All flat for Robbie Colgan but he's not complaining

Five rides on the opening day of the 2020 Irish flat racing season at Naas in March, the only day so far, is hardly a headline-grabbing story, not on the surface anyway?

For Summerhill man Robbie Colgan, it was only the tip of the iceberg after a season that saw him ride close to 30 winners on the flat in 2019.

Robbie, who was nicknamed 'Chatty' by the legend that is Paul Carberry, agreed to answer a few questions for the Meath Chronicle last week that started with that reference to the opening day of the flat season at the Kildare track.

“Yeah, five rides and I did 8-11 for two of them,” he commented in reference to his ability to do the lower weight that's the norm for flat jockeys.

That from a 38-year-old former national hunt jockey who has made a successful transition to the flat in much the same way that the likes of Timmy Murphy and Graham Lee did in the UK.

Colgan was also within inches of landing the 2019 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket with the Sheila Lavery-trained Lady Kaya which subsequently sustained a fatal injury on the gallops.

The Lady Kaya story is about the 'one good horse' that a trainer waits for and then loses in tragic circumstances, a fate that her trainer had to deal with.

It's all an unlikely story that still has more chapters to write from an unlikely base at Agher, a few miles from Summerhill.

It was also just few miles from Summerhill that the story began when Robbie Colgan first stepped into the somewhat unpredictable world of horseracing.

His father, Christy, brought him to trainer Pat Martin who was then based in Maynooth where the teenager eventually was eligible to 'sign on' as an apprentice in 1997.

“My aunt (Miriam) got me a pony when I was 10, I always wanted a pony and I suppose that's where it started,” he recalled.

“I'm the eldest of three, I have a brother David and a sister Andrea and we all went to Dangan primary school.

“After that it was secondary school in Trim, but I wasn't really interested and just about lasted through second year.

“I always wanted to be a jockey and my uncle (John) used to bring me over to Pat Martin's in Maynooth to ride out at weekends.

“I used to spend the summer holidays in Maynooth, it was great, it was what I wanted, and I was always reluctant to go back to school.

“It got to a stage where the career guidance teacher used to come out to the house to talk to my parents (Christy and Edel) to try to get me to go back, but I wouldn't go, I really had enough of it after second year.

“When I was 16 I was able to sign on as an apprentice with Pat (Martin) and I stayed there for about four years, but it was 2002 before I had a winner,” he adde

THE IMPORTANT FIRST WINNER

That important first winner arrived at Fairyhouse in April 2002 for Monaghan trainer Oliver Brady when Colgan partnered Flint Knapper to victory over hurdles.

He had a busy enough day at Fairyhouse with a fourth-placed finish in an Opportunity Novice Handicap Chase on the Al O'Connell-trained Sabbatical.

More noticeable was being six pounds overweight (10-2) on the Luke Comer-trained Ash Hab in a handicap hurdle with the rider unable to claim his full seven-pound allowance.

Still, it wasn't a bad day at the office for the young lad from Summerhill, a first winner on the board.

However, the overweight on Ash Hab certainly didn't suggest that almost 20 years later the aspiring national hunt jockey would have taken the road less travelled that saw him partner close to 30 winners on the flat in 2019 out of more than 400 rides that included half a dozen in the UK.

“I went to Jim Dreaper for a few years because all my friends were riding over jumps and I didn't have any winners on the flat at the time,” he recalled.

“I was also with Tony Martin for a while and had a good few winners for him.

“I had to wait until 2005 for my first winner on the flat and that was for Ger Lyons.

“My agent at the time was Shane Lyons and Ger (brother) had a some national hunt horses then so I was riding out for him a good bit, that's how it came about.

“I won the Troytown Chase in 2007 with Royal County Star for Tony Martin, that horse was owned by lads from around Dunsany so it was nice to win the big race at Navan for them.

“I had a winner at the Cheltenham November meeting and I got to go to Australia as part of the annual trip that Sean Lynch from Ashbourne used to organise, that was in 2009 and Andrew Lynch Stephen Gray and Sean Flanagan were with me,” he said.

The Summerhill man also rode some big race winners for Arthur Moore with Sole Bonne Femme on the mark in a €65,000 hurdle at Down Royal in 2008.

Pass The Hat won a valuable chase at Leopardstown in 2014, the same year that Robbie experienced the Aintree Grand National for the first time on the Liam Cusack-trained Last Time D’Albain.

