Tag: Ronan Whelan

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘Ordinary Guys’ Beating The Odds

Hours after winning his first Group 1 race on the Arc de Triomphe undercard, trainer Ado McGuinness found himself waiting on a bus to take him and his crew back to their hotel in Paris.

“We're ordinary guys, coming from an ordinary place,” the Irishman explained. “We were finding it hard to get taxis, so we just decided we'd head for the bus, and we had great fun actually. It was one of those bendy busses, so the back of it was going all over the place because we were dancing and singing the whole way into Paris!”

That celebration was well-deserved: McGuiness has trained racehorses for 21 years, working his way up from the lowest ranks to become one of the top 10 trainers in Ireland. In addition, the win meant McGuinness would be making his first trip to the United States for a chance to run in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

The son of a vegetable farmer with a background in show jumping had never been one to shy away from hard work, and he found a solid niche in Ireland buying horses from the in-training sales and keeping them running consistently well. 

A partnership with his cousin, Darley Flying Start graduate Stephen Thorne, and the development of ownership syndicate Shamrock Thoroughbreds has helped McGuinness bring a higher class of horse into the stable over the past several years.

The trainer won his first stakes race in 2020 when Current Option captured the Platinum Stakes at Cork on Aug. 8; he sent out a first international winner with Bowerman in the G2 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup in Qatar on Feb. 19, 2021; and he progressed to the Group 1 level when A Case of You scored by a narrow margin in the Prix de l'Abbaye on Oct. 3.

A Case of You, the 3-year-old son of Hot Streak, was also McGuinness' first ever runner at Longchamp. The last time the trainer had been in Paris was for his honeymoon.

“The whole place just went mad,” McGuinness told Friday Night Racing on Off The Ball. “I got a great reception, [jockey] Ronan [Whelan] got emotional, we all got emotional, it was just brilliant. It's hard to describe the feeling really when it happens, your first time, especially in a place like that.

“You just sort of say to yourself, 'Am I dreaming, am I dreaming?' You never think it might happen to you. You'd often be sitting at home watching this race saying, 'God wouldn't you love to be there,' and I'm very privileged that I was.”

Ronan Whelan gallops A Case of You at Del Mar

Owned by McGuinness' longtime friend and owner Gary Devlin, A Case of You joined the stable in early 2021. The colt had been sold as a weanling for just €950 (about $1,100), then was picked up by trainer John McConnell as a yearling when after the 2019 Goffs Sportsman's sale, when bidding stopped at €3,000 (about $3,300).

McConnell trained A Case of You to win at second asking, then to capture a G3 race at The Curragh before he finished for the season. A deal was brokered to sell the colt to Hong Kong but it fell through, allowing McGuinness to step in.

“Going to Hong Kong, with all the x-rays and everything, it can be very hard to pass the vet,” McGuinness explained. “I think there was one little problem with something on x-ray, and we got him x-rayed again, and my vet was very happy with him, and he passed him. We brokered a deal and bought him. He's a very, very cheap horse now, compared to what we paid for him, but he was the most expensive horse I've ever bought.”

At first, McGuinness tried to put A Case of You on the trail for the Classics, but the colt quickly proved he was more effective at sprint distances. By September, A Case of You was facing off with the best sprinters in Ireland, and ran a great second at long odds in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh. 

That effort, and post-race comments from his jockey Ronan Whelan insisting he would have won had he moved a bit sooner, inspired McGuinness to supplement the colt to the l'Abbaye. Whelan made his move earlier at Longchamp, and got up to win by a short head on the wire.

That success brought about an even more prestigious opportunity in the Breeders' Cup.


“We never thought he'd bring me here,” McGuiness said, watching A Case of You train over the dirt at Del Mar ahead of the Breeders' Cup. “I've been all over the world, but never to the U.S. I've been to Australia, Saudi, Dubai, but never the U.S. It's unbelievable.”

McGuinness chose to stick with Whelan, bringing the jockey over to California to ride.

“I've known Ronin since he was an apprentice, and he's a real hell of a good lad, a very underrated jockey,” said the trainer. “There's only very, very few jockeys in Ireland getting an opportunity to come over and ride in a place like this, so it's great for the likes of him. He can come out here, he proved it in Paris. People were saying, 'Oh, put an American jockey on him,' and I said, 'Not a hope!'”

Also of concern was the tight bend of Del Mar's turf course, as well as the turf itself. 

“The tightness, right, is a little bit of a concern, but he's a well-balanced horse so I think he shouldn't have a problem with it,” McGuinness said. “We have a nice draw; there'll be pace on our inside and we can just slot in behind them. When you walk out on it it's not too bad. There's a lovely sponge off it compared to home. When it's firm in Ireland, it's hard-hard, like it's like out there [pointing to the pavement]. We listened to the horses galloping by yesterday in the race, and if you were at home and you listened to the same bunch of horses galloping on firm ground, it'd be a lot harder than what you'd get here. But then, we don't get firm ground too often in Ireland with the weather!”

Jockey Ronan Whelan and trainer Ado McGuinness discuss strategy in the paddock at Del Mar ahead of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

A Case of You certainly did not disappoint in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, closing to finish fifth behind Golden Pal.

“He ran a massive race and going past the line would have been placed with a bit further,” McGuinness said after the run. “He's been invited for Hong Kong which is something we'll discuss over the weekend, and if he travels home well it's something we'll think about.”

McGuinness also has plans in the works to run A Case of You at Royal Ascot in 2022, and did not rule out a return to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland next fall.

“He's just three, and he'll be better next year,” said McGuinness. “I think if he'd run out here even three to four months later, he'd have been much closer at the finish.”

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In the meantime, A Case of You is getting some down time in McGuinness' yard at Skylark House Stables, Hayestown, Lusk, Co. Dublin. He'll likely join a group heading to the local beach for a refresher, with McGuinness keeping a watchful eye on his stable star.

“We have a beautiful beach which is not too far away,” McGuinness said. “When the weather's not too bad, it's a beautiful place. It's great mind-wise for a horse just to take them. Usually when we race our horses we go there the next day, just to let them chill out and have a walk around the water. 

“The horses seem to really enjoy it. They love it. On the odd day we get a horse to go swimming, but very seldom. Just up to their knees, and if it's a real calm day, I even go farther with them, right up to their shoulders, and they just love it.”

The future definitely looks bright for McGuinness, who plans to continue to improve the level of his stock while staying as hands-on as possible. He'll still be the first one in the stable each morning, feeding his horses breakfast himself, and driving the trailer to haul them to their races.

“Ireland is probably the hardest country in the world to train horses because we have the best horses, some of the best trainers, and the biggest operations in the world to compete against,” McGuinness said. “I think we've proven that we can train good horses when we get them.”

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