer and breeder was keen to offer the horse at public auction with Goffs.

He said, “It's interesting, isn't it? Mac Swiney would have appeal everywhere in the world but obviously I would prefer if he stayed in Ireland where I could use him.

“I've a dozen mares that I would like to send him and the only reason why I am selling him is because I wouldn't do him justice in promoting him.”

Bolger added, “Due to the unique nature of my business, I have to keep moving them on.  We had several nibbles over the past six months or so for Mac Swiney but we decided to sell him at public auction. He's the first stallion prospect I have sold at public auction.”

Mac Swiney's sale will take place just a few months after Bolger's Gan Teorainn (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), owned by Ennistown Stud, was sold for 1 million gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

On that, he commented, “It was a good achievement. She can only improve because she was quite backward as a 2-year-old.”

Mac Swiney won four times all told. Three of those wins were recorded as a 2-year-old, including in the G1 Vertem Futurity S. at Doncaster back in 2020.

Reflecting on Mac Swiney's career highlight at the Curragh, Bolger added, “It was a special day. It was very comfortable on the day because we knew a furlong out that the race was ours. He has top-class form. He's an Irish 2000 Guineas winner and he showed precocity at two as well.”

Goffs Chief Executive Henry Beeby described it as “a rare opportunity” to be afforded the opportunity to sell the Classic winner on behalf of Bolger.

He said, “Goffs is delighted to be entrusted with the sale of Classic winner Mac Swiney on behalf of Mr. Bolger. This is a rare opportunity to purchase a multiple Group 1-winning stallion prospect and we anticipate plenty of international interest through the excellent Goffs Online platform that makes such sales so easily accessible for bidders regardless of location.”

The post ‘He’s The First Stallion Prospect I’ve Sold At Auction’ – Bolger Offers Mac Swiney At Goffs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘He’s Had An Amazing Career’ – Bolger Salutes Manning Upon His Retirement

Jim Bolger has offered up a glowing tribute to multiple Group 1 and Classic-winning stable jockey Kevin Manning, who at the age of 55, announced his retirement from the saddle after riding a winner for his legendary father-in-law at Galway. 

Manning joined Bolger in 1978. Together, they won the Derby with New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the Irish Derby with Trading Leather (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and came within a whisker of completing the 1,000 Guineas treble with Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr Greeley), who went out on her shield at Longchamp in 2007 following her Curragh and Newmarket triumphs.

The pair recorded their second 2,000 Guineas victory, eight years after bagging their first with Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), just over 12 months ago courtesy of Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) but Bolger described himself as delighted to see Manning get out of the game in one piece shortly after he partnered the stable's 4-6 favourite Vocal Studies (Ire) (Vocalised) to victory on Monday. 

Bolger said, “Kevin has had an amazing career with 1,700 winners or thereabouts. We've had a great time and it had to end at some stage. Thankfully, he's getting out in one piece and on his own terms. I'm sure he will be very happy from here. I knew it wouldn't go on forever and I'm delighted that he's going out on his own terms and going out on a winner.”

Bolger put forward Teofilo (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), New Approach and Trading Leather as “the big three” when asked to list the highlights of a trainer-rider relationship that has lasted over 40 years. 

He said, “The highlights, with all the Group 1 wins and Classic victories, were great and we enjoyed them thoroughly. The first big one that meant so much for us would have been Teofilo in the Dewhurst. 

“He was the first of five Dewhurst winners for us and it was made extra special for the fact that he was a homebred. Teofilo was also the first of three champion two-year-olds for us so he was an extremely special horse for Kevin and I.”

Bolger added, “Trading Leather winning the Irish Derby and of course New Approach winning the Derby at Epsom were excellent days also. So Teofilo, Trading Leather and New Approach, they were the big three. 

“We had lots of other great days on the track together and winning the Hong Kong Cup with Alexander Goldrun (Ire) (Gold Away {Ire}) in 2005 was very special. I think Kevin joined me in 1978 so he's been here a very long time–I don't think he was quite 15 when he joined us!” 

Manning was twice crowned champion apprentice in Ireland before being announced as Bolger's stable jockey in 1993. It didn't take long for the pair to enjoy top-flight success as Eva Luna (Ire) (Double Schwartz {GB}) landed the 1994 Phoenix S. the following year. 

He rode his first Classic winner aboard Bolger's Margarula (Ire) (Doyoun {GB}) in the 2002 Irish Oaks and Alexander Goldrun was the first household name he was associated with. 