“I had a few good seasons over the jumps, I think my best tally was about 18 winners in 2013 / 2014,” he said.

“Sheila (Lavery) started training just down the road from where I live and I was going around schooling in various places at the time, for Andy Lynch and Chris Jones and others, and I just started to help her out a bit, she had only five or six horses at the time.

“Sheila started to get more horses and it just kind of developed from there, she was always on at me about minding my weight and how I could ride on the flat a bit more, she used to suggest that I'd put a padlock on the fridge.

“At that stage I didn't really have backing from anyone and frequently I was just driving to a race meeting to ride one horse that wouldn't have had much of a chance anyway.

“One day I had to ride a horse for Sheila called Laid Back Luke and he had 9-4, I got to the races and could do 9-0, the valet couldn't believe it, I was second that day in Clonmel about two years ago, I sort of changed direection from there.

“I was a bit laid back myself so it was a well-named horse for me.

“It used to be a nuisance if I had to do 9-10 over jumps in the past and now I can do 8-11 or 8-10 on the flat.

“It's great for my wife Laura also as she doesn't have to cook too many dinners.

“Lady Kaya came along and she was brilliant for my career, she really kicked it off for me.

“I won a maiden at the Curragh by 10 lengths, was second in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and then she ran a good race in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in 2018.

“With a horse of that calibre I decided that there was no point in getting injured in a fall off a 100/1 chance over jumps and then missing out on Lady Kaya, I suppose she made the decision easy for me.

“We started 2019 by winning the 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown with four O'Brien-trained runners behind us.

“That was followed by a second place in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket last May, but then we lost her to that injury, that was hard on everyone,” he said.

Looking to the future, there is a determination to keep going on the flat for as long as possible with no plans for a return to the jumps.

The main focus now is to keep weight-watching and that's not a major issue.

“I have to be a bit more disciplined now in relation to my weight, eat healthy, plenty of exercise, that's the secret,” he suggested.

“Once I have a bit of notice about what weight I have to do I can usually do it without too much difficulty.

“I have a treadmill in the house and an hour or so and that helps, I wouldn't be too keen on the sauna anyway.

“Hopefully I can keep getting the opportunities and get a few more years out of it.

“Sheila is getting some good horses now so that's something for the future, whenever we get back to racing.

“The main thing at the moment is that we all come though this crisis unscathed and healthy,” he concluded.

The opening day of the 2020 flat season on Monday 23rd March was one of 10 Irish race meetings that took place behind closed doors and the only one so far on the level. All horseracing is now suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A UNIQUE ACHIEVEMENT - FLAT, HURDLES AND FENCES

Robbie Colgan completed a unique set of winners when he recorded a hat-trick at Tipperary, Leopardstown and Ballinrobe in May 2018 with a winner over hurdles, on the flat and over fences in the space of five days.

The Summerhill man demonstrated his versatility with a double over the jumps and a smart winner on the flat .

The flat winner was at Leopardstown for trainer Sheila Lavery when  partnered Magnetic North to victory in a one-mile median auction maiden.

He was on board Guido Reni for Skerries trainer Karl Thornton to win a handicap hurdle in fine style at Tipperary.

Then he won a handicap chase at Ballinrobe for former Meath-based trainer Steve Mahon with a 50/1 outsider, Rocky Court, which survived a final fence blunder to win well at the Connacht track.

TRAINER PAT MARTIN ON ROBBIE COLGAN

I remember Robbie well, he was only 14 when he arrived into my yard in Maynooth with his dad, Christy.

They probably chose me as I would have been fairly close to Summerhill and I had no hesitation in taking him on.

Robbie was an excellent horseman even though he was only a teenager at the time.

He wasn’t interested in going to school at all and he spent more than four years with me as an apprentice.

He was always able to provide good information to the trainer about whatever horse he had ridden in a race and that was important.

I’m delighted for him and for Sheila (Lavery) as well, they are a good combination and enjoying deserved success although it was so sad for them when they lost Lady Kaya last year.

For Sheila to have a filly like that and to lose her to injury, that was a major setback and it would have been just as big a disappointment for Robbie.

NOTE

This article was published on www.meathchronicle.ie on 9th April but did not transfer to our new wesbsite and is now published again.