Willie McCreery - the leading Irish flat trainer who is a master at the game of patience
/By Lissa Oliver
Master at the game of patience
![Willie McCreery – master at the game of patience There is nothing superficial about Rathbride Stables, a traditional yard on the very coalface of the history-steeped Curragh Plains of Kildare. And there’s nothing superficial about Willie McCreery, either. Like most modern yards, the atmosphere is relaxed. McCreery appears laid back, and the staff arrive at 7 a.m. and calmly set about their tasks—the routine as smooth as a well-oiled machine. There are no instructions being given and none needed; teamwork is at its finest.But there’s a keenness here, too—a simmering energy beneath the calm exterior. McCreery is quietly watchful and aware of every nuance. This is a man who loves what he does and just happens to be very good at it, too. The Wall of Fame in the office bears testament to the success—no better example being Fiesolana, the Gp1 Matron Stakes heroine. Improving every season and gaining a first Gp1 win for McCreery and his team as a five-year-old, she’s a good example, too, of McCreery’s patience and expertise with fillies and older horses, for which he has gained something of a reputation. Her now five-year-old Galileo colt, Up Helly Aa, is also keeping Group company under the tutelage of McCreery.This is thanks largely to the patronage of owner-breeders. While some trainers survive on sharp two-year-olds and trading, McCreery acknowledges that having the perceived luxury of time with horses that have a longer career ahead comes with its own challenges. ‘Not selling horses and training for owner-breeders brings even more pressure’, he points out. ‘A win becomes more important, and then when they’ve had their win, you’re looking for black type. If they don’t get a win, it’s worse than if they don’t race at all; poor performances run the risk of devaluing the whole family. It comes down to making the right call, being sure enough from what they’re doing at home that they can do well and improve the family; or maybe having to risk the decision not to run them’.Rathbride Stables, once home to Flashing Steel and where the Irish Grand National winner is now buried, has been home to McCreery since 2010. He had taken out a licence and sent out his first winner two years earlier. The original loose boxes are companion boxes, with the window through to the next box at the feed trough. ‘They can have a chat with their neighbour and have a nibble at the same time’, McCreery says. ‘It encourages them to feed, and I’m a fan of anything that gets them eating well.‘I feed as best as I can. I hope to be second to none in that respect. I use a combination of Connolly’s Red Mills mix and nuts, and also alfalfa imported from Italy. I’ve picked it up along the way. I’m a firm believer in staying ahead of your feed, and if a horse is a little off, cut back straight away. I feed four times a day’. McCreery starts his day in the yard at 6 a.m. with the first of the feeds, and he’ll turn out any of the horses not working that morning. That day’s runners will go out in the paddocks in the evening after returning from the races and again the next morning. Rathbride has 40 acres of turnout paddocks, as well as a 400m covered wood chip ride, and is currently home to 60 horses.It’s ideally situated and well chosen. ‘We can just walk across to the gallops; we’ve the vet just beside us, and we’re within an hour of six tracks. As an example, I had a horse injured on the Old Vic gallop at 7.40 a.m. and he was X-rayed, diagnosed and back in his box—all by 9 a.m. I’m very lucky; any issue at all, and I have the vet with me in five minutes. I can drop blood samples in and have the results in 10 minutes’.In the pre-COVID days, McCreery liked to give his horses days out, particularly at Dundalk where they could walk round the parade ring in front of a race crowd and gain experience. He also found the local equine pool a great help for horses who enjoyed it, but that’s now closed. ‘I would love to be near a beach; sea water does a great job’, he says. ‘But I’m not a fan of spas. They can mask the injury, and the problem is still going to be there. They’re okay for sore shins’. Training racehorses was always in his blood; McCreery’s father Peter had enjoyed great success as a National Hunt trainer, and his older brother Peter Jr by coincidence sent out Son Of War to win the Irish Grand National the year before Flashing Steel’s success. We might wonder why McCreery chose the Flat in preference.‘I’ve no preference, I’d be happy training both, but I was just led that way’, he says. ‘I suppose I veered more to Flat fillies because of owner-breeders. If people have a horse that needs a bit of time, they’ll send it to me because I’m known for that type of horse’.This could be due to McCreery’s strong background in breeding. As well as growing up with racehorses, he served his time on the renowned Irish National Stud diploma course. He went on to work in Australia, Japan and America. Having returned home and worked at KIldangan Stud, he served as assistant trainer to Charles O’Brien for eight years before setting up on his own. His experience and the insight gained from the breeding sector has certainly stood him in good stead.