HENRY DE BROMHEAD - "I'M GOING TO TRY TO TRAIN A CLASSIC WINNER ONE DAY."

WORDS: DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR

Henry de Bromhead has had a good day. Another one.

A winner at Thurles is today's bounty. You surmise it could have been better, with two runner-up finishes from his other pair of representatives.

In trademark de Bromhead style, such notions of grandeur are rebuffed. Any visit to the track that includes a smiling debrief and a photo under the No 1 lollipop, is a good one. Especially when Messrs Mullins, Elliott and Cromwell are providing the opposition.

Still, it is reflective of the rich vein of form in which the Waterford trainer's string has been through the autumn and into the beginning of the winter campaign, as well as the seamless transition of Darragh O'Keeffe into the role as Knockeen's No 1 following the retirement in May of the incomparable Rachael Blackmore, that one in three is the least we are expecting.

October 2025 provided de Bromhead with his highest ever monthly tally of winners in Ireland (18) and a notably impressive strike rate (32%). His PB before that in terms of victories was 17 in September 2020 at a clip of 30%, and in terms of strike rate was 31% in November 2024, when he still managed to record 16 winners. There are clearly some strong summer months too, such as the 11 well-earned triumphs recorded in July 2024.

This is not a coincidence. It is, to a considerable degree, as a result of a policy of not going the full 12 rounds with his sport's heavyweights.

The subsequent bounty from such guerilla tactics is not just about short-term gain, however. The strategy's prime benefit is having the horses re-appear fresh and in mint condition after a mid-term break, for when the gloves must come off in the spring, particularly at Cheltenham.

So our expectations are an indication too of de Bromhead's position as one of the greatest to ever condition a national hunt horse, transforming a boutique establishment set up by his father Harry, from whence Fissure Seal won what is now the Pertemps final for a syndicate of dentists in 1993.

He is the only trainer to be victorious in the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase in the one week, as achieved when Minella Indo, Honeysuckle and Put The Kettle On prevailed among six festival winners in 2021.

He added the Grand National as Minella Times launched Blackmore into the stratosphere a few weeks later, repeating his Gold Cup feat of saddling the runner-up also. Stupendously, there was another 1-2 when the Gold Cup placings were reversed by A Plus Tard in 2022.

Yet despite having all of Cheltenham's championship races (2 Gold Cups, 2 Champion Hurdles, 4 Champion Chases and a Stayers' Hurdle), the National, a total of 61 Grade 1s and 25 Cheltenham Festival winners on his vaunted CV, he chose to expand into the flat sphere to improve the profitability of his business.

Being Henry de Bromhead, he has proven very astute and adept in this department. In June 2025, he registered his first Royal Ascot success thanks to Ascending and would go on to record his best tally of winners in Ireland, on the level, in the calendar year with 17.

There are six group races on the resumé now, Blackmore highlighting her versatility when steering future Group 2 winner Terms Of Endearment to victory in the Bronte Cup at York in May 2024. But peruse the variety of venues at which those prizes were plundered: Toulouse, Goodwood, York, Sandown and Cork. So imaginative. So smart.

Some might find it incongruous that a man at the very top of his profession has serious concerns about the future of his sport, and industry. But, of course, his voice carries more weight for that.

De Bromhead gets uncharacteristically animated when discussing the funding of horse racing, and speaks about it, mostly uninterrupted, for nearly ten minutes. He is appalled by a model he believes is inimical to the interests of the sport and all who gain a living from it. In particular, he is passionate about the need to cut the umbilical cord between racing and the giant bookmaking corporations and is lobbying to build momentum towards racing creating its own betting company, with a view to becoming self-sustainable. This is something he believes is achievable within 10-15 years of such a venture being set up. More of which, anon.

We have become accustomed to the de Bromhead periodical fecundity, when the ground has yet to get bottomless, his "nicer sort of winter horses" are unleashed and Closutton and Cullentra, in particular, have yet to activate their 'Drag Reduction System. Often, there has been a lull in January and February, and there have been a few years where pundits and punters alike have wondered about the form of the de Bromhead representatives going into March. We know better now.

"It sort of worked for us over the years. We generally aim to have those festival horses ready from October onwards, depending on ground. Horses that prefer nicer ground would be earlier, horses that prefer softer ground would be a little bit later, but we generally aim to have them out by the end of October, November time. And we'd probably go to Christmas with them.

