‘Moment Of Impulse’ Has Legendary Hall Looking Forward To First Runner At Naas

The much-loved Robert Hall, who fronted Ireland's terrestrial television coverage of racing on RTE for 37 years before retiring in 2020, says he is optimistic of “a forward showing” but more importantly “something to build on” with his first horse, Frogman (Ire) (Ol' Man River {Ire}), who makes his eagerly-anticipated debut in the closing bumper at Naas on Sunday. 

Frogman may be Hall's first runner but eagle-eyed observers may recognise the black and red silks that the four-year-old will carry as they are the exact colours of the old Stablemate Racing Syndicate, a successful ownership venture that Hall was involved with alongside Denny Cordell in the late eighties. After a 30-year hiatus, the black and red is back and the hope is that Frogman can prove up to the task. 

“It's my first runner in my own name,” the legendary broadcaster explained. “They are the old Stablemate Racing colours. Stablemate was an old syndicate that we had and there were just short of 800 subscribers to it. It was a company set up by the late Denny Cordell, a famous music producer and racehorse trainer, and we had horses with about seven or eight different trainers. 

“A lot of our proceeds came from the telephone lines. Premium numbers had just come in at the time and we realised there was an opportunity there. So, we did very well and had a lot of fun. All bar one of our horses won races and we had one or two decent ones. We had horses with Willie Mullins when he started out–and I actually won on one of those! We also had horses with Michael Cunningham, Denny himself, Dermot Weld, Arthur Moore and a good few others. They've been lucky enough colours.”

He added, “We closed Stablemate Racing down after six years. When we closed it down, the subscribers very kindly registered these colours for a lifetime to myself. I think it is the first time since 1993 since these colours have been used and it's the first time I've had one in my own name.” 

Hall has been retired from broadcasting for over three years now but remains part of the Tattersalls Ireland media team. It was at the May Sale last year when Frogman first caught his attention and, while he didn't set out to snap up a store on the day, came home from work the proud new owner with trainer Richard O'Brien, who he'd previously never met. 

He explained, “I got this fella at the May Sale at Tattersalls Ireland. I do a bit of work with Tattersalls and I can remember I absolutely loved this horse when he came into the ring. I couldn't buy him because I hadn't seen him outside. Anyway, he got knocked down to Gerry Hogan who was standing beside me and I said to him, 'what a lovely horse'. He then told me that the horse was for Richard O'Brien. 

“I was interested in the horse because he has a lovely pedigree. It goes all the way back to Mumtaz Mahal, who was an incredible filly, one of the best of all time. I mean, she has just been the most incredible mare and so many good horses, including Alpinista (GB), can be traced back to Mumtaz Mahal. You know, I love all of those old families and, sometimes in this game, you need to look back and see what's not on the page to get a bit of value.”

Hall added, “The next thing I did was look up Richard O'Brien. I liked hugely what I saw of him and then I said to Gerry that, if Richard hadn't found anyone for the horse, I'd love to have him. By the end of the day, I owned him.”

In O'Brien, Hall has identified a man with a proven track record for winning this race at Naas. The County Limerick trainer sent out Impulsive Dancer (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire})–who would later be sold to Simon Munir and Isaac Souede to race with Willie Mullins–to win this in 2022 while his fingerprints were over last year's scorer Cut The Rope (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) given he sold the horse to Paul Nolan just a few weeks before the first four-year-old bumper of the year. But Sunday is not about winning for Hall. It's about much more than that.

“Since giving up my television role,” he explained, “I just felt there was a danger of me not drifting away completely, but losing my connection with racing. It's funny, the last horse I bought on impulse like this turned out to be the dam of Indigenous (Ire) and she was incredible. I've always kept my eye in and it's good to have an interest.”

Hall bid adieu to RTE Racing after almost 40 years at the helm of Ireland's terrestrial television coverage of the sport. He provided countless hours of entertainment, often alongside Ted Walsh, with the duo building up a loyal following, especially through the infamous Ask Ted segment, which generated lots of laughs–and some hairy moments–in more recent times. 

However, all good things comes to an end, according to Hall, with the 68-year-old revealing that he doesn't miss broadcasting. He also acknowledged how much things have changed, especially over jumps, since his departure. 

“I don't miss it and I'm glad I got out when I did because I would have hated to have broadcast during Covid when there was nobody on the track. Also, when we were doing it, there was a hell of a bigger spread of talent among the leading trainers which you're not getting these days. That's tough for them, but that's the way it is.”

When it was put to Hall that it was therefore admirable that he kept Frogman with O'Brien, a trainer who doesn't have the same numbers to go to war with compared to a Willie Mullins or a Gordon Elliott, he explained how working with someone of O'Brien's ilk is what provides him with the biggest buzz.

