In the short space of three years, Johnny Levins has become one of the premier young horse trainers at the Curragh. Irish Tractor & Agri caught up with the Kildare native to find out more.
It’s commonly known that the horse racing industry is up there with the toughest to try and translate initial endeavours into success. Johnny Levins knows this better than most and has been pouring his heart and soul into training horses professionally since 2013.
Since then, the results from the Curragh Stud stable have steadily improved and this past year, which was Johnny’s second full season, there were some triumphs to savour for the Kildare man and his dedicated staff.
It’s no stretch to say that J.F. Levins Racing’s stock has been on the rise and it’s no surprise to see when you consider some of the talent that they’re putting out on the track.
To put it plainly, Johnny has lived for horse racing since he was a teenager and has established a career for himself in his beloved sport, which looks set to span decades, all going well.
“I would have started working from when I was 15 with a local trainer and I just fell into it. I got a bit of a bug for it and went to England,” Johnny explained.
“I got an amateur license and it took off from there – I rode some horses and at one stage I was the second jockey to Charlie Swan.”
From summer stable worker to jockey, Johnny’s rise in racing grew rapidly, especially when you consider that his family has no real background in the sport as such.
“My father was an army man and my mam was a house wife and they had no real interest in horse racing. I just got a summer job helping out a trainer and fell into it. I’m a Kildare town man after all. Kildare’s such a racing stronghold – we love it here.”
On the way up, Johnny had help from some notable names that he’d consider to be up there with the best in the business.
Brendan Powell, in particular, was a big influence on his career and considers the ex-Grand National winner to be up there with the elite trainers in racing.
“Brendan Powell was another trainer I worked under and I was always fascinated by the way he trained his horses,” said the Kildare man.
“I would have learned an awful lot from him during my time there and I was also an assistant trainer to Shane Broderick, so they were definitely two good men to be working under and they taught me a lot.”
Johnny’s jockey career started when he turned 18 and he’d ride his first winner within two years.
His time on the saddle is not something he dwells on overly, as he has been solely focusing on training horses ever since he hung up the whip.
“The biggest races I would have rode in were mostly Grade 3 races, so it was nothing huge,” he stated modestly.
Now his stables are opened for business and in the short space of two years the horses have been coming in and out by the dozens at the Curragh Stud. Next year promises to be the busiest to date for Johnny and co, with the good word about their stable having obviously spread.
“We’ve 28 horses at the minute and we’ll hopefully have a lot more on the way next year,” he said.
“We’ve four staff working there at the minute, including myself, and we’ve had runners in the Bronze Cup and we’re shortlisted for Dubai at the minute.
“We’ve had entries in the past and have been willing to travel as far as the US for some races.”
One of the most prominent runners to pass through the stable for Johnny has been ‘Aye Aye Skipper’ – a handicap winner at both Killarney and the Curragh.
Owned by a syndicate, Johnny took him on in May and since then the five-year-old has been blossoming on the flat surface.
“He has thrived since we got him,” said Johnny. “We had to iron out a few issues he had, but I think the main secret with him was just to freshen him up more than anything. The cheekpieces helped him too and he has really turned the corner, winning two races in a week for us.”
There has been one crucial ingredient to the success of ‘Aye Aye Skipper’, according to his trainer, who says that it’s one that applies to each and every mare he takes on.
“Henry Cecil, the great flat trainer, once said that you need three things in horse racing – ‘patience, patience, patience’,” said the trainer.
“It will only be rewarding for you if you have the patience, if you have that you will get the results. If you’re holding on to that one horse and you believe in it, you have to have patience and the results will eventually come then.”
With back-to-back wins in August via their stable star, the results are definitely coming for Johnny but the burning question for all punters is who’s next to cross the finish line in first?
Predictions aren’t easy to get right every time, but there is one horse in his stables which stands out to him at the moment.
“His name is Lex Talinonis and it means ‘Law of Retaliation’ in Latin,” said Johnny.
“He started off in Grade 2 and he’s the most beautiful horse you can ask for. He’s a promising three-year-old and I’m very excited about him.”
Next year could be a breakthrough year for ‘Lex Talinonis’, after making his debut at the Group 2 Futurity Stakes at the Curragh in August.
Johnny is looking forward to 2016 with a lot of enthusiasm and plans to invest the money he made this year with a wise head.
“This year I’d a different agenda. We sold two horses as part of a syndicate and got €600,000 for them,” he said.
“That makes us much stronger for buying next year. 2015 was about building for next year in a lot of ways and hopefully we can hit the ground running in 2016.”
The way the form’s been going, the odds are certainly in his favour.
Curragh Stud
Melitta Road,
Kildare
Tel: 086 1940241
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 11, December 2015