‘A lot of what I’ve learnt comes from running a large commercial stud where we were foaling 100 mares in a season’, he says. ‘I picked up horsemanship. When you’re raising them, you know when they’re a racehorse—you can see when they have that fighting spirit. I also know about the doctoring that can be done on a young horse, which can impact on their racing but not for the sales. I know what to look out for and consider. ‘I see a big problem in the overpopulation of farms and the rate of Rhodococcus equi infections. The foal recovers, but what about the effect on lung capacity? Should that be recorded on the catalogue page? I believe that if a foal has had surgery, that should be on the catalogue page, but it’s not. Time spent standing in is going to impact on development at a crucial stage. My stud background has definitely been an advantage in so far as the youngstock side. I can see joint problems and other problems, and I know how to deal with them’.McCreery is also scathing of the amount of scoping carried out at the sales, to the point that even professionals forget the simple basics. ‘I’ve seen vets walking round with the scope hanging over their shoulder!’ he complains. ‘One guy put it down on the floor, then wondered why I refused to let him use it on my horse’!At the sales, McCreery relies on his own judgement. ‘I do all my own buying at the sales myself; I didn’t really like some of the horses agents were fetching out to show me. I used to buy cheap fillies with faults that I knew I could train, but then I’d find that I couldn’t sell them on afterwards. Because of the faults, agents wouldn’t look at them.‘I try to buy the quick types, as I get given late-maturing horses, so it’s a way of having some early two-year-olds, but I’m not really known for my two-year-olds. I always go round the sales with horses marked off in the catalogue, but very often a groom will pull out another horse for me to see and if it’s a correct horse and I like it, I’ll take a chance on it, so usually I don’t end up with the horses I’d marked off at all!‘There are some studs I won’t buy from because they only breed a sales horse. You look in a catalogue and see mares ruined being bred to the wrong horse. I’ll only look at those sent from the studs I know breed a racehorse’.When it comes to buying cheaper horses and having to forgive some faults, McCreery is careful. ‘I won’t forgive wind. Ninety percent of horses have wind issues; we’ve bred that into them now. Bad feet can be tricky, too. I wouldn’t like a curvy hock; you end up married to them then. I look at them as if I’m going to be selling them in a year’s time; I look at them like a vet. I don’t like a flashy walker; I like to see them more relaxed and professional. And I hate the fact they are all given so much tranquiliser at the sales; you get a totally different character when you get them home’.Prior to taking out his licence, McCreery’s vast experience hadn’t been limited to horses, and he also brings a lot of knowledge from another sporting world, having played Gaelic football at the highest level. He was a midfielder for the famous Kildare team that won a national title in 1998, while still working by day with Charles O’Brien. ‘I learnt a lot from our manager Mick O’Dwyer’, he acknowledges. ‘I think the biggest thing was that when he had you 100% fit, he tried to get you 110% fit and lost three players to injuries. I learned from that. A lot of horses lose their races at home on the gallops. When a horse is 100% fit, it can’t get any fitter. I learnt to back off and not do too much with them. ‘That’s the greatest skill. What John Oxx did with Sea The Stars—that was a phenomenal feat, and we won’t see it again. To win six major Gp1 races in six months, that was an incredible achievement and it’s a wonderful thing for us to learn from. It’s what we all have to aim for, even with a low-class handicapper, that ability to keep them fresh and at their peak from the beginning of the season to the end. It’s things like that that I love. ‘I see myself as a conditioner of racehorses, not a trainer. Getting a horse ready for its first time at the track takes a lot of work, but from then on it’s just a matter of keeping them fit, and they don’t need much work at all. I like to use their races as their work. I weigh them once a week and before and after races. Their weight can tell you if they were trying or not. ‘On the gallops I love my horses finishing together. That way, they are all confident; they all go home happy. When they go to the races for the first few times, I like the jockey to make it an enjoyable day for them. Billy Lee is our jockey, and he won’t punish a horse; they’ll come on all the better for it. Most horses try their heart out; they know that when a jockey goes “giddy up”, they need to go faster. Billy Lee and Nathan Crosse are horsemen, and my apprentices are all drilled in the same: why hit a horse when he’s trying his best?‘It’s about keeping them mentally happy and when they run it doesn’t kill them, there’s plenty more for next time; they can keep improving. With some trainers that first run is a horse’s best run; they went all out for that win and gave everything, and there’ll be nothing more to come from them. ‘It’s all about knowing when to stop. If I’m not sure about a horse, I’ll run it over a shorter distance and it will recover quicker. I’ve found from experience that if I’m doubtful about them getting a trip and I run them over shorter, I’m usually right. Individuals will get given a break if they’re not growing or they look a bit sad, but I like to keep going with the two-year-olds. I’m not a two-year-old trainer; their early races are bonuses. It’s their three and four-year-old career I focus on. Horses are not mature until they’re four, so I won’t do too much with them in their first season. My owners know what they bought themselves and know I won’t push them’.Typically, his horses, who step straight out onto the Curragh from the yard, will have a four-and-a-half-kilometre hack over to the gallops. Those that need it will have stalls practise, but otherwise he prefers not to put them through the stalls, as there’s always a risk they may get a fright and then develop an issue.