Jonathan Mullin and the Irish Tote

Seems like a bogus excuse to me,wants