"So I'm never sure then... you could call it a lull. But also, we'd put away a lot of our horses in January with a view to the spring. So it's just worked for us over the years. I suppose you're trying to start a little bit earlier than Willie, for example, because you know, otherwise, you're coming up against all his big guns from now on.

"It's a case of sticking with what has worked before. I suppose we're creatures of habit, a lot of trainers, and that has worked well for us over the years. We'd always be aiming towards Christmas, trying to have two or three runs under their belts and then try and freshen them up before the spring."

It is quite something to be setting new landmarks not long after all the great champions have retired. The Minellas Indo and Times, A Plus Tard, Champion Chase heroine Put The Kettle on and the equine queen of Knockeen, dual Champion Hurdler and four-time Cheltenham victress, Honeysuckle.

But cycles conclude and you plan for the next great challenge, even after you have scaled Everest. Not that you are ever buying a horse with anything more than hope.

"I'm not sure you can plan for a Honeysuckle or Indo, that they were going to go on and do what they were going to do. Put The Kettle On, we bought as a store. We were very lucky that these horses came along. These were horses you dream of having, that you might get one in a lifetime, and they suddenly came within a couple of years of each other.

"We don't restock with as many horses as some of the bigger yards every year. I think it's sort of comparable to football teams with transfer markets. The bigger you are, the more you have to spend, the more new horses coming into your system, and then the more likely you are to come upon these top horses. That's what we're all striving to get.

"With what we have to spend, we wouldn't have as many young horses coming through as some of the big yards. So maybe it's less frequent we're going to come upon them, but we know we have the system. When we get them, we will produce. We'll get the best out of them and hopefully give them every chance to get to those blue riband events.

"Ultimately, when any of us are buying them, none of us actually know. You have your systems that work for you, but no one knows which one is going to be the champion until you get them into your system. We had that period with all those amazing horses that we had, and we've still got some really nice horses and some really nice young ones coming through this year. We hope that we will bring them through to compete in those big races."

He covers the gamut of markets in terms of acquiring French stock, point-to-pointers and stores. Like everyone, he is trying to find value.

"Some of our clients buy their own horses and send them in. Some of them ask us to find horses for them. So we have spotters at the point-to-points that help us source these horses. Gerry Hogan helps us. Alex Elliott has helped us, with plenty of agents that put horses to us or our clients.

"That's the way we buy stores as well, though it's less stores. We have had more luck with form horses, but, we still had a Gold Cup horse as a store, Sizing John. We didn't train him when he won it, but we sourced him as a store and we sourced Sizing Europe as a store, the likes of Special Tiara, Put The Kettle On.

"D'you know what? The more I think of it, they nearly find you, those real ones. But once you have a system that you can produce and nurture them to be that class... once you have that, you've got to stick to that and hope that your policies work."

Sticking to what work does not mean you are not constantly evaluating and re-evaluating.

"If I was to criticise myself, maybe I'm not aggressive enough or proactive enough with my buying policy. I think we've got a good way of sourcing, and it's worked for us very well over the years but maybe I could be more proactive. We've got brilliant clients who support us. We get really nice horses to train and try to get from 150 (rated) to 170, those horses are so hard to find, and they're the ones we all want."

De Bromhead likes the way Knockeen works now, the rhythms. Expanding would change that. It goes back to the reasonable policy of not taking a scalpel to a healthy patient. If it ain't broke, and all that. He is very comfortable with the scale of the operation.

"It means we can be a bit more bespoke to horses and try and suit them, rather than them suiting a system for us. The thing for us is trying to nurture them along. Since I started training, probably one of the main things for me was... it's so hard to get a good horse, when you get a good one, it's trying to get that longevity. And I think we've proven that over the years with the likes of Honeysuckle, Envoi Allen, Bob Olinger, Minella Indo, Sizing Europe. Once you get those good horses, you're trying to maintain them and keep them going at the highest level for as long as you can." It speaks volumes.

There has been one monumental alteration to the landscape though, in the ascension of O'Keeffe to the throne vacated by Blackmore. De Bromhead was well established prior to her arrival at Knockeen - Sizing Europe, Special Tiara, Sizing John, Petit Mouchoir, Identity Thief, Champagne West, Shanahan's Turn and Days Hotel all pre-dated the Killenaule marvel.

But it is inarguable that he rocketed to another level in conjunction with her. They became behemoths, growing together. Blackmore has been the pilot for 31 of his 61 Grade 1s. Andrew Lynch is the next highest provider with seven. She was in the plate for 16 of the 25 Cheltenham triumphs. They were inextricably linked as they soared to the moon.

