Horse trainers are a rare breed and more to the point successful horse trainers are a scarce commodity as it is not easy to gain success in this game.
However, there are the few that have led the way over the years and as often as not, a new trainer emerges on the scene every few years. Even though John ‘Shark’ Hanlon first gained his trainer’s licence in 2007, he admitted to Irish Tractor & Agri that he was still learning the trade.
Nonetheless, John is certainly doing something right as 2014 saw him record his most successful year as trainer as he picked up 22 wins in the Irish National Hunt, two wins on the flat here and four wins in England. He has also had huge success at Point to Points with no fewer than 33 wins last year.
John is a man with an unmistakable physical presence, who was initially involved in the cattle trading business prior to going to work with the Willie/Tony/George/Paddy Mullins teams. After learning the ropes with those trainers, he took out his own license to train eight years ago. He had the first winner of his training career with Melon Delta in a maiden point-to-point at Templemore on April Fool’s Day 2007 and he went on to have his first winner on the racecourse with Shaimaa in a bumper at Cork eight days later.
John had a more than satisfactory first full season in 2007/8, saddling a total of 10 winners between both codes. His two top performers of the season were arguably the aforementioned Melon Delta, who won a bumper and a maiden hurdle, and Morgansaccord who won two bumpers before meeting with a premature end later in 2008.
“I’ve been fortunate to pick up more and more winners as the years have gone by,” stated John whose Court Stud stables are located in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow.
John revealed that one of the things that he has learned over the years that quality is better than quantity and what he means by that is that it’s better to have fewer quality horses in training than have a load of them that have no chance of success.
“Definitely when I started first, I would have taken any horse in and I use to have between 60 and 70 horses here. Now though, if someone brings a horse to us, we will keep it for a couple of months until we realise if it is any good or not and we will tell the owner if it is not good enough and not waste their money.”
As stated, John has learned from the best and being involved with the renowned Mullins family has certainly not harmed his credibility.
“I was a late comer to this game alright, but I learned a lot from the Mullins family over the years. Tony and Paddy, in particular were a great help to me. I would always have had a keen interest in horses and kept a few Point to Point horses with them.”
John admits that he would not have the success that he has had over the years without a reliable workforce who have contributed hugely.
“My head Man or woman in this case is Rachael Blackmore who does a great job. I can count myself very fortunate to have such a reliable staff and their knowledge and expertise is second to none.”
Brian Hayes and Andrew McNamara are John’s top jockeys and together they have had a lot of success over the years also.
Despite picking up so many winners over the years, John admitted that the buzz of one of his horses winning is still the same as it was when he had his first winner all of eight years ago.
“While the horses always come first, I am in training so that my owners can enjoy the sport and at least have a fighting chance with their horses.
“It’s a tough sport but also a very rewarding one when all the planning and hard work pays off and a horse crosses the line with his head in front.”
Court Stud Stables has extensive training facilities to produce both Flat and National Hunt race horses. Jumps schooling at home include hurdle and chase fences.
“A four furlong all weather gallop is invaluable for consistency in keeping horses fit. We are a short hack from the facilities at Duninga. The horses get to do their faster work on this state of the art 1 mile 2 furlong surface.
“The horses enjoy the bit of road work as it lets them relax while they are warming up and cooling down. Also at Duninga are starting stalls and French hurdles.
“We have our own all weather schooling strip of sand and rubber which comprises of three easy fix fences and four easy fix hurdles.
“We believe in keeping the horses work varied and interesting so we sometimes will go to the Curragh on work mornings or go to the beach for something different. After work all horses are turned out in the paddocks to relax and have a pick of grass.”
John is looking forward to the remainder of the racing season and one meeting in particular stands out for him, Galway Races.
“The Galway festival is something special and it is one of our big aims every year. We’re looking at bringing 12 or 14 runners down there but we won’t know exactly what the number will be until closer to the time.”
Some of the more fancied horses in the yard at the moment include Kilkishen, Another Cyclone, Clondaw Farmer, Diamond Dame and Nearest the Pin to name just a few.
“We’d be fairly optimistic for the remainder of the year. We have a lot of quality horses in the yard. A lot of the owners here have been with me since I first started and I’m delighted to be able to train their horses.”
Court Stud
Fenniscourt
Bagenalstown
Co. Carlow
Telephone: +353 (0)87 692 4831
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 6, July 2015
