Irish jockey Donagh Meyler reflects on his best season yet, targeting 50 winners and eyeing major Cheltenham chances like Fact To File and Majborough.
You’re having your best ever season. You must be delighted especially as it’s so competitive in Ireland?
Yes, I have 39 winners altogether in Ireland and England so obviously it’s a fantastic season. We are growing in numbers the whole time and I suppose that’s every jockey’s objective at the start of every season, to grow in numbers.
Thank God, we’ve done that or we’ve surpassed our best season. Hopefully we can keep the shoulder to the wheel and keep going forward.
Where are your main rides coming from still? Are you predominantly freelance?
I’m based with Emmet Mullins and there three days a week. Noel Meade has been fantastic to me this season as well as Ross Sullivan and Mrs [Jessica] Harrington. So obviously I am tied in with very good connections and I feel very lucky to be in that position.
Everyone says 30 winners or more in Ireland in a season is a good haul. You’re way past that already.
At the start of the year, I said to myself that I’d love to beat my best tally and I was aiming for 30.
We’ve done that now and I suppose 50 looks a realistic number and it’d be awesome to get to that number.
That would say a lot about you, and your progress, wouldn’t it? It would easily be your best ever season.
Very much so. I know it’s easy saying every day is a school day and it certainly was that this year. We’ve learned a lot along the way.
We have had our ups and downs, but one thing that I’ve learned about this year is just not to fold when things go wrong and keep it up and stay looking forward.
We’ve done that this year and hopefully we can continue to keep pushing on and doing the same.
Did someone give you advice or did you give yourself that advice?
Everyone gives you advice and little tips but I just said to myself, I suppose after Galway, we were after having a good summer and the numbers were up. I got disqualified after winning the Galway Hurdle on Helvic Dream for Noel and suspended for two days for careless riding.
I was keen for the Galway Hurdle not to define this season, that we were after having a fantastic season and I wasn’t going to let that be the talking point of this year’s season.
So, I kind of gave myself a kick up the arse as well!
For you, what was the standout performance out of those winners? Fact To File, Majborough and Narciso Has?
Those three that you mentioned are definitely to the fore.
I thought Majborough was very special, I thought his jumping was superb. He went a very decent gallop on very testing ground and he finished out well, hit the line well. I thought that was definitely a breathtaking performance.
Fact To File was very good. Mark [Walsh] gave him a very special ride – I thought he was very good on him.
I followed Narciso Has around. I think he’s very special and I think he’s one of the bankers that will be going into a lot of accumulators over the Cheltenham period.
Could Fact To File be a Gold Cup contender or will he stick to the Ryanair?
Before the DRF you would have been saying definitely the Ryanair. After that performance in the DRF you’d love to see him go to the Gold Cup. I would anyway!
Galopin Des Champs was third in the Irish Gold Cup – can he return to Cheltenham and make it three Gold Cups?
He’s getting on a bit. I heard Danny Mullins saying that if he was to pick between Galopin Des Champs or Fact To File, he said his heart would love to see Galopin Des Champs, but his head is saying Fact To File.
He definitely wears his heart on his sleeve every day he goes out to the races. He’s a special horse and look, it’d be great to see him do the three. But yes, he’s getting on in years, and I just think Fact To File’s performance in Leopardstown was so good.
He’s definitely the horse to beat if he gets supplemented.
Looking at Cheltenham, Gordon Elliott is very much on the comeback trail. Do you think he can match Willie or eclipse him even at the Festival?
You definitely can’t knock what he’s done this year, even in Ireland. Taking Cheltenham out of the equation, his horses have been in blistering form all year.
He hasn’t had a lull throughout the season. So fair play to him and his team for keeping them on an upward trajectory.
He has some fantastic horses, some lovely novices in his camp. Last year he only had one winner. I don’t think that’s going to be the case this year!
He has a good squad built up for this year and I think he’s going to be up there taking on Willie and Dan Skelton and the like.
Willie Mullins is moving into form quite ominously, isn’t he? This time of year is when we start seeing his real firepower. Do you expect him to be as strong as ever?
Very much so! Willie’s horses seem to be peaking as they do every year around Cheltenham and in the lead up to the Festival.
He ripens his horses for this time every year and they seem to be doing that at the moment they seem to be going very well. Paul [Townend] too – he had a four-timer the other day which is crazy.
What are your Cheltenham Festival rides looking like?
DM: Emmet Mullins has seven or eight entries over there. The horse that won at the weekend in Punchestown looks to have a bright future, Soldier In Milan.
He was very impressive. He doesn’t have many miles on the clock. He’s learning the whole time, which is great. He didn’t run over hurdles. He went straight chasing. So, he’s a big frame of a horse that’s filling into himself the whole time and he’s matured the whole time as well.
Hopefully he has a bright future, and we can get a nice one with him somewhere along the line, whether it be in Cheltenham or maybe the back end of season.
