Gavin Cromwell is a farrier-turned-racehorse trainer based near Navan in Co. Meath. His passion for horses, coupled with the wealth of knowledge he has gained from working in various trainers’ yards, has enabled him to become a successful trainer in his own right.
Horses have been part of Gavin’s life for as long as he can remember. A long-time member of the famous Ward Union Hunt, he is a farrier by trade, yet has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Pat Kettle and uncle Gerry Cromwell – who was a noted Meath footballer – by becoming a trainer. He took out his trainer’s licence in 2005 and has had over 20 winners between the flat, jumps and point-to-points in each of the last two seasons.
“The training has gone better than expected for me,” the 42-year-old modestly says.
“I have 30 horses in training at the moment and have had my fair share of winners in the past two years. During the recession, I was down to one horse but luckily, I had the farrier work to fall back on. I still describe myself as a farrier, although the training is taking up more of my time.”
Gavin set out to be a jockey, but when that didn’t go to plan, he undertook a four-year farrier apprenticeship. Over the years, he has worked in trainers’ yards in Newmarket, Australia and here in Ireland, but his farrier work is now concentrated mostly in the Meath area where he shoes horses for Gordon Elliott and Pat Martin to name but two leading trainers.
“I have been Pat’s farrier for 20 years and have also been friends with Gordon for a long time,” he explains.
“Gordon has had fantastic success and it’s a yard I’m very proud to be associated with. Gold Cup winner Don Cossack is the best horse I’ve ever shoed. Like everyone in racing, I was saddened to hear of his recent retirement due to injury. I used to shoe for showjumper Cian O’Connor and still have shoes from his 2004 Olympic Games horse, Waterford Crystal, as well as from Gordon’s Aintree Grand National winner, Silver Birch, and, of course, Don Cossack.”
Gavin wouldn’t be able to juggle his training and farrier duties if he didn’t have a great team around him. He employs six staff who are based at his Danestown Stables which boasts top-class facilities, including gallops and schooling grounds.
It’s always a special feeling to train your first winner and for the affable Co. Meath-based handler, the breakthrough came in Perth, Scotland in May 2006 when his 20/1 gelding Arresting romped home by two-and-a-half lengths from Monsieur over hurdles. His first winner on Irish soil came on April 7, 2007 when Dodder Walk landed a handicap hurdle in the hands of the then 3lbs claiming rider Andrew Lynch at Cork.
He scored a notable success with Sretaw and Wayne Lordan on board in the Irish Cambridgeshire at The Curragh in August 2014. Jer’s Girl became a more high-profile winner when giving Cromwell his first Grade 1 success by taking the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice Hurdle under Barry Geraghty at Fairyhouse in March 2016. She added to that at the Punchestown Festival the following month when winning the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Champion Novice Hurdle, again with the former champion jockey in the saddle.
Owned by JP McManus, Jer’s Girl is expected to run in the upcoming Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. “She has won at Fairyhouse and Punchestown, and was second in the Morgiana Hurdle before Christmas. She was a home-bred filly that couldn’t be sold, but what a success she’s turned out to be,” Gavin proudly states.
Mallards in Flight, Balrath Hope, Political Policy, Elusive Ivy, Raz De Maree, Prospectus and Breathe Easy have also brought success for Gavin, who has a number of promising young horses on his hands. He is full of praise for his stable jockey and local man Brien Kane, who has ridden over 20 winners to date, and for associated jockeys Barry Geraghty (JP McManus’ principal jockey), Keith Donoghue and Ger Fox.
When he’s not training or shoeing horses, Gavin likes nothing better than to ride out with the Ward Union Hunt.
“I’m on the committee there and help organise the point-to-point, and I love that. It’s similar to a GAA club in many ways. It’s great to meet up with the members and to have the bit of craic with them.”
Gavin also has a busy home life. He and his wife Kiva have three young children – Jake (five), Sophie (three) and Cameron (two).
Looking to the future, he concludes by saying: “The aim is to have more winners and better horses. We’re always striving to better ourselves.”
Gavin Cromwell
Danestown Stables,
Balrath,
Navan,
Co. Meath.
Telephone +353 (0)41 982 1704 / (0)86 269 3388
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 3, April/May 2017
