Why there’s more to the Coolmore ‘lads’ than meets the eye

THERE’S a lot more to the Coolmore ‘lads’ than meets the eye.

The Magniers, Tabors and Smiths are quite extraordinary in the success they have made of life and, of course, their breeding empire.

PA

The legendary figure of John Magnier looms large over racing but that doesn’t mean there is any lack of decency[/caption]

On Saturday at Sandown John Magnier insisted in an interview with me on ITV that decisions made on the future of horses were always a team effort.

But for me Magnier snr is the breeding Godfather.

What’s extraordinary about them all is their decency. Their normality. For all that fans of the sport can easily see them as racing supremos.

You may remember Michael Tabor speaking about the lads’ trainer, Aidan O’Brien, after Auguste Rodin landed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“He’s just very special,” Tabor said. “He’s a very patient, polite man. He’s genuinely a nice person as well.”

I would imagine O’Brien would say the same about the lads he trains for.

On Saturday I was interviewing the winning connections for ITV Racing following the Coral Eclipse.

It took an age for City of Troy to get back into the winner’s enclosure.

As we all waited, obviously all the ‘lads’ were very excited, for all City of Troy made hard work of his latest Group 1 victory.

And yet, Paul Smith, son of currency trader and Coolmore co-owner Derrick Smith, took me to one side and said: “How’s Coco doing?”

Coco is my daughter, and Paul always asks after her. He has no reason to do so. And to do so just as City of Troy is about to walk back into the hallowed Sandown enclosure was in many ways quite surreal.

It took me aback. Decency.

John Magnier also turned to me in another moment and said: “Thank you for all you do making the sport fun.”

I’m not for one minute saying he was singling me out. I took it that he meant ITV Racing. But again they were words not forgotten by this scribe.

One day we will all look back on the Coolmore team in awe. Some will see them merely as rich people playing at a rich game.

But rich people can play at just about any game they want. They have chosen horse racing. And horse racing is the better for it.

I hope they realise how we marvel at what they do. So many stars of the turf have appeared because of Coolmore.

It’s worth highlighting however obvious it seems.

A special bunch of people. Thank you, lads.

Everyone has their favourite jockeys. I’m sure you have yours.

In my early days broadcasting I would big up James Doyle whenever I could. Before he became famous you could say. His family know that. They remember it.

And I get the same feeling from it now he’s a superstar as most do from a winning bet. It’s always good to be right.

Another I felt had something special but never got the breaks was Felix de Giles over jumps. In the end he had to go to France for his career to take off, but he’s now been a champion out there.

There have been many more. Not all have made it!

Oisin Murphy has always been someone I’ve admired. He’s not got everything right all the time, but neither do I.

When you are a flawed character you appreciate flawed characters.

Right now I remain convinced Kieran Shoemark – a more genuine bloke you could not find – has the talent to explode into the big time for John & Thady Gosden, and of course Billy Loughnane is taking off in the right way in every sense.

Then there is Tom Marquand, who is similar to Loughnane in that you could not find a more decent guy.

And not many writers would complain about William Buick either.

The latter might not always enjoy lengthy interviews, but he could not be more helpful and I think it’s fair to say he’s mellowed in recent years.

On many levels Buick can be considered admirable, not least the way he – and his wife Jane – have been fantastic with their handling of their autistic and usually non-verbal son Thomas.

All credit to them and they have helped raise plenty of cash for charities.

Billy is Mr Niceguy, but trust me he wants it as badly as the fella who swears and smashes the wall down.

I’m not surprised Sir Michael Stoute picked Richard Kingscote, and it’s just sad the legendary handler does not have more top horses.

Callum Shepherd is right up their on my list of fascinations too. There’s a lot going on in the Shepherd brain.

That, though, just all gets me to Sean Levey.

Levey is a character, and as of yet I’m not sure he’s flawed so I can’t latch on to that angle with him.

What I do think is that he is now right up there as good as pretty much anyone in the business.

As a backer I would think Levey was plus on my horse, and of course this term he’s been propelled back into the big time on Rosallion, the brilliant winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Levey recently got married, so it’s perhaps no surprise that Shouldvebeenaring scored for him in Deauville over the weekend.

It was a peach by Levey, sitting in behind and then switching left to challenge and deliver a strong late thrust.

Levey is top class and mixes humour with skill. Not many of the best sports people manage to do that.

Richard Hannon has never actually named Levey as his stable jockey. He may never do so now and it’s not that important.

But if I was Hannon I’d be always happy to have Levey on my side.

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