Where would he be aimed at Cheltenham, do you think?
I think he might go for the two and a half mile Novice Handicap Chase. That’s the plan. I know he has a couple of entries and minds change along the route.
Then there’s Blake at Noel Meade’s. He looks like an exciting one for the rest of the year, whether he goes to Cheltenham or not. But he has an entry in the Supreme, but whether he goes or not, I’m not sure. There’s plenty of entries there and I’m really looking forward to it.
Who else is in Emmet’s hand that would be coming over?
DM: He obviously has the hunter chaser, It’s On The Line, which is probably his best chance. He’s going back for his fourth year now.
He seems fresh and well at home. The yard is in good form with a couple of winners along the way.
How much of a buzz do you get this time of year with Cheltenham only three weeks away now?
DM: I’m actually getting butterflies here talking to you now about it and my rides and what it would be like to be back in the winners’ enclosure again. It would be fantastic.
The main thing is we can stay fit and healthy and get there in one piece and we’ll take it from there.
A word about Emmet, he’s such a lovely man and a very smart man isn’t he, who flies under the radar a little bit, doesn’t he?
Very much so, he’s a quiet man, we get on great.
He’s obviously helped to bring my season and my career to new heights. It’s great to see his numbers going up in trajectory and us doing it together as a team.
My numbers are going up this season. He topped his best season in Punchestown the other day with 19 winners in Ireland.
It’s great to see the two of us going up the ladder together. Hopefully we can do so for many years to come.
If you could ride one horse at Cheltenham, what would it be?
Every jockey would love to ride a Gold Cup winner. So, I’d love to ride Fact To File.
I think he’d be very good. The other would be Majborough in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
That thrill of a two-mile chase around Cheltenham is unbeatable. Going as fast as you can, there’s serious buzz when you get into a rhythm. Over two miles it’s about speed and its rhythm. And when you get into a rhythm like that, not much surpasses that. It is the feeling of a lifetime.
What about the Gold Cup? For a change there are two British horses, The Jukebox Man and Jango Baie heading the market, at least for now. That’s unusual. Does that show the pendulum might be swinging just a little bit back from the Emerald Isle a bit?
You could say that, I suppose, but it would be interesting to see what gets supplemented for the race and how much that will change things.
It’s great to have that competition back. It’s had a lull for a couple of years. It’s great to see a bit of competition back. Everyone needs competition.
There is a chance that Haiti Couleurs might run, although he is also entered in the Grand National and would be going for National treble having also won the Irish and Welsh versions. What would you do if he was yours?
He’s a fantastic horse. I think he’s more set out for a National, I just think he might just lack something in the likes of a Gold Cup, but I think a National, the way he jumps, is made for more him more than a Gold Cup.
If we look at day one of the Cheltenham Festival, the Supreme and the Arkle have often been the private domain of Willie Mullins in past years, especially the Supreme which was virtually his banker. But Nicky Henderson might have something to say this year with Old Park Star and Lulamba?
Talk The Talk was also very good in Leopardstown, and he was very good before falling at the last flight at Christmas time. I thought JJ Slevin was very good on him the last day in the DRF and he’s probably the one to beat.
El Cairos made a mistake in Thurles, and Jack Kennedy was blaming himself a little bit for that. So, they’re two very, very fast horses. I think it’s a very tight knit Supreme and I think those two could come off the pace. I think it’s between the two Irish horses again!
I know Old Park Star has three wins in a row, and has to be respected but El Cairos and Talk The Talk are two very quick horses that obviously stay as well. So, I’d be leaning towards the two of them.
What about the Arkle?
Lulamba has done it the hard way the last time in open company.
I know everything seems to be going well at home with Kopek Des Bordes and he got a good school around Punchestown recently. Kopek Des Bordes was outstanding a year ago and looked unbeatable, but every horse gets beaten somewhere along the line.
That’s just the way. They are not machines. From the word on the street, he’s doing everything very well at home, so we’ll see.
For me, Irish Panther is one that’s coming in under the radar. I think he might be a 12-1 chance. I thought he ran a very good race behind Romeo Coolio at Christmas time. It would be nice to see Kieran Buckley, who is a good friend of mine, get his breakthrough Grade 1 success.
Romeo Coolio looks quite good value at 10-1, but whether he will go for the Arkle or not or whether he’ll step up to the Ryanair, I don’t know. That is maybe why he is that price!
The Champion Hurdle? Your money is on the New Lion?
Yes, I thought he was very good in the way that he did it last time out. It’s obviously a very open Champion Hurdle this year.
I suppose it’s hard to see the mare Brighterdaysahead coming back. She doesn’t really act around there, you could say.
I know there was mention that she was wrong and she wasn’t moving well last year. Form around is brutal. Obviously the New Lion has that so he’s one that you’d find it hard to look away from.