O'Keeffe had been used regularly since delivering A Plus Tard from the clouds to win the Savills Chase at Christmas in 2020. It was the teenager's first ride in a Grade 1. He scored on Maskada in the Grand Annual a little more than two years later. Right now, the Doneraile native is miles clear of Jack Kennedy and Paul Townend in the race to add the champion jockey title to his conditional crown, though the latter pair are now in full cry with their primary employers, Elliott and Mullins.

"That's been really good," de Bromhead concurs. "What we achieved with Rachael was incredible, and she was amazing to work with. And we had some unbelievable years. That's a good point about how we grew with Rachael. Rachael really helped us grow as well. She was incredible, what she brought to the table.

"But Darragh rode A Plus Tard in the Savills Chase and everyone said, 'God, fair play, you're putting up a 19-year- old. I didn't even know he was 19. I had thought he was a lot older, it felt that he was around a lot longer. He's always been working away with us, so I'm delighted to see him taking his opportunities. It's very similar to Rachael. He's a brilliant rider. He's really so clued in. He wants it as much as we do.

"Obviously, there was a window last autumn where Rachael was unfortunate to get that injury (broken neck), and Darragh stepped in and did really well. So it was encouraging to see that, but I didn't know Rachael was going to retire when she did. I had no idea, to be honest, but at least we knew that Darragh had stepped into it for a while and did really well."

He has taken to utilising Billy Lee more in recent years too and it was the Limerick man that was on board when Ascending denied Nurburgring by a neck in the Ascot Stakes last June.

"That was an incredible day for a number of reasons. I always wanted to have a winner at Royal Ascot, so it was brilliant to tick that box. We'd love to train a few more. What made it extra special was getting it for the Joneses, with Chris and Afra there and the boys. That was brilliant. Chris and Afra have always been brilliant supporters of ours. We got a real kick out of that."

Seamie Heffernan was on board Ascending with what we now know was the impossible task of attempting to overcome Ethical Diamond in the Ebor, getting only six pounds from the subsequent Breeders' Cup Turf hero. De Bromhead saddled Magical Zoe to win the valuable prize 12 months previously.

"We went into (flat racing) from a trading perspective. My view is, as a jumps trainer, I don't like to train and trade. In my opinion, they don't really go well, it just doesn't suit me. I like to buy horses for jumps clients independent of us, being from point-to-points or whatever. So I never really wanted to trade jumpers.

"But we have this infrastructure, and we have a great team at home. So I think it was probably about seven or eight years ago that we said we'd just dabble in it and see, and bought a couple of fillies, and they sold really well, and it became a good trade. It started well, so we continued doing it. We got some great trades out of it and we can have a piece of the pie as well in that."

Commerce may have been the motive for dipping the toe into the summer game but the competitive juices are flowing now and a little taste of the big time in that sector has induced the germination of a much greater career goal.

"This year we've had a good enough season. Owner-breeders have sent us some nice horses, and some clients have bought a few nice horses for us as well. So, it's exciting.

"I'm going to try to train a Classic winner one day. "You have to have ambition. It's something we enjoy doing. Some of our clients really enjoy it, some like a bit of both. It's people's hobby but we want to achieve what we can."

The irony, which he acknowledges, is that the international market that has helped him land some lovely touches, has had a direct impact on the NH world, with a significant reduction in flat horses making the transition to the jumps game due, in some part at least, to the phenomenal prize money available in the likes of Hong Kong, Australia, America and the Middle East.

"Oh absolutely. Now, obviously, you'd probably look more for a horse that likes a bit of soft ground off the flat, which mightn't suit these places but yeah, it has. It's definitely made them a lot more expensive. I've never bought many off the flat but it has made it harder."

It is financial reality that has led to this trend. The same financial reality that nudged de Bromhead towards his flat racing sideshow. And the same financial reality that winds him up to 90 when queried on the biggest challenge facing the industry right now.

"It's very simple. It's prize money. I've got a strong view on racing's association with corporate gambling companies. It's not bookmakers anymore. These are massive corporate gambling companies... the days of racing and bookmakers going hand-in- hand, that's completely different now. I think we're used as a shop window for the corporate gambling companies to get people to their sites, to bring them across to their online gaming, which is a far more profitable part of their business than gambling on racing. "I have a fairly radical view. I think we should be going pure Tote, like France, like all the richest racing nations, and I think it's achievable. We'd need more government support than we have at the moment, but I think we could become a self-funding industry within the next 10 to 15 years, like France, like Australia, who actually have allowed the corporates in, and they're already starting to see a fall in their TAB turnover, which is affecting finances.

