Pat Martin reflects on 40 years in racing

Following his recent retirement from training, Pat Martin took time out to discuss and reflect on his life as a trainer.

Last Wednesday at Dundalk racecourse, Pat Martin called time on his 40- year career as a racehorse trainer. Martin has been a long serving stalwart of the horse racing community and is a very well-known established figure within the industry.

Over the weekend, Pat Martin sat down with Tom Gannon to reflect and discuss his life in racing. Martin was one of the first men that trainer Jim Bolger took under his wing. Many important racing figures such as Tony McCoy, Paul Carberry and others started their journeys under the guidence of Bolger.

"I started working for Jim Bolger when I was 14. He was training in Clonsilla at the time, and he had only been training for about a year or so when I started with him. Jim is a very talented man. He was a tough taskmaster, but he turned us from boys into men."

Martin had his first winner in 1984 when Kaspervoa won at Tipperary. Eamon Keogh, a chess champion from Dublin provided Martin with his first horses around that time.

"My first winner, Kasperova, came about from my father's line of work as a gardener. We were working for a woman in Rathgar and the man next door came out and asked me if would I do his garden. His name was Eamon Keogh and we got talking about my ambitions to train horses. He wanted to own a horse so he became my first owner. Eamon was an Irish chess champion so we ended up with 6 horses the first year, all with chess names. Kasperova was one and another one was called Karpov after Anatoly Karpov. We ended up with three winners that first year, all of which were for Eamon Keogh."

The Navan-based handler was lucky enough to get a few nice horses early on in his career including Mary O'Malley who beat an eventual two-time Irish Gold Cup winner.

"Early on in my career, I was very lucky to get a few very nice horses. One was called Mary O'Malley who won two bumpers. She beat Carvill's Hill in a bumper in Leopardstown. Mary O'Malley went on to win the Proudstown hurdle later on in her career and she also gave me my first winner at the Galway festival. She was a very important horse to us and holds a very special place in my heart." continued Martin

"Bavamour was another horse who was very successful for us. He won 13 races in total and was owned by Eugene McKeever from Kilbride. He was favourite for the Galway Plate but fell on the first lap. Eugene was actually happy enough because he reckoned his heart wouldn't have lasted another lap! It was Eugene's first-ever horse and we had great fun with him. We used to always go for dinner in the Coolquoy Lodge after he would run."

Martin is content with his decision to call it a day but was keen to praise one very important woman in his life who has stood by him through thick and thin.

"I wasn't emotional when the last horse crossed the line at Dundalk last week. I am happy with the decision I've made. My wife, Joan has been a huge part of my life and my career as a trainer. She has been a great support through the good times and the bad. She says I'm not finished yet but I'm not sure about that! We had a great time doing it but it was just getting harder. It just is no longer reasonable to expect that you can beat the bigger yards and I have accepted that. Over time you just come to terms with it."

Martin says that in recent times, it is diffcult for small yards to compete with bigger operations, especially on the National Hunt scene. He goes on to explain that the gulf in class between the good horses and the ordinary ones is growing all the time.

"The standard has gone up so much in Ireland. The difference between the ordinary horse and the good ones is so pronounced now. To a large extent, years ago you could compete with an ordinary horse and find a level for him. That is not the case anymore. Especially in the National Hunt, you have to have a very good horse to compete. It's very tough for an ordinary horse to win a race. That makes it harder for the smaller trainer to attract owners who will give them the money to buy the more expensive horses."

Martin is not finished working in racing yet though as he recentely took up a position with the in-form trainer Gavin Cromwell. Martin was very complimentary of the yard and the young energetic staff that run it.

"I have been with Gavin for the last couple of weeks. It was a bit overwhelming at first but Gavin has been great and every day, I feel like I have a little bit more to add. There is a young team here and they are very energetic. You get brought along with that which is brilliant."