Hall said, “I love them all. I mean, Willie is a pal and I appreciate Gordon hugely, but do you know something, I don't think I'd have gotten any buzz about having a horse in a big yard. I really don't. I love the smaller operations and I think it's great sport. We'll see how good this fella is but I really enjoy working with the smaller trainers. Of course I do. And when we had Stablemate, a lot of our horses were with smaller trainers as well.”

If you're waiting for a clever explanation into the backstory of where Hall came up with the name for his first ever runner, there isn't one. Ask Ted may well have been a better fit but, as long as Frogman can gallop, Hall won't be heard complaining. 

He concluded, “Ol' Man River is obviously the Mississippi and Paul Robeson wrote that wonderful song. The Mississippi is full of interesting frogs and the dam's name is sort of northern Ukraine and Southern Russia and they are all quite ugly names. I couldn't attach any names to the horse so I just went with Frogman. I'm not into my nature, terribly, but it will be a great name if he turns out to be any good. 

“Before they run, you've always got a smile on your face, haven't you? We think he's a nice horse but he is obviously going to come on a lot from the run. He's a horse for the future. I'm hoping there will be a tomorrow and that he can progress.”

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‘We Couldn’t Risk Turning Down The Money’ – O’Brien On A Bumper Run

He burst onto the Flat scene by training nine winners in his debut season followed by 11 in 2018, but Richard O'Brien has described the sale of three expensive bumper winners and winners-in-waiting throughout the past 12 months as “hugely important” in his bid to balance the books. 

It all started with Impulsive Dancer (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}). A horse who was almost rehomed as a riding horse after finishing tailed off in a piece of work on the Curragh, Impulsive Dancer showed his true colours on testing ground, which he demonstrated when winning the opening four-year-old bumper of the year at Naas in 2022. 

Impulsive Dancer was snapped up by Anthony Bromley on behalf of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede soon after that Naas triumph and his new connections didn't have long to wait to see a return on their investment when he landed a listed bumper at Limerick.

Sadly, that immense potential will go unfulfilled as he suffered a heart attack on the gallops at Closutton recently and O'Brien has explained how he will forever be indebted to the horse who opened the door to a lucrative trading opportunity, one that Sunday's Naas scorer Cut The Rope (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is a fellow graduate of. 

O'Brien said, “Paul [Nolan, trainer of Cut The Rope] had Impulsive Dancer bought before he ran. To cut a long story short, the deal fell through and I ended up running Impulsive Dancer myself. Obviously, the horse did what he did and ended up getting sold to Willie Mullins. 

“I think James [Nolan, Paul's brother] said as much after Cut The Rope won on Sunday, that they weren't going to make the same mistake twice.”

He added, “But it was because of that experience with Paul, in that I suppose I guided them in the right direction the previous year with Impulsive Dancer, that I rang him about six or eight weeks ago after working Cut The Rope at Dromahane. I told him that I thought I had another one for him. He just said, 'that's no problem, bring him down to Monksgrange and we'll work him. If we're happy with what we see, we'll buy him.' 

“It was all very straightforward. Now, the piece of work he did down at Monksgrange was unbelievable. It was essentially a schooling bumper and he finished upsides a few noteworthy horses with serious form on the track.”

Such was the ability that Cut The Rope was showing in his work at home for O'Brien late last year that the trainer contemplated running the gelding in a back-end maiden at Dundalk. But through his experience with Impulsive Dancer, O'Brien decided to wait it out and maximise the horse's value as a bumper prospect, a decision that has paid off in spades. 

He recalled, “It was only really last summer when Cut The Rope started to pull himself together. He kept a babyish, soft shape right through the summer and it was only late summer when he started to take on that hardened–fit look that you like to see coming into these horses. 

“I'd say he was probably doing enough through the autumn to tempt us to Dundalk for a maiden but, having had the experience of Impulsive Dancer, we just thought we'd get more money for him as a bumper horse than we would for winning a back-end maiden on the all-weather.”

He added, “There was a figure where he would have run under my name and we'd have rolled the dice in a bumper with him. However, when the offer was there, it made sense to sell. We couldn't risk turning down the money.”

If Cut The Rope had been working to a high level at O'Brien's County Limerick base, the same could not be said for Impulsive Dancer, who showed next to nothing for the majority of his career with the trainer.

O'Brien explained, “It was extraordinary. Colm [assistant trainer] had me warned not to give him away because his partner Deirdre wanted him as a riding horse. We worked Impulsive Dancer on the last Wednesday in October in 2021 and it was absolutely dreadful. He was beaten a furlong in a piece of work. We decided that there wasn't much to lose at that stage and brought him to a schooling bumper on the Saturday and he ended up winning it–just three days after falling out the back of the telly in a piece of work at the Curragh! It was definitely getting him on the grass that made the difference–he wasn't very big but he'd a load of power.”

He added, “Impulsive Dancer made a huge difference to our yard because we got him sold and obviously Anthony Bromley bought him on behalf of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. They were extraordinary people to deal with. When he won a listed bumper for Willie Mullins he showed himself to be a horse for the future and, as an act of goodwill, Simon and Isaac decided to send a few horses whose careers they were trying to re-direct. 

