Cavalor Trainer of the Quarter - Eoin McCarthy
Article by Lissa Oliver
Our Cavalor Trainer of the Quarter, Eoin McCarthy, was selected not for one outstanding performance but for six! McCarthy sent out the six winners, plus four placed horses at his local meeting, the prestigious Listowel Festival, and in doing so topped the Leading Trainer table, ahead of such powerhouses as Willie Mullins. Quite an achievement for a yard with 36 horses riding out at present.
McCarthy has been training National Hunt, Point-to-Point and Flat horses since 2012, as well as providing pre-training and breaking, from his family-run yard in Templethea. The yard sits in the tranquil countryside of County Limerick in the West of Ireland and while McCarthy says he has “the basic” in terms of a four-furlong (800m) woodchip gallop and arena, less run-of-the-mill is the access to a river for the horses to walk through and 40-acres of forest with a good mile of trekking paths, keeping his horses fit in both body and mind.
As a local trainer, Listowel is of huge importance to McCarthy, “it’s like a blood bank, if you don’t perform well at the meeting others do and they’re soaking up new owners.” Horses are individuals, but McCarthy has shown he can have them all ready for that one important week. “It’s not an overly big yard so it’s very easy to keep an eye on them, I took some horses to work at the Curragh on The Old Vic gallop, while others never went away and did everything here, you get to know what works best for each horse.”
The results were Carla's Pet opening the meeting with a win, a double the following day with Shadow Paddy and Fast Felix, and topping it all the following afternoon the first treble of McCarthy’s career with Tropical Image, Regards To Rose and Ollie La Ba Ba. Throw into the mix the placed runners Moon Sky, Wholelotofbusiness, Jekiki and Elusive Ogie and it was something of a bonanza for McCarthy.
“It’s something that you only dream of, it’s unbelievable,” he admits. “The amount of people still coming over congratulating me, it’s very special as racing moves forward so quick, yesterday’s race forgotten. Without the owners and staff it won’t work, and my family are working alongside me, too.
“I’m riding out every lot each morning, it’s my favourite part, I love being hands on. It might sound silly, but I only train because I love horses, I love working with them, and I really enjoy it when the three-year-olds start coming in and getting them jumping.
“I don’t look at it like a business, if a horse takes two years to come along so be it, let him. It’s probably not the best business model and it takes time, but it’s beginning to pay off now and we’re going in the right direction.”