Manning, who is married to Bolger's daughter Una, with whom he has two children, said on Monday, “I have been very lucky to ride some very good horses along the way and owe Jim and Jackie everything.

“I was suspended for this weekend, which is the end of the grass season, and I had some good rides today and said to myself it is time to call it quits if one of these wins.”

 

The post ‘He’s Had An Amazing Career’ – Bolger Salutes Manning Upon His Retirement appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Looking Backward and Forward To The Brocklesby

For many years it was a tradition that the British Flat racing season would start on the Carholme at Lincoln towards the end of March and then finish at Manchester (and at Lingfield, which raced on the same afternoon) in November. Lincoln and Manchester have both now been lost in the mists of time, each having closed its doors in the 1960s. Happily, the season's first big race (the Lincolnshire H., as it became known in 1860, having previously been known as the Lincoln Spring H.) and its last big race (the Manchester November H.) have both survived the closure of their original homes, and they now keep the flame of history alive each spring and each autumn on the Town Moor at Doncaster as that great racecourse hosts the first and the last meetings of the turf season each year.

Happily for those who respect the sport's heritage, the Lincoln H. was not the only time-honoured race rescued from the wreckage of Lincoln racecourse and transferred to Doncaster. Additionally, we have the Brocklesby S., which retains its historic distinction as the first 2-year-old race of the new turf season. On Saturday both races will form part of the meeting that kickstarts the British turf season of 2022.

First run in 1849 over a mile and a half, the Brocklesby was reinvented as a five-furlong 2-year-old race in 1875 and has remained as such ever since. The only major change came when, along with the Lincoln, it was relocated to Doncaster after the closure of Lincoln racecourse in 1964.

In recent decades, we have become accustomed to Britain's early juvenile races being won mostly by horses who ultimately turn out not to be of a particularly high class. It is not obvious why this should be, as for many years these races were often won by horses who turned out to be much better than merely precocious juveniles. Furthermore, in other countries it is still not uncommon to find some of the very best horses out early in the spring of their first season. One notable recent example was Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) whose trainer/breeder Jim Bolger sent him out to win Ireland's first juvenile race of 2012 before putting together a terrific career whose highlights also included victories in the G2 Coventry S., G1 National S. and G1 Dewhurst S. at two and the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St. James's Palace S. as a 3-year-old in 2013.

Had Dawn Approach made a winning debut in March 2012 at Doncaster rather than The Curragh, he would obviously have ranked as the most distinguished Brocklesby winner of the modern era. He would not, though, have counted as its greatest winner of all time. That honour is held (and is almost certain to be held forever) by Donovan (GB) (Galopin {GB}) who, trained at Heath House in Newmarket by George Dawson for his breeder the 6th Duke of Portland, raised the curtain on a great career by making a winning debut in the Brocklesby in 1888. It is often suggested that getting a horse out early in his 2-year-old season, when the horse is clearly still far from mature, might reduce his chances of putting together a full career. Donovan is a classic reminder that that need not be the case.

The Brocklesby was the first of Donovan's 13 races at two, 11 of which he won, displaying such excellence that he ended the campaign as ante-post favourite for the following year's Derby. His 10 subsequent 2-year-old victories came in the Portland Plate at Leicester (run the following week and at the time a very prestigious race worth £6,000) the New (now Norfolk) S. at Ascot, two races at Stockbridge's summer meeting, the July S. at Newmarket's July Meeting, the Ham S. at Goodwood, and then at various Newmarket meetings the Buckenham S., the Hopeful S., the Middle Park Plate and the Dewhurst S.

In 1889 Donovan was unlucky not to win the Triple Crown, thanks to an unfortunate defeat on his resumption in the 2000 Guineas, when his jockey Fred Barrett, believing the race to be in the bag, dropped his hands a few strides from the post and consequently was caught by Tom Cannon on Enthusiast. Two weeks later Donovan was an easy winner of the Newmarket S. (with Enthusiast unplaced) and then he found it similarly straightforward to justify odds-on favouritism in the Derby. At Ascot he won Prince of Wales's S. and at Doncaster he strolled home in the St. Leger. He brought his season to close with two more easy wins later in the autumn, in the Lancashire Plate at Manchester and the Royal S. at Newmarket. Donovan finally retired to Worksop Manor Stud in 1891 with record prize-money earnings of £55,154, a figure which was eclipsed by Isinglass (GB) (Isonomy {GB}) in 1895. Donovan remained at Worksop Manor until suffering a fatal injury in a paddock accident in 1905. His name can still be found in the pedigrees of many notable horses, including Deep Impact (Jpn) in whose 10th generation he appears.

