Limerick-born horse trainer James Nash has forged a stellar reputation for himself in both Flat and National Hunt racing since setting up on his own six years ago, enjoying wins at all the major tracks including Cheltenham, Aintree, Galway, Leopardstown and Listowel. We met up with James at his base in The Curragh to reflect on his successful career to date and look at some of the best prospects in his stable.
Having first made a name for himself as a high-class amateur jockey, James Nash has been making waves as a trainer ever since Johnee Joblot gave him his first winner at Fairyhouse in 2009.
The Limerick man first came to prominence in racing through his exploits in the saddle. As an amateur, he made an impact riding for Dermot Weld on the Flat in 1993 and, having turned his attention to National Hunt the following year, wasted no time further enhancing his reputation. Soon associated with the Willie Mullins yard, it didn’t take long for Nash to become established as one of the leading riders in bumpers.
He rode a number of future stars to success, including Space Trucker, Florida Pearl, Be My Royal, Joe Cullen, Adamant Approach and Davenport Milenium. James took his final ride on the racecourse on the Willie Mullins-trained Bottom Dollar at Ballinrobe in June, 2004 and his attention switched to training…
He initially became associated with the John Coleman yard and success followed with horses such as The Colt King and Splurge, while Un Hinged won the Labrokes.com Handicap Hurdle at the Easter Festival in Fairyhouse.
Having served his apprenticeship, the man from Kilcornan, County Limerick took out a license of his own and had his first runner in his own name when saddling Hoochie Mama to contest a hurdle race at Gowran Park on December 12th, 2008. His first winner came two months later when the aforementioned Johnee Joblot claimed a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse on February 13th, 2009.
Nash would soon become synonymous with the French import, Luisant, son of Pivotal, who had his first win in the BAR ONE Racing Mourne Handicap at Dundalk in August, 2009, and went on to win Listed races at The Curragh and Listowel. Meanwhile, Your Busy, ridden by Katie Walsh, won the Kerry National at Listowel in September, 2014 to give the Nash yard its biggest success to date over jumps.
Piloted by Davy Casey, Cardinal Palace gave the Limerick trainer his first win at Aintree on June 12th this year. J A Nash has also enjoyed wins at Galway with Your Busy and Star of Aragon, the latter having also struck gold at Cheltenham, The Curragh, Downpatrick, Wexford, and Leopardstown.
For such a short training career to date, James Nash’s has been an incredibly successful one. He has worked with horses all his life, going way back to his earliest memories growing up in West Limerick. “I was reared with horses around me,” he recalls, “My father, Francis, kept a few point-to-pointers and I rode my first-ever winner for him. I used to spend my summer holidays with Eric McNamara in Rathkeale.”
Over the course of a decade or so, James rode over 100 winners. “I went to Carrigaline in Cork first and rode for Kelvin Hitchmough. I had four or five winners for him before getting a job with Dermot Weld as his amateur and I rode out my claim while I was there. I was with Willie Mullins for six years after that and that’s what really convinced me that I wanted to go training horses myself.
“I started a training partnership with John Coleman in Clane and was with him for a few years before going out on my own. While I was there, we trained 28 winners from a small string of five or six horses.”
James’ good friend David Casey rode his first winner in 2009 and the pair have worked together ever since. At present, the Limerick native has some 20 horses in training at The Curragh. Having recorded the coveted clean sweep of wins at all the main tracks, Nash is obviously content with how things are going in general:
“I’ve been training on my own for six years and it’s going well,” he notes. “It’s very hard to compete with the bigger stables but we’re more than happy with what we’re getting out of what we have.
“Obviously, you are always looking for more success and I’d be hoping to stumble across a few more horses like Luisant and Your Busy, who have given me my biggest successes to date on the Flat and over jumps respectively. You need the horse if you’re going to get the big money. The pot for the Kerry National was €160,000, for example, and you’re not going to compete for that sort of prize money unless you have the right horse.
“Having said that, I’ve also been lucky with some lesser-known horses, too – Tsar Paul has won five times and Our Manekineko has had four wins at Dundalk.”
Looking to the future, James is confident that there will be plenty more success for his stable over both Flat and National Hunt. As for up-and-coming horses that he’s currently preparing, he concludes: “The best novice I have at the moment is Cardinal Palace, who is only five, and we’re really looking forward to the rest of the year. I also like Waterville Rock, who won a bumper at Downpatrick in June and should have a very bright future.”
J A Nash’s record to date speaks for itself. He has already shown that he has the winning touch, making a major impression at racecourses all over Ireland and the UK. He’s going to keep doing what he does best and more success is sure to follow.
JA Nash
Bernard Lodge,
Lumville,
The Curragh, Co. Kildare
Tel: +353 (0) 45 456897
Mob: +353 (0) 86 825 9787
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 7, August 2015
