There aren’t exactly an abundance of horse trainers in Northern Ireland, but modest Down man Colin McBratney has certainly made his mark in the sport of kings. The Crossgar villager rose to prominence in 2009 as trainer of Galway Plate winner Ballyholland and continues to record many wins and places against the odds. We met up with Colin to find out more about his impressive career to date as a National Hunt trainer punching above his weight.
The townland of Raffrey lies at the heart of Northern Ireland’s humble horseracing scene, ten miles from Downpatrick Racecourse and 15 miles from Down Royal. From his base here, Colin McBratney has forged a successful career for himself as a trainer. It hasn’t been easy; an incredible amount of hard work, perseverance and determination – allied to the mandatory reserves of passion – have been required; but the Down man has stuck in there and is now rightly regarded as one of the province’s premier trainers.
It was in late July six years ago that this horse-loving nation first took note of the prowess of C A McBratney, as 16-1 shot Ballyholland – previously a winner at Navan and Down Royal – stretched away from the field to run out impressive eight-length winner of the William Hill Galway Plate under Andrew McNamara – a landmark and defining victory for both jockey and trainer as well as for owner Cathal McGovern.
Like many other trainers, Colin comes from a farming background. Dairy, to be precise. “We milked cows here but I diversified away from that,” he reflects. “We always had horses – from jumpers to show horses – and I’ve had an interest in them since I was young. My brother trained point to pointers and I took over the reins from him; I got a few winners and then started to concentrate on racehorses.
“The family farm is still here – my brother keeps some sucklers, but it’s all horses after that.” The farm / yard comprises some 60 acres in total, all grass, and the McBratneys cut their own silage in order to keep the whole enterprise as self-sufficient as possible.
Colin’s stables have a capacity for 35 horses. They are always full during the winter but generally house 15-20 animals during the summertime. “My brother and myself have one that we own between us and we also have a couple of good brood mares – the rest are horses I’m training on behalf of various owners.”
During the 15 or so years since he took out his trainer’s licence, Colin has achieved a satisfactory degree of success. As well as that spectacular Galway Plate success in 2009 – the first Northern Ireland winner of that particular race in 35 years! – he has also had a high success rate at courses like Perth (Due to his proximity to Belfast Port, it’s often as convenient to bring horses over to Scotland as across the border into the Republic), Wexford, Navan etc. Ballyholland went on to run in the 2011 Aintree Grand National, while Carsonstown Boy struck creditable second and fourth places at Cheltenham in 2014 and ’15 respectively.
Horse training is a continuous quest to better oneself, to move on to the next level. “You are always hoping for a big win in a big handicap or to get a winner at Punchestown, Leopardstown or any of the better tracks,” he concedes. “I have a lot of nice young horses coming in at the moment and I’m confident that we can do something with them.
“We are putting in the same hard work now as we did when we started out. You do everything you can to get the horse to fulfil its potential and hope that it will progress. They all gets bangs and knocks so it takes a lot of time and patience. Also, as every horse is an individual and has its own unique character, you tailor very specific training towards each one. We do our best for all of them – we’re here 24 hours a day, seven days of the week.”
As well as all the hard work, considerable expenses are encountered along the way… “There are a lot of bills to pay every week – feed, bedding, electricity, water, sand for the gallops, woodchip pallets… Then you have a lorry and tractor to run and the price of diesel is a major obstacle these days, as well as staff to pay. There are three of us here full time – four during the winter – as well as three or four part time.”
At the end of the day, the books have to be balanced – does this place the trainer under pressure to get results? “Fortunately I have great owners and they appreciate that you can only work with what you have. Obviously, you try to grab a bit of prize money any time you can and it’s a big help to the yard as we all get a percentage. So the more winners you have, the better it is for everyone.
“But the bottom line is I enjoy this. You wouldn’t want to be here for the winners alone. It’s a great way of life and I’m lucky to have staff here who are all dedicated. You have to be … this isn’t a career to go into half-heartedly.”
Although he is happy to be where he is at and has no regrets, Colin does admit that he’d love to have an opportunity to work with an even better standard of horse. “We all dream of getting one,” he concludes. “I have seven to ten nice horses here on their summer break who will go into training after Galway week and they have a nice pedigree. I’m especially looking forward to working with a filly by Kings’ Theatre and a gelding by Beneficial, neither of which have been named by their owners yet. The staff give the horses nicknames, depending on their nature, and we have one here that they’re calling Ronaldo. If he fulfils his potential, we’ll be more than happy!”
CA McBratney
33 Templeburn Road,
Crossgar,
Downpatrick,
Co. Down
BT30 9NG
Tel: +44 (0) 28 44830422
Mobile: +44 (0) 7989 431 890
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 7, August 2015