If Donovan's numerous victories confirm that an early debut need not prevent a great career, what can one say about another legend of the turf who was also out early as a 2-year-old, Red Rum? Traditionally, the first fixtures of the new season were Lincoln and then, later in the same week, Liverpool (which is now known as Aintree). The feature race at each meeting formed a leg of the 'Spring Double'. The Lincolnshire H. was obviously the first leg; as Liverpool was a mixed meeting (and remained that way into the 1970s, when it became National Hunt only) its leg of the Spring Double was its principal National Hunt contest, the Grand National, run on the Friday. Even without the extra hazards provided by the 30 huge fences in the Grand National, the competitiveness of these two huge-field handicaps (the Grand National had 66 runners in 1929, while in 1948 the Lincolnshire H. set what will presumably always be the record for the biggest field in a Flat race in Great Britain, 58) made the Spring Double a fiendishly difficult puzzle for punters to solve.

Red Rum, of course, is most famous for his three victories in the Grand National, in 1973, '74 and '77, as well as for his second places in the race in 1975 and '76.  However, his first appearance at Liverpool came on Apr. 7, 1967, his trainer Tim Molony choosing to run him in a 2-year-old race there rather than in the Brocklesby at Lincoln. Aged 23 months and four days, he dead-heated for that race, the Thursby Plate, just three days shy of 10 years before his final and greatest triumph at the course.

It would be unrealistic to expect to see a Donovan (or a Red Rum) winning as a 2-year-old in the opening days of the 2022 turf season, but even so it is still not uncommon to see the Brocklesby won by a special horse. The race's best winner of the 1970s was Deep Diver (Ire) (Gulf Pearl {GB}) who went on to become a champion sprinter as 3-year-old in 1972 by virtue of winning the Nunthorpe S. and the Prix de l'Abbaye. Its star of the 1980s was Provideo (Ire) (Godswalk) who began his juvenile season in 1984 by winning the Brocklesby and eventually ended it with a record of 16 wins from 24 starts, earning Horse of the Year honours in the process. The winners of the 1990s were headed by the 1994 victor Mind Games (GB) who won a further six races including the G3 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot, the G3 Palace House S. at Newmarket and the G2 Temple S. at Sandown (twice). He also finished second, beaten half a length, to Pivotal (GB) In the G2 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot as a 4-year-old in 1996.

Two Brocklesby winners of the first decade of the current century stand out. In 2009 Hearts Of Fire (GB) (Firebreak {GB}), trained by former champion jockey Pat Eddery, began his juvenile campaign by winning at Doncaster and, months later, ended it with a sparkling international hat-trick consisting of victories in the Prix Francois Boutin at Deauville, the G3 Zukunfts-Rennen at Baden Baden and the G1 Gran Criterium at San Siro. The 2006 Brocklesby winner Spoof Master (Ire) never performed at that level but he did earn a little place in history even so. That year's race was run at Redcar as Doncaster was closed while its new grandstand was being built. By contesting the Brocklesby at Redcar, Spoof Master became the first runner for his sire Invincible Spirit (Ire); by winning it, he became the first winner for that great stallion. His exertions that day certainly didn't do Spoof Master any harm as he ultimately ran 65 times (winning 11) and raced in eight consecutive seasons.

The best Brocklesby winner of the past decade has been the 2016 winner The Last Lion (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) who ended up running 10 times as a juvenile, his excellent campaign culminating in victory in the autumn in the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket.  Last year's winner Chipotle (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) wasn't far behind that level of form, his three subsequent wins of 2021 including two black-type events, the Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot and the William Hill Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar.

Who will win this year's Brocklesby? A future Royal Ascot winner? Very possibly. Irrespective, though, of whatever he or she does go on subsequently to achieve, the Brocklesby winner will have begun a racing career in the best possible way, following in the footsteps of some terrific horses of the past, keeping a great racing tradition alive, giving hope and promise for the future, and ushering in an exciting new season of thrilling racing. At this time of year it all (bar our history and heritage) lies ahead of us.

The post Looking Backward and Forward To The Brocklesby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights