Niall Dalton | Horse Racing Free Tips

Phil D’Amato Q&A: ‘You Don’t Have To Spend A Lot To Find A Going Global’

One of the finest turf trainers in America, Phil D'Amato has done exceptionally well with his European imports in recent years, highlighted by Grade I winner Going Global and more recently American Oaks scorer Rhea Moon.

In this week's Q&A with Brian Sheerin, D'Amato explained how, with the help of Niall Dalton, Craig Rounsefell and BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe, he has built one of the most competitive stables in America.

Read about his approach to finding 'diamonds in the rough' on a budget, his training methods and much more.

Brian Sheerin: You do extremely well with your imports from Britain and Ireland. What is it that you look for in form horses when you go about recruiting them from Europe?

Phil D'Amato: There are a number of factors. First and foremost, you need a horse that you think will handle a firm turf course and you can gauge that by the tracks that they have been running at in Europe and how they are handling that. If you don't have a good gauge on how they would handle the American turf, then you can check how the pedigree has done in the States and if that suggests they are prone to do better on firm ground. Number two, they definitely need a turn of foot. All turf races over here, from the quarter pole home, you need to show a good turn of foot. I definitely like to see that over horses who are more staying types in Europe. Horses who go to the lead in Europe and try to make all, those horses don't tend to do well in America, you need something with acceleration. Those are the big things for us. Conformation is another. I don't think conformation plays as big a part in Europe, especially with the amount of homebreds that race and the forgiving training surfaces, but in the States, conformation plays a much bigger role as our courses are not as forgiving. You need a horse with good conformation over here, one that's going to hit the ground square, so that it will be able to stay sound for you.

You've built up a top-class recruitment team with Michael Donohoe and Niall Dalton coming up with a lot of the goods.

You have to give them a lot of credit. I've also had a lot of good luck with Craig Rounsefell-all of those gentlemen know what to look for. They are trying to find the diamond in the rough and prove that you don't have to spend a lot of money to find a Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}).They have good connections with the trainers and know who the sellers are. There are a lot of sellers in Britain and Ireland, as that's how a lot of these guys make their money given the prize-money over there, and not everyone can train for a Sheikh or somebody who is very wealthy. They need to trade so, in that respect, Niall, Michael and Craig know the people who will lead them the right way. They continue to buy horses from those people.

And is it purely form horses that you buy from Europe or have you ever dipped your toe into breeze-up or even yearling markets?

We have bought a breeze-up horse or two but it's mostly horses who have run. I prefer to see a horse who has run at least twice and I am not a big fan of the horses who have run just once. To me, it seems like the horses who have run at least twice or more, they come over here to America and they seem to be hardier horses. You have a better handle on them and they tend to cope with the training better as well. They are better than the one-off horse who's run third or fourth. I just like horses who have been able to show their form a couple of times but, the flip side of that means that, getting to see a bit more often means that you have to pay that bit more. It has its pluses and minuses.

I'd love to know what expectations you had for Going Global when you bought her after she won a Dundalk nursery off a mark of 70. Could you ever have envisaged that she'd improve to the level that she has?

Well, you know what, Michael Donohoe is really good friends with her former trainer Michael Halford, and we had bought horses from him before. Going Global had gotten sick previously and hadn't run well before she won at Dundalk but they had good reasons as to why she hadn't been running well. We knew that story coming into the race and then, when she did produce at Dundalk, it was time to strike. We had a little bit of extra insight into buying her and Halford liked the way that filly had been training for a while so he guided us in the right direction. That was the story there.

You touched on the fact that a lot of trainers over here in Ireland where I am based, their business model accounts for trading horses, and Michael Halford would be up there with one of the best at that. Are there certain trainers you like to return to?

We have a good rapport with a lot of people and there are a lot of people who lead us the right way. It's the people who are going to leave a little extra in the tank who we are interested in buying off. That's the way I train my horses and I don't like to have them fully cranked first-time up. I like to let them develop through their races and I try to buy my horses off like-minded people. You need to try and buy a horse who is likely to continue to develop over here in the States. You know the yards that are crack first-time out specialists and I try to stay away from those trainers because all of their horses usually show everything they have first-time out. It's the guys who leave a little extra in the tank and like to let them develop race to race, those are the guys we like working with.

What would be the key differences between the European horses compared to the American-breds who you have grown up with?

Size and conformation are the big things. To buy a dirt horse versus a grass horse, it's apples and oranges. You are looking at the horse totally differently. A dirt horse has a big thick bone, and a big hind end, gaskins and forearms, that can withstand training and pushing through the dirt. Your turf horse is a bit more angular, lighter of body and bone, just a little bit more agile. You need to put two different caps on when you are looking to buy a dirt horse versus a grass horse.

And when it comes to acclimatising a European import, what is your approach to that?

They are all different and all treated as individuals. I like to gradually build them up and let them tell me when they are ready to do more and start breezing. Some horses take a month before you breeze them and others are ready to go within two weeks. They are all different. You can't put them in a cookie-cutter training style as they all needed to be treated differently.

When you go down through the imports that you have done well with in America, there are no Galileos, Frankels or Dubawis in there, which makes the achievements all the more impressive.

We mostly have horses by mid-range stallions, because we can afford them. We're not looking to buy a Galileo (Ire), Frankel (GB) or Dubawi (Ire) for half a million dollars, our budget is much less than that. Those are the stallions we look at, the ones that produce the goods but who are within our price range. We bought horses by Mehmas at the right time but now that stallion is moving up the ladder. It's all about leaving that to Michael and Niall, who are great at that. What's an advantage is, they work the yearling sales as well and watch these horses develop through all of the different yards. They have keen insights from when they hit the sales ground right up until when they race. That's a big advantage.

American Oaks winner Rhea Moon (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) is the latest star European import to grab the headlines for your stable. How did she come on your radar? In many ways she was quite unexposed given she'd only had the two starts in Ireland for Ken Condon.

She ran a really good second to a Juddmonte colt [Straight Answer (GB) (Kodiac {GB})] on her second start at the Curragh and that horse came out and won a stakes race not too long afterwards. She had good sneaky form in that she came out of a live race and ran a good second. Again, she came from a good yard that develops them the right way instead of having them cranked to the gills first-time out, so she looked a nice prospect. We went after her and thankfully we were able to get her.

You touched on how important a turn of foot is on the American turf racing scene. She showed that when winning the Oaks. Where next for her now?

She's in steady training right now and we will probably run her some time in March or April with a view towards a prep for the Gamely S., that's a Grade I, which we have in late April. Hopefully that will launch her 4-year-old campaign and lead us towards the Breeders' Cup in November.

Given the prize-money situation in Britain and Ireland, have you had much interaction with owners from this part of the world who are interested in placing their horses in training directly with you rather than selling them abroad?

I actually have started to get overseas owners going that route as opposed to me buying them. We'll see how that goes. I got a filly sent to me, called With Love (GB) (Territories {Ire}), who is owned by Atomic Racing in Ireland.

Look at a filly like Bellabel (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}); she won a race worth €6,490 on her final start for Jessica Harrington in Ireland but has won almost $200,000 in America which is borderline insane.

She was another nice pick by Michael Donohoe. He has many clients who have horses in training with Jessica and she recommended us to buy her as the owner wanted to sell. We were in the right place at the right time. We gave her a little break and she'll also be back towards the end of the month. Hopefully she's another nice prospect for us.

Has it been a conscious decision for you to concentrate on turf racing in America over the dirt?

The concentration on turf has really come down to budget. In America, if you want to compete with the Bob Bafferts, Todd Pletchers and Steve Asmussens of the world, it costs a lot of money. Those gentlemen have many million-dollar yearlings to work with and, to try and compete against that, you have to have a ginormous budget. I am lucky to have good owners with good budgets but nowhere near that. You can buy a good European horse for a fifth or a tenth of that price. It seems that, in turf racing, too, these horses seem to have a little more longevity and can be campaigned for an extra year or two. The racing is really more about that last quarter burst over the punishing grind from start to finish on dirt. That's why these horses seem to last longer and get the chance to develop into stakes horses or, for the fillies, into breeding prospects.

Where do you see the future of turf racing in America? It seems to be expanding and growing so it could be an exciting position to be in.

I really see that. I see an expansion of turf racing across the country for many of those reasons; the longevity of the horses and people seem to like the last quarter mile compared to dirt races that can be decided right out of the gate sometimes. People like to enjoy seeing their horses run over a long period of time and so turf racing fits that category.

Could we ever see a Phil D'Amato-trained runner at Royal Ascot?

One day. That definitely is a dream. I know Wesley Ward has been successful at Royal Ascot. You definitely need to bring the right horse but, one day, it would be a dream for me to do something like that.

The post Phil D’Amato Q&A: ‘You Don’t Have To Spend A Lot To Find A Going Global’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Imports a Key Pillar of Phil D’Amato’s Winning Strategy

Plenty of imports into the clogged Southern California shipping terminals of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been left idle these past few months, collateral damage in a supply-side bottle-neck.

Imports into the Southern California stable of Phil D'Amato, on the other hand, have been far more effectively commandeered.

“It's a really good strategy for owners to help them make money and have fun in the process,” says D'Amato, caught mid-morning between scrutinizing his trainees jog a dusty Santa Anita horse-path under a blazing hot sun and a scouting trip to Del Mar in preparation for the annual coastal caravan south.

D'Amato's “strategy” is a reference to his equine pipeline from Europe which, unlike the Nord Stream twins out of Russia, doesn't appear at risk of any imminent shut-off–not if recent results are any guide.

D'Amato's record-setting 67 victories this past Winter-Spring meet at Santa Anita–57 of them on the turf and 16 of them in stakes–included the ex-Euro winners of the GII Royal Heroine S. in Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), the GIII Senorita S. in Island of Love (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), and GIII American S. in Hong Kong Harry (Ire) (Es Que Love {Ire}).

A glance through some of D'Amato's less starry winners these past six months illuminates another intriguing pattern–that a good number of those purloined from Ireland come with report cards largely empty, save the odd check mark or two at some of that country's more pastoral venues.

“It's trying to get those diamonds in the rough at the right time for the right price and Dundalk seems to be the right venue to do that,” says D'Amato.

Such rare mineral scavenging has unearthed the recent winners Rhea Moon (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and Ma France (Ire) (Caravaggio), both placed at the East Irish track before their relocation Stateside, as well as Gold Phoenix (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) a winner at Dundalk last year before finishing runner-up in the GII Charles Whittingham S. in April.

Why the smaller Irish tracks? Thrift, for one.

“It's just an easier venue to buy out of,” explains D'Amato. “You can buy a horse on the upswing, one that's going the right way, versus if they've run at the Curragh or Newmarket or Ascot, what they're going to be asking for it.”

That, and with fewer tracks to review, “you have a better line on the form,” he added.

The way D'Amato describes it, he and his fellow Transatlantic bargain hunters–bloodstock agents Niall Dalton, Michael Donohoe and Craig Rounsefell–have honed their operation into something of a well-oiled machine.

Think the East India Tea Company, only with none of that, how shall we call it–colonial baggage.

“It's everyone kind of working together to keep the wheel moving–us buying them, then developing them and getting rewarded for that,” he says, without hesitating to spill the tea on any trade secrets. “It's all of us watching these races every day and trying to find the horses that we think have talent.

“Niall and Michael have great relationships over there with the trainers and know which horses they think would be appropriate to buy. The right kind of style to fit in California,” he adds.

And what style is that?

“Really, most of these Europeans are small, so, you've got to kind of put that in the back of your mind, that you're not going to find these imposing 16-hand tall horses. You're going to find these smaller athletes. But at the same time, usually, these lighter made horses, if they can take to the surface here, they're easier on themselves,” he says, adding, “I can't emphasize enough that I think the more time you give them to acclimate usually the better rewarded you are when you run them.”

Right now, says D'Amato, with prizemoney in Ireland and England especially in such palliative care, the overseas market is ripe for plunder, many smaller outfits, in particular, relying more and more on the selling of their young stock to keep the bloodhounds from snapping at their heels.

“For most of them, this is what they do for a living. Most of them are traders with the way the purse structure is there,” D'Amato says. “Those are the people that are in it really to buy yearlings at a cheaper price and develop them and potentially sell them for a nice profit at two and three.

“And yeah, we're definitely not looking to buy off the Aidan and Joseph O'Briens of the world there because number one, they're not sellers. And two, their stock is–they're just very well-bred expensive horses, so that just doesn't fit what we're looking for.”

Mention of the O'Briens gives rise to recent news of the prodigal son setting up a small satellite operation at Saratoga this summer.

What if the young O'Brien–or some comparable European stable–decided to set up a small hypothetical camp in Southern California, maybe even Santa Anita next winter? Would D'Amato welcome such a challenge on his home turf?

“Well, I mean, hey, so long as you can welcome the competition and it helps the races fill, I don't have a problem with it. I mean, the same goes if I were to ship horses to Saratoga or try to win a race elsewhere. We're all doing what we can do to try to win races.

“But yeah, Joseph O'Brien, I've definitely watched him from afar. And you can tell he's the kind of person that could definitely supersede what his father's done, just by how young he is and what he's accomplished already.”

The parallels between the scion of the O'Brien clan and D'Amato's emergence as a trainer in his own standing, fully out from under the shadow cast by his long-time mentor, Mike Mitchell, are too obvious to leave undrawn.

Indeed, in a little more than eight years, D'Amato has almost doubled the graded stakes haul of Mitchell's, thoroughly eclipsing his former boss' Grade I total already. And he's done it with minimal window-dressing.

Whereas many trainers proudly wear their grouchy irascibility like a colorful tunic at Mardi Gras, or court the press with quote-ready aphorisms designed for the next day's headlines, D'Amato's approach is a contradiction, no-nonsense and business-like, pleasant and personable.

Little old ladies looking for a helping hand across Santa Anita's Baldwin Avenue swoon when they see D'Amato approach.

Given what he's achieved already in the sorts of big races populated by names like Whittingham, McAnally, Frankel, Mandella and Drysdale, where does he see his burgeoning record when placed alongside those history makers?

“I guess in a sense, with the bar set where it is, we just want to continue to keep building on that and doing what we've done the previous meet. So, I definitely take it as a challenge. But those are the situations I thrive on. Yeah, I like the challenge of it.”

He adds, however, “When I start a meet, I never look at statistics and how I'm going to start the meeting and how many wins I expect. I always look at it from the perspective of putting the horses in the right spots and also giving them their best chances to develop.”

Such an approach helps to avoid being pigeon-holed as a trainer–the ultimate bete noir of the rookie looking to expand and grow a competitive barn.

For every young import in the D'Amato stable, green as the emerald grass they grew up on, there's an older American-bred as hard as a walnut husk with as many miles in their wheels as an old Ford Model T.

“The Red Kings (English Channel) of the world, they love and they thrive on running,” D'Amato says of his Kentucky-bred 8-year-old, still competitive in graded stakes even with more than 40 runs under his belt.

“I've got great owners and an operation where we can take our time and run them when they're ready to run,” he adds, in explanation. “We don't have to force them to run in spots just because this spot or that spot comes up in three weeks.”

Notably, D'Amato has achieved his upward trajectory at a time when getting a horse to the races in California has rarely been harder, given the suite of welfare measures implemented in recent years–measures, it needs to be said, that have helped situate California at the head of the nation in equine safety.

“I mean, it's definitely been a learning experience for every trainer,” says D'Amato. “But I think it just makes us focus on giving these horses breaks when they need time off. All my owners are in favor of that and I think it just helps the horse's longevity at the end of the day.

“It's always been one of my things, to give horses two, three months off after they've had their run for the year,” he adds. “But I think it really, I wouldn't say forces, but makes all these trainers realize it's probably a better way of doing things in order to keep these horses around longer, happier and healthier.”

With Del Mar just around the corner, D'Amato shared running plans for some of his stable stars and emerging lights.

Count Again (Awesome Again): “We're freshening him up. He likes a lot of spacing in between his races and he's doing well. But we'll run him in the [Sept. 3] GII Del Mar Mile and then maybe just wait until the Breeders' Cup Mile.”

Desert Dawn (Cupid): “Desert Dawn is going to take on older horses in the [Aug. 6] GI Clement Hirsch S. on the dirt.”

Leggs Galore (Bayern): “She is going to run in the [July 29] Daisycutter H. sprint.”

Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}): “She will run in the [Aug. 13] Yellow Ribbon H.”

Going to Vegas (Goldencents): “Going to Vegas will probably wait to run in the [Sept. 10] GII John C. Mabee S. and then hopefully the GI Rodeo Drive S. at back at San Anita. That's our two-way plan.”

Bellabel (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}): “She's going to run opening weekend in the [July 23] GII San Clemente S. She's doing really well. She's this big, for a European, big gangly filly. [After her win in the Blue Norther S.] we put that race under her and just kind of gave her a little time, freshened her up. Now, hopefully, we can knock out some of these 3-year-old stakes, try to win the [Aug. 20] GI Del Mar Oaks with her down the road. That's kind of our master plan. But we've got to run in the San Clemente first.”

Cathkin Peak (Ire) (Alhebayeb {Ire}): “He's doing very well. He's going to run in the [July 31] GII Eddie Read S.”

Says D'Amato of his Del Mar squad, “This year, knock on wood, I'm pretty deep in those [big] races. We've kind of freshened up, ready to go.”

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From Dundalk to California

Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) made an impressive U.S. debut for trainer Phil D'Amato by taking Sunday's GIII Sweet Life S. at Santa Anita. Formerly trained by Mick Halford in Ireland, the 3-year-old filly was purchased privately this winter in a deal structured by BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe and Niall Dalton. Gary King caught up with Donohoe on Monday morning to chat about the win.

GK: What attracted you to Going Global?

MD: Her first run at Limerick really caught my eye and Niall's [Dalton]. We liked her action and when she won her maiden at Dundalk we liked the way she quickened to the line. It was a bit of a gamble buying her off a Dundalk handicap win but it paid off. It just goes to show how strong Irish race form is.

GK: Did she strike you as a California kind of horse?

MD: For sure. When I saw her in the flesh she looked the part, well made with a great hip like a lot of the Mehmas progeny. The Mehmases all seem to progress with racing which is a great trait and are sound horses. For racing in California soundness is so important.

GK: How have you found the horses-in-training market during the last few months?

MD: To be honest, it's been pretty good. Myself and Niall working together have had a lot of success these last few months and always have people looking for Irish horses.

GK: Mehmas obviously had a terrific year with his first juveniles. Do you expect them to progress as 3-year-olds?

MD: Absolutely. Even though they have proven to be precocious they are also seriously progressive. They seem to have that will to win and are very sound. He really could be a very important stallion in years to come and is in a very good hotel in Tally Ho. So popular he has become I have only been able to secure one nomination for my clients.

GK: Before I let you go, have you identified any under the radar stallions in Europe for the upcoming breeding season?

MD: I have been hearing and seeing very good reports from Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (€30,000 at Coolmore)'s first crop of 2-year-olds. Also, I think Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€15,000 at Haras de Bouquetot) will have a better 3-year-old crop after a promising start with his first runners last season.

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