‘I love to use the grass gallops, and I especially like bringing them up Walsh’s Hill. It has a quarter-mile width and provides good ground from March to November. It has a little incline the whole way up, and if the Lord ever gave me a field, it would be this one. Some of my horses have never turned a bend until they get to the races!‘I’m in the yard at six and matching riders to horses on the board—that’s so important. If any rider calls a horse a bad name, they never ride it again; it’s clear they don’t get on together. Some riders have a good energy, and some have a bad energy; and horses are very sensitive to that.”McCreery has gleaned plenty of knowledge from the people he has worked with and the roles he has experienced, but he reveals, ‘By far the biggest help to me as a trainer was when I worked at Kildangan Stud, and I did a course in managing people. That taught me an awful lot. Every staff member has good traits and bad traits, so good management is about finding what they like doing and what they can do. The skill is in getting them to use their skill and be beneficial to the yard. It’s the same in every walk of life and in every business. If you leave people doing things they’re not good at and don’t enjoy, they’ll leave.’Staff retention is a big problem, and recruitment is an issue not only limited to Ireland. ‘It’s a huge problem and getting worse by the day’, McCreery agrees. ‘It’s a worldwide problem, and I worry about the state we’ll be in in 10 years’ time. There is so much being introduced—Health and Safety and insurance getting more expensive. It’s a lot harder now in the administration side of things’.McCreery also notes a change in modern culture and work ethic. ‘Young people only want to ride out; they don’t want to do anything else. They don’t like early starts and working weekends or bank holidays. They’re not as driven. For every one good person you get, 10 go through your hands. There’s no loyalty. ‘People are getting heavier; it’s a tough game to get into for any kids. The educational facilities tell them they can have a good career ahead, and they then get disgruntled when they don’t get on as a jockey. All trainers want a good apprentice, but if they’re not good, owners don’t want them on their horse. You bring on an apprentice as best you can, but at the same time you can’t jeopardise your business. Apprenticeships and educational facilities are an integral part of recruitment, but the reality is that it’s like the soccer youth academies—only the very few will make it’.Ideas have been cited in the past for every trainer to take on an apprentice to train rather than rely on the educational facilities, but McCreery has his doubts. ‘If you have a bad teacher, you get a bad pupil; it won’t work that way. It’s important to be guided by the right person. The only way for apprentices to learn is from the good riders around them, and the Irish jockeys are among the best in the world. You can put any of our top 10 jockeys anywhere in the world, and they’ll be in the top 10 there. Visiting jockeys find it hard to ride here; it’s so tight.‘The reality is most jockeys have very poor winning percentages and it’s tough, but they have to deal with it. My old manager, Mick O’Dwyer, used to say [that] when someone pats you on the back, they’re just looking to see where to put the knife! As a jockey walks back in from a race, they can be aggressively accosted and verbally abused, so it’s important kids are protected from that and know how to deal with it’.However, there is a growing shift in culture and a lack of respect among some younger people that can prevent them from learning the traditional way – ears and eyes open and mouth shut. ‘It’s unfortunate, but the older jockeys used to offer advice to the younger ones. But now, if an older jockey goes over and says something to them, the youngsters tell them to f*** off’!Perhaps a bigger issue is the scope of the education provided at racing academies. McCreery picks up on something that should be fundamental, given the modern issues of height, weight and mental wellbeing.‘They should be taught how to cook’, he insists. ‘It’s farcical. They come out of work and go to the chip shop! I’m astonished at their lack of basic; it’s fundamental. As soon as my apprentices arrive here, I take them to a nutritionist. They learn to cook and to eat the right things’.He is, however, blessed with good staff who have been with him throughout. ‘Our apprentices are Nathan Crosse and Jack Cleary. Mick Clarke—he’s my head lad and assistant—he’s been here 10 years. Eddie Dempsey is our travelling head lad. Cathy Canon is in the office; she does the accounts. My wife Amanda and Brian Donoghue are in the office, too; they do all the horse side. And John Breen has been with me 10 years looking after the yard’.The restrictions placed on working hours is another headache faced by European trainers and, as McCreery points out, ‘Animals don’t know what day of the week it is. When I worked in America, there was no difference between a weekday or a Saturday or Sunday. I can see that in the near future we’re going to have to hire more people to work less days, like in France. We’ll have weekend workers, kids from college. Owners will never be happy to accept a fee increase; the only way is to have more staff working fewer hours. But staff won’t be getting a full week’s wages, so they won’t stay’.Many trainers are looking ahead with trepidation, but perhaps that was always the case and it has certainly never stopped aspiring young people taking out a licence. McCreery had the full support of his wife Amanda when he decided to start up on his own, her own career providing financial support until such time as she could join the Rathbride team.‘I don’t think it’s too difficult for a young trainer to start out’, McCreery believes. ‘You can rent a yard or even just a few boxes and start with just two horses. I started off with just €20,000 and 12 horses, in the height of a recession. There is so much to learn off other trainers, and you either pick it up fast or not at all. You make mistakes, and you learn by them. If you don’t do everything right and efficiently you won’t succeed’.The topic of the moment is social media, and the stress and pressure it can cause where once it was promoted as the newest tool in marketing a business. McCreery isn’t a fan and doesn’t do Twitter. ‘Where do you stop’? he says. ‘It takes up so much time. The bigger yards can do it, where they have someone employed just to keep it up to date. I don’t get owners from social media. Do trainers really need advertising? The minute you have runners, they are your advertisement.’A consistent problem in Ireland has been the treatment of owners at racecourses—a situation that is improving rapidly but still bringing complaints from some trainers. It has been highlighted by some that there can be a tendency for racecourse staff to behave more like “bouncers” than “greeters”, which can undermine the hard work trainers have put in to securing owners.It has also been argued that Ireland doesn’t have room for two authorities, in the form of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), but McCreery would disagree.‘HRI has done a great job keeping racing going’, he acknowledges. ‘It’s hugely important to keep the structure that we have in place—to keep the two bodies neutral. HRI is responsible for the promotion of the industry, and the IHRB controls the regulations. We’ve the best racing and breeding in the world, and we cannot afford to jeopardise that status. We are a nursery for the rest of the world, and that trade is very important; it keeps trainers going. Every weekend in the USA the grass races are won by former Irish-trained horses and look at their success in Australia and Hong Kong. We need to be totally transparent and 100% honest; we set the standards in racing worldwide.“I think our stewarding is very good. I know some call for professionals and ex-jockeys instead of amateurs, but I would be very afraid of professionals once they’re on a salary; they can be got at and controlled. At least with our amateur stewards, they are respectable and they’re doing it because they want to give their time; they can’t be got at. I would have a fear of professional stewarding being tampered with. France’s stewarding has gone a bit mad, I feel; Europe has to come together and unify the rules. As things stand, it’s very unfair on jockeys.‘The biggest problem is the Handicapper—we only have the one, and no one questions him. It’s hard to have a conversation with him; it just turns into an argument. There should be Handicappers for different length races, with more specific knowledge of those horses. A horse needs to be rated 80 to win a maiden, so why should the runner-up be punished and raised? The runner-up should be dropped 3Ibs.”Obviously, HRI will be undergoing a change this year as CEO Brian Kavanagh moves on to a new role at The Curragh Racecourse and Training Grounds, and his successor is sought. ‘Brian Kavanagh gets things done, instead of talking about it he just does it’, McCreery says. ‘He has kept racing going throughout the pandemic, and he’s done great for prize money. He has been hugely beneficial to us especially in the redevelopment of the Curragh training grounds. ‘I suppose you could argue that trainers didn’t get enough input; we did and we didn’t, but that’s probably not a bad thing. We know how to train, but it was probably better to leave it to the experts. The grounds are brilliant. In the future I would love to see a dedicated horse crossing, but that’s a council issue’.As conversation turns to the infrastructure of the Irish industry, McCreery paints a positive picture and has few complaints. ‘I would like to see more median auction races and fillies maidens—for my own preference—as it’s very hard to win with cheap fillies. Claimers are now part of the programme, and people understand them a lot better. A lot didn’t understand them at first, but it’s your chance to handicap your own horse, and it’s also a chance to get rid of a horse. At the same time, owners can buy a horse from a claimer that’s ready to run. They used to be very popular with syndicates, but COVID has led to the loss of a lot of syndicates’.There is one area in which McCreery would like to see more action taken. ‘We really, really have to address welfare or we won’t have racing. We need a proper committee’, he warns. ‘The racehorse is a phenomenal animal and we’re very lucky to be working with them’.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/517636f8e4b0cb4f8c8697ba/1625059615945-9P7NV0L6S8ROD7UIAUB0/IMG_3830.JPG)
There is nothing superficial about Rathbride Stables, a traditional yard on the very coalface of the history-steeped Curragh Plains of Kildare. And there’s nothing superficial about Willie McCreery, either. Like most modern yards, the atmosphere is relaxed. McCreery appears laid back, and the staff arrive at 7 a.m. and calmly set about their tasks—the routine as smooth as a well-oiled machine. There are no instructions being given and none needed; teamwork is at its finest.
But there’s a keenness here, too—a simmering energy beneath the calm exterior. McCreery is quietly watchful and aware of every nuance. This is a man who loves what he does and just happens to be very good at it, too. The Wall of Fame in the office bears testament to the success—no better example being Fiesolana, the Gp1 Matron Stakes heroine. Improving every season and gaining a first Gp1 win for McCreery and his team as a five-year-old, she’s a good example, too, of McCreery’s patience and expertise with fillies and older horses, for which he has gained something of a reputation. Her now five-year-old Galileo colt, Up Helly Aa, is also keeping Group company under the tutelage of McCreery.
This is thanks largely to the patronage of owner-breeders. While some trainers survive on sharp two-year-olds and trading, McCreery acknowledges that having the perceived luxury of time with horses that have a longer career ahead comes with its own challenges.
‘Not selling horses and training for owner-breeders brings even more pressure’, he points out. ‘A win becomes more important, and then when they’ve had their win, you’re looking for black type. If they don’t get a win, it’s worse than if they don’t race at all; poor performances run the risk of devaluing the whole family. It comes down to making the right call, being sure enough from what they’re doing at home that they can do well and improve the family; or maybe having to risk the decision not to run them’.
Rathbride Stables, once home to Flashing Steel and where the Irish Grand National winner is now buried, has been home to McCreery since 2010. He had taken out a licence and sent out his first winner two years earlier. The original loose boxes are companion boxes, with the window through to the next box at the feed trough. ‘They can have a chat with their neighbour and have a nibble at the same time’, McCreery says. ‘It encourages them to feed, and I’m a fan of anything that gets them eating well.
‘I feed as best as I can. I hope to be second to none in that respect. I use a combination of Connolly’s Red Mills mix and nuts, and also alfalfa imported from Italy. I’ve picked it up along the way. I’m a firm believer in staying ahead of your feed, and if a horse is a little off, cut back straight away. I feed four times a day’.
McCreery starts his day in the yard at 6 a.m. with the first of the feeds, and he’ll turn out any of the horses not working that morning. That day’s runners will go out in the paddocks in the evening after returning from the races and again the next morning. Rathbride has 40 acres of turnout paddocks, as well as a 400m covered wood chip ride, and is currently home to 60 horses.
It’s ideally situated and well chosen. ‘We can just walk across to the gallops; we’ve the vet just beside us, and we’re within an hour of six tracks. As an example, I had a horse injured on the Old Vic gallop at 7.40 a.m. and he was X-rayed, diagnosed and back in his box—all by 9 a.m. I’m very lucky; any issue at all, and I have the vet with me in five minutes. I can drop blood samples in and have the results in 10 minutes’.
In the pre-COVID days, McCreery liked to give his horses days out, particularly at Dundalk where they could walk round the parade ring in front of a race crowd and gain experience. He also found the local equine pool a great help for horses who enjoyed it, but that’s now closed. ‘I would love to be near a beach; sea water does a great job’, he says. ‘But I’m not a fan of spas. They can mask the injury, and the problem is still going to be there. They’re okay for sore shins’.
Training racehorses was always in his blood; McCreery’s father Peter had enjoyed great success as a National Hunt trainer, and his older brother Peter Jr by coincidence sent out Son Of War to win the Irish Grand National the year before Flashing Steel’s success. We might wonder why McCreery chose the Flat in preference….
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