On the spot time: Cheltenham Festival prediction?
I’ll give you a treble: Majborough in the Champion Chase, Narciso Has in the Triumph Hurdle. and Bambino Fever in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
Bambino won the Champion Bumper last year and was very good last time at Fairyhouse.
The way Willie peaks his horses for Cheltenham, I’d say she is on an upward trajectory.
Any value elsewhere?
Back Me Or Sack Me was good in Leopardstown for Emmet and I think he’ll appreciate the step up and trip.
Then Ben Hur in the Fred Winter.
Your banker?
My banker of the week is Narciso Has which I’d put my mortgage on or whatever you’ve got!
What’s the particular challenge of riding at Cheltenham?
It’s like being in the Colosseum. It is a fantastic place. Obviously, the Winter Olympics are on at the moment. Cheltenham is our Olympics at the end of the day.
You do get butterflies going into the place. It’s unbelievable.
It must be hard being a jockey in Ireland because the competition is so strong and the quality of jockeys so good.
We ride maybe four or five times a week. That’d be a very busy week’s racing.
Look, the competition is there. You see the likes of Darragh O’Keeffe, Jack Kennedy, Paul Townend, they’re obviously up at the top of the table and then there’s lads with say 15 winners, 20 winners behind me. And I tell you, they could ride any of them top horses any given day of the week, it’s just about the opportunity. There’s so many capable riders in Ireland.
The big news in the last few weeks has been Harry Cobden being retained in England and Ireland by JP McManus at the expense of Mark Walsh. What do you make of that?
Look, Harry’s a very talented rider. His figures and the ammunition that he’s been riding over the last number of years for Paul Nichols say it all. He’s very good and best of luck to him in the job.
Mark Walsh had the perfect response though with those four grade ones at Leopardstown for JP.
DM: Mark is a top class rider. It’s unbelievable what he did at the DRF – it was fantastic for him. He grabbed the bull by the horns I suppose and he made a very good impression!
What do you think it would mean to Gordon if he did finally get over the line and win the trainer’s title? He’s had a couple of near misses, but it would be life-changing for him, wouldn’t it?
It would. He started off with a very small base. He has a lot of good owners, good staff, and obviously good jockeys in his camp.
Looking at the way the season’s been going for him, he’s right up there to take on Willie in the championship over here. But he went into Punchestown before about €500,000 in front and he got overtaken.
But taking nothing away from him, he has really good fire power and he’s kept his horses in tip-top shape throughout the season so if it’s any year to do it, I think this could be a big chance for him.
We may be seeing Constitution Hill return at Southwell. What do you make of all that and his plight, from hero to zero in a year? Do you think he can come back regardless?
I’d love to see him come back. He’s obviously a superstar of a horse with what he’s done. It’s a bit disappointing to see him fall, but obviously it’s the sport we’re in. He has to jump and hopefully he can do that.
I’d love to see him line up in the Champion Hurdle and I hope he does so.
And if he does so, he’s got a good chance hasn’t he if he stands up? It doesn’t look like the deepest race this year.
No, it is not this year. I thought Dan Skelton’s horse, The New Lion, was actually very impressive in January at Cheltenham. It was a race that obviously didn’t suit. They didn’t go fast around there but the way he picked up off a sedate pace just showed how much talent he does have. Good horses find ways of winning and he’s certainly done that.
If Willie Mullins does well at Cheltenham and Aintree, a happy place for him, can you see him thinking, ‘actually I’ll give it a go again in England and Ireland?’
Maybe so, but I think he has something else on his mind in Ireland with Gordon’s horses flying.
I think he needs to be chipping away at that tally the whole time. But if there’s any man that can do it, it’s Willie Mullins.
Dan’s probably a little bit further in front than this last year. But I’d say Willie would be more concentrated on Ireland first and foremost.
Which trainer has impressed you most this season in Ireland?
Emmet’s after doing a fantastic job as we have discussed.
I think Connor King is one to put in the notebook. He has Oscar’s Brother who won in Navan last week. JP [McManus] bought the horse a couple of weeks ago and Connor is definitely well able to get one ready.
A look at the National weights now. More fun for Willie?!
I Am Maximus is just up a pound and carrying 11st 12lb. Nick Rocket has 11st 11lb, then there’s obviously Banbridge for Joseph.
I had Grangeclarewest who finished third – he has 11st 10lb this year.
It’s hard to make head or tail of the National really until closer to the time as well what the ground will be.
Do you have any superstitions or routines before a meeting or a ride or at a big meeting?
I just keep waving at the magpies on the way to the races.
One thing I do is always clean my gear before I go out. I clean my stick right before I go out. That’s just one thing that I do. Not sure why!
I did it first a couple of years ago and I had a little bit of luck with it, and I have just continued with it to this day.
I am a bit superstitious. I wouldn’t like too much change before a big ride and I like to keep things simple and just flow on.
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