Irish connection

Shepherd’s Walk in Epsom has seen plenty of horse action over the years. Jack Reardon trained there 70 years ago and it was from that leafy lane that John Sutcliffe sent out Specify to win the 1971 Grand National and from where John Benstead would patiently prepare slow-developing stayers for Hamdan al-Maktoum. A few years ago, though, several trainers having moved in and out, the proud morning parade of horses heading across to the grandstand and the training grounds had dwindled to a trickle.

All that has now changed. Fifty-plus equine athletes wind through the trees of a morning again. Roger Teal has scored at top level, and at Ermyn Lodge a smart new double-purpose spread for horse matching, hatching and dispatching past the winning post has been built up by owner Tony Smith and his wife Lesley. Tony’s breeding and sales operation swiftly expanded to include a training yard with Pat Phelan installed as trainer and breeding manager.

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Pat’s CV tells us much about a country’s priorities. If horses could speak, then surely it would be with an Irish lilt. There is something about the Irish and horses, some tweak in the genes, an instinctive bond. Born on a stud farm, Pat joined the Irish army and, as well as doing the tough stuff on border patrol, became an international eventer and showjumper. Captain Phelan was soon put in charge of the Army Equitation School at The Curragh and, Ireland being Ireland, the Irish racing academy was created under the army wing. An old Forces tradition that officers were allowed the use of the gallops for one horse allowed him simultaneously to operate as a permit trainer.

You can see from Pat’s friendly authority today with the fresh-faced youngsters tacking up and hosing down horses how he enjoyed those days, taking tough characters running wild on the streets of Kildare and giving them a focus.