“It worked with Surac (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who has been a terrific addition. Impulsive Dancer taught me about the bumper route, helped forge a relationship between myself, Anthony, Simon and Isaac, and definitely gave the owners of Shanbally Kid (Ire) (Presenting {GB}) confidence to send us him. We've a few more National Hunt horses around the place now and the whole idea with Cut The Rope stemmed from Impulsive Dancer. We just said to ourselves all summer long, if we just be patient, we could have a very valuable bumper horse.”

O'Brien now has two horses on the books for the double green of Munir and Souede, including an early 2-year-old by Cotai Glory (GB). 

“They bought a Cotai Glory yearling off Tally-Ho at Tattersalls Ireland last year. He's a grand, solid and straightforward 2-year-old who may have a chance of getting out in the first six weeks of the new season.”

O'Brien added, “We've Surac and a couple of others for them now as well. Surac could be interesting. He's had a break and some of his form stacks up reasonably well. We're looking at the Scottish Triumph Hurdle for him and he could even sneak into the Boodles at Cheltenham but we wouldn't be going there to make up the numbers. I think there's unfinished business with him.”

Shanbally Kid, as O'Brien touched on, is another bumper horse the trainer sold to Ireland's dominant National Hunt trainer for big money. Bred by Limerick brothers John and Daniel Hayes, Shanbally Kid was not disgraced on his only start for Philip Fenton but took a massive step forward when making all to score at Clonmel on debut for O'Brien last year. 

He was bought for £190,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale in April on behalf of Gigginstown House Stud, for whom he was a beaten favourite in a maiden hurdle at Limerick over the Christmas, but O'Brien insists the best is yet to come from Shanbally Kid. 

He said, “I haven't had many National Hunt horses with gears like he has. He's an unbelievably-fast horse. He's obviously had his run for Willie but I wouldn't be surprised if he's another horse with unfinished business because the gear he has is lethal. You get some very funny results at Limerick and it can detract from horses like him with a gear.” 

Asked if he would now describe himself as a dual-purpose trainer, O'Brien said, “I don't know. I mean, Pandemic Princess (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) was one of our last winners on the Flat. She was a small little nursery filly and then, shortly afterwards, we trained Sparkling Stars (Fr) (Turgeon) over jumps to win a few races, and he was a giant. I'd safely say Sparkling Stars was three times the size of Pandemic Princess. I just love training winners, no matter what they are.”

He added, “The sale of Cut The Rope affords me the opportunity to take a bit of a step back and have a little review of what I have been doing. We need to figure out what the angles are going forward. I don't want to just plough on and keep training and be hoping for the best. We need to have a little bit more of a plan in place. 

“You look at someone like Ellmarie Holden, who has completely transformed herself. I'm not suggesting that we'd definitely do something like that but I need to do something that makes sense and won't leave us destitute. I absolutely love training, don't get me wrong, but it's very hard to make it pay. If we could combine the trading and the training a little bit more, we will, and we'll definitely be looking at those horses with staying Flat pedigrees a bit more at the sales.”

Despite the run of success in bumpers, O'Brien concedes that buying horses in the market at present remains a headache and explained how the big-money sales with Impulsive Dancer, Shanbally Kid and now Cut The Rope, who he sourced for just €20,000 before selling on for multiple sums of that initial outlay, as imperative for business. 

“Our single biggest problem is buying horses. I have orders for horses but I just can't buy them. I could buy sh*t for my owners, but I can't buy them the horses that I want. It's very seldom that you make an inquiry about a horse and you get a response from someone who is on this planet. We inquired about an eight-year-old maiden under all rules and the owner wanted 50 grand. It's just crazy at the minute.”

He added, “One thing I have learned is how to price and sell a horse. Really price them. You value them yourself and there's none of this Dutch auction nonsense. Stick a valuation on them and stick to it. I mean, we sold Evenwood Sonofagun (Ire) (The Gurkha {Ire}) over to England. At times, you think to yourself, 'Oh Jesus, I could have got more,' but it's a little like Cut The Rope. There is a valuation that is realistic that allows the next man a chance when he is buying off you. It allows you to get a realistic price for your horse and it's fair on everyone. 

“Even when Shanbally Kid won his bumper, we all sat down and had a chat about how much the horse would need to make for us to sell him privately. We decided on €220,000 as the figure. He went and sold for €226,000 at Cheltenham so I was pleased because it makes you feel that you are on this planet.

“I love training and, going forward, we have to be realistic in that wages need to be paid for and we need to find a way to make this yard sustainable. It will involve selling horses. But the biggest thing is to have as many irons in the fire as I can and, as I said before, I will be concentrating on those middle-distance and staying-pedigree Flat horses. There's 2-year-olds for sale at the Goffs February Sale next month and we'll be going through them on that basis.”

 

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