Upwardly mobile Gavin Cromwell a man in a hurry
QUALITY OPERATOR: Trainer Gavin Cromwell at his training base in Meath where the Fairyhouse Winter Festival was launched on Wednesday. Picture: Inpho/Morgan Treacy
The Fairyhouse Winter Festival, with three Grade Ones and two Grade Threes, is fast approaching and trainer Gavin Cromwell, who has enjoyed a tremendous start to the winter National Hunt season, has his sights set on adding to that tally when the meeting takes place on December 2 and 3.
Although it feels as though Cromwell has been long established amongst the higher echelons of the training ranks, it has been a steady process, aided by some clever placing, which has brought him onto the coattails of the country’s leading trainers.
There is no suggestion, at this stage, that there is any focus on challenging for the top spot in the trainers’ championship, but increasingly he is becoming a major force at all the top meetings, which brings an upside of increased interest from potential new owners.
With 35 winners already on the sheet for this season, he is on track to surpass his previous best in Ireland, which was the 62 he recorded in the 2019/20 season, but it is his ability to pinpoint a target and not waste the opportunities which is turning heads in his direction.
In the season’s two meetings thus far at Cheltenham, Cromwell saddled 12 runners, resulting in five winners, two seconds and a third, and total prize money in excess of £110,000, which is not insignificant when compared to the almost €470,000 he has earned to date in this National Hunt season at home.
Lest we forget, Cromwell operates under both codes and also had 18 winners in the past season in Ireland, while Snellen gave him the second Royal Ascot success of his career, both of which were with two-year-olds, when winning the Chesham Stakes. Dha Leath was also well placed to pick up a listed race in Pontefract.
For the farrier by trade, who has become an ambitious trainer, there has been hard work aplenty and good fortune along the way, and when the time comes to reflect upon his career, Jer’s Girl will hold a special place in the story.
“There was a fairytale story to her,” revealed Cromwell. “She was a castoff that they couldn’t sell, and hot enough when she came first.
“She was my first horse to train for JP McManus and she went and won a Grade One. When they agreed to buy her, it was on the condition that she would stay with me for the remainder of the season, and there were no promises after that, but it worked out alright.
“JP has been so good to everybody, at every level in the game, and across the UK as well. He’s a very good man.”
As a product of that success, Cromwell received further backing from McManus and their greatest success to date came with Espoir D’Allen, who produced a devastating performance in the 2019 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Victory has allowed Cromwell to make serious investment into his training grounds in Co Meath but those changes, significant as they have been, have not been quick enough for the ambitious trainer, even though they bring their own pressure.
“I don’t notice it much, being in the yard every day. You might think it’s happening quickly, but it doesn’t happen quickly enough for me. Back at the start, it was brilliant when you had a winner. It’s still brilliant when I have a winner, but I have to have winners now.”
Key to that is having the right team around him and, in assistant trainer Garvan Donnelly, he has found a perfect fit for his team, while in Keith Donoghue he has a top-class rider, who benefits from the association the legendary Paul Carberry has forged with the stable.
“Garvan was head lad in Arthur Moore’s for years, and then went training himself, and then came to us,” he explained. “You couldn’t ask for someone with more experience, really, especially the fact he has gone training himself. From the race planning to dealing with owners, he’s seen all of that, and he’s very good with the staff, and everybody likes him.”
Of Donoghue, who is bigger than your average rider and consequently permanently working to manage his weight, Cromwell added: “His weight is always a struggle, but he manages it very well now. He’s a very good guy at doing different things. He used to run a hundred miles a week, but he doesn’t run anymore, he just manages it differently.
“He grew up in Paul’s yard and modelled himself on Paul since he was a child. Paul works with us three mornings a week and is a great help in the yard. It’s great for Keith as he gives him plenty of advice, keeps tabs on him, and would be giving out to him. If he gives one a bad ride, the first man on the phone to him would be Paul, giving out.
“For me, I think he knows more about all the horses in my yard than he did when he was riding. He watches them all running, takes great interest in them.
“There’s always a pretty good atmosphere in the yard. It’s a tough game, it’s tough work, you have to love it and be happy in your job.”
Point-to-point winner, who was runner-up in a bumper last season and filled the same spot on her recent hurdling debut at Navan, she has tremendous potential and owner JP McManus.
“She ran a good race at Navan. I was slightly disappointed at the time, but she went to the line well and we’ll take the positives out of it. She is a lovely mare and hopefully there’s plenty to come from her.”
Winner of a point-to-point, two bumpers, and a hurdle before joining Cromwell, he made a successful stable debut last month at Cheltenham and will take in Fairyhouse’s Winter Festival en route to Cheltenham in March.
“All being well, he will run in the Royal Bond. Hopefully the ground doesn’t get too soft, and the forecast looks good. He’s very quick over his hurdles, but he doesn’t show that type of speed at home. He stays well — he stayed two and a half miles at Cheltenham — and hopefully a bit of experience will stand to him.”
Winner of a point-to-point and formerly with Jonjo O’Neill, for one race, she is two from two in bumpers since joining Cromwell, including in a listed event at Navan.
“Lovely mare. She’s only five and looks like a chaser in the making. We’ll probably go hurdling with her. I was very undecided at the weekend, but Derek O’Connor got off her and didn’t know anything that would beat her in bumpers for the rest of the year. It’s a bold statement, and you wouldn’t know what Willie would come out with, but I think we’ll go hurdling because she’s five rising six, and if you go hurdling next year, you’re six rising seven, and next thing you’re seven rising eight going chasing.”
Held every chance when falling at the last in a point-to-point, in February, the five-year-old made his track debut last month at Fairyhouse and really caught the eye with a cosy victory over the well-regarded King Of Kingsfield.
“He was impressive at Fairyhouse. I’m unlikely to run him in the Royal Bond as he might find the step up coming too quickly. I ran Path D’oroux in it last year, and I think I threw him in the deep end too soon. Redstone is a big horse that I like and if I give him a chance, he could be a good horse.”
