Martyn Meade is to set himself up at the historic Manton stables in Wiltshire, having purchased much of the estate on Thursday night. A deal was concluded as night fell to the delight of Meade, who has broken into Flat racing’s big time this year through the exploits of the Derby fourth, Eminent, and Aclaim, a Group One winner on Arc day.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to buy a place that’s steeped in history,” Meade said. “I’ve bought the major part of Manton, including all the gallops. I’m going to develop what’s called the Fyfield yard there, which has 80 boxes just now. I’ll put another yard in and I’ll be combining training with farming, which I’ve done before.”
It will be a homecoming of sorts for Meade, whose training operation was based in Wiltshire until he moved to Sefton Lodge in Newmarket in 2014. His success means he has outgrown that yard, where he was obliged to share the town’s famed gallops with dozens of other trainers.
“We were a bit stuck at Sefton. You’ve only room for about 60 horses and you need more than that these days,” Meade said, signalling his ambition to make an impact at the sport’s highest level. He hopes that moving to Manton may allow him to double the size of his string in time and he plans to invest in the site in a way that has not been done for decades.
Meade declined to say how much money had changed hands or how much acreage he had purchased. The trainer Brian Meehan, who has leased a stable at Manton for years, will continue to do so.
The 69-year-old Meade saddled his first winner over jumps in the 1970s but his business interests have prevented him from building up much of a profile within racing until recent years. He is still chairman of Hadleigh Partners, a Mayfair-based investment company.
Eminent’s effort to be beaten by less than two lengths in the Derby left Meade wondering what might have been, as his jockey Jim Crowley dropped his whip two furlongs out. But the trainer’s year got better as he won his first Group One with Aclaim last month, a day after Dolphin Vista was a 50-1 shock winner of the Cambridgeshire.
The sprawling Manton estate was established as a training centre in 1860 and is reckoned to have been the base for 50 Classic winners in the intervening years. It was bought by the pools magnate Robert Sangster for a reported £10m in 1984 and has since been a base for John Gosden, Barry Hills and Michael Dickinson among other trainers.
Meanwhile at Newbury, a stony-faced Paddy Brennan refused to discuss losing the ride on Cue Card as he rode for the first time since the news broke on Wednesday but got the boost he needed with an easy success in the most valuable race on the card. Cap Soleil was so impressive that she is now favourite for a race at the Cheltenham Festival and her trainer, Fergal O’Brien, spoke up in defence of Brennan.
“He’s done a fantastic job with Cue Card,” was the closest O’Brien came to suggesting that the wrong decision had been made by those close to the veteran steeplechaser, who will henceforth be partnered by the 19-year-old Harry Cobden.
Brennan lost the mount on the Colin Tizzard-trained Cue Card after the pair fell at Wetherby on Saturday, their third fall in the space of 19 months. Some observers believe the 36-year-old Brennan should be counting his blessings to have had such a good horse to ride for the last two years, during which time they won a King George and two Betfair Chases. Others feel he has been hard done by and point out that Ruby Walsh and Kauto Star also had three falls.
Brennan flatly refused to broach the subject, replying “no comment” when asked about it. But there was an obvious barb after Cap Soleil’s win when he said: “Riding for Fergal O’Brien is just a joy. He gives you the confidence.”
A complex and intense personality, Brennan once said he wanted to die in the moments after his first fall on Cue Card, when seemingly on the brink of winning last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup. But O’Brien waved away suggestions that the wound of losing the ride was especially deep.
“He’s not hurting, no,” the trainer said. “He’s a big boy and it’s sport. Yeah, he was disappointed because it’s disappointing to get jocked off any horse, whether it’s a selling plater or Cue Card. It’s not my place to talk about Cue Card but I can just talk about Paddy Brennan and how lucky we are to have him.
“He’s a big part of our team. If he’s not riding Cue Card, – well, selfishly, that’s great for me because we’ll get him to go where we want him to go rather than where Cue Card’s going. So that side of it, I’m delighted about.”
Brennan has had his share of big jobs over the years, enduring memorable splits from the trainers Howard Johnson and Nigel Twiston-Davies. But he has a stout ally in O’Brien, who himself gathers more admirers with each passing season. The trainer credits Brennan with having picked the right targets for Poetic Rhythm and Colin’s Sister, both winners of big races for the pair in recent weeks. He described how Brennan had helped polish the skills of young jockeys newly arrived at the yard, including Patrick Berkins, fifth at Ludlow on Thursday on his first ride in public.
Asked how Brennan reacted to this week’s bad news, O’Brien said: “I think he’s just showed you how he reacted. He didn’t panic, he’s a quality sportsman, a top professional, he’s turned up, he’s done the job that needed doing and he’s got on with it. And that’s Paddy Brennan.”
Meanwhile, the Tizzard yard denied there was any significance to Thursday’s jockey bookings, with Robbie Power flying over from Ireland to ride the yard’s four runners here, including one owned by Alan Potts. Bryan Cooper, retained to ride Potts’s English-trained horses, went to Thurles for a single ride that finished a distant third. “This is just a one-off,” Tizzard said.
Chris Cook’s tips for Friday
Warwick 12.50 We Have A Dream 1.20 Bill And Barn 1.50 Shantou Rock 2.20 Oxwich Bay (nb) 2.50 Lunar Flow 3.20 No Ceiling 3.50 Miss Tynte
Hexham 12.40 Grand Morning 1.10 Handy Hollow 1.40 Niceandeasy 2.10 Bitview Colin 2.40 Princess Mononoke 3.10 Rivabodiva 3.40 Haul Us In
Fontwell 1.30 Lady Of Longstone 2.00 Surtee Du Berlais 2.30 Legend Lady 3.00 Highway One O One 3.30 Stoical Patient (nap) 4.00 It’s Got Legs
Newcastle 5.45 Maricruz 6.15 Evies Wish 6.45 Fruit Salad 7.15 Pouvoir Magique 7.45 Little Jo 8.15 Born To Reason 8.45 Gun Case 9.15 Quick Look