"So I think it could get worse before it gets better. You listen to the likes of (HKJC CEO Winfried) Engelbrecht-Bresges, and British and Irish racing needs to move more towards pool betting. It's more punter-friendly. Even if you're a winner, you can get on. From what I hear, anyone who's a successful gambler, if you win with these corporates, you get shut down, you're not allowed to bet, which seems so fundamentally wrong to me.

"I think this new form of gambling (online casinos) is going like alcohol and cigarettes. It's getting to be a real taboo, and it's becoming socially and politically unacceptable. And racing is associated with that now."

Which makes it an easy target.

"And yet, you look at the addiction rates. I think you're three or four times more likely to be addicted to online casinos than you are betting on racing. And in racing, it's a skill. I can't see the difference between wagering on racing and wagering on stocks and shares. I actually can't. It's a skill. Some people are better at it than others and these corporate gambling companies won't allow the people that are good at it to wager. It all seems so fundamentally wrong to me.

"It would be a massive change, but I think if the Irish and British racing industry got together and got behind it (it would work). Racing is so popular, it's incredible. We sort of put ourselves down but I'm amazed, day-in, day-out, people that know about me, know what I do, that I didn't think would have had any interest in racing, and it's not from a betting perspective.

"I think we need to improve the engagement. You look at Japan. The whole story of where this horse that you are seeing racing today is told at the racecourses. We need to look at that." He is not talking about the midweek fixtures, when you might not find the worst sinner in attendance.

"You're gonna have to have industry days. They have those in France... but still, I think, the PMU gets something like 800 million, and the Exchequer gets 800 million. And there's something like 13 billion wagered on French racing worldwide, which is similar to Britain and Ireland, and yet they get 800 million to run French racing. Okay, I know it's decreased a tiny bit. But I think as an industry, we have to take ownership of that." He is rolling now.

"These ambassadors for these corporate gambling companies. I don't get that. I just don't get it. It was offered to me a few times, and I thought about it, but I didn't do it and I really wouldn't dream of doing it now. Now I think we should all become ambassadors for our industry, for our sport. And if that's the Tote or pool betting; it may not be the Tote. Something like the World Pool, but obviously for Ireland and Britain."

Self-sustainability should be the goal of administrators and participants alike, and de Bromhead is being proactive in attempting to build support for his idea.

"There's a few of us discussing it. That's the dream. It's going to take a lot of people to pull it together, and mainly the industry and all the stakeholders. That's the reality. This thing we're dependent on, corporate gambling companies, that bookmaker/ racing relationship is gone. They use us as a shop window to get people to convert them to their online casinos, and soon we're gonna not be really much use to them.

"In the previous media rights deal you were paid per race. Now it's a percentage of turnover. So if they don't price up a race, which they didn't at Bath last year, they don't have to pay us, whereas before, they had to pay seven or eight grand for that race. So I just think we need to get away from that."

It's what everyone wants but no one is sure how to achieve it. Yet. "We need more cohesion to achieve it and more industry buy- in to achieve it. But I think if you could point to people that you could be racing for a 30 grand maiden hurdle in time, I think that's massive for the industry and makes it more sound."

It is a credit to him that he is not just exercised by the malaise but offers a possible solution and is attempting to rally people to the cause. And all the while, keeping the home fires burning, as fruitfully as ever before.

Envoi Allen brought his tally of Grade 1s to ten - six under de Bromhead's tutelage - when winning Down Royal's Champion Chase for the third time last month. He clearly doesn't act at Kempton so after a break, will build towards spring and probably the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Stayers' Hurdle champ, Bob Olinger is another who works back from Cheltenham, and Hiddenvalley Lake, in the same ownership, is a Grade 1 winner in that division too. Meanwhile Quilixios was alongside Marine Nationale when falling at the last in the Champion Chase, a race de Bromhead has won four times. The former Triumph Hurdle winner is back for more.

Then you have the raft of younger charges, such as July Flower, The Big Westerner, Forty Coats, Mister Pessimistic, Fruit De Mer, Slade Steel, Workahead, Gameball, Sky Lord, Tim Toe, Koktail Divin and Gomez Addams. And The Short Go and Monty's Star are more established chasers likely to pick up their share of prize money in the coming months. On paper, the succession planning has been shrewdly implemented.

"Obviously, the bubble bursts every now and again. But once you can keep the dream alive with a few nice horses, they'll all find their level and we'll keep trying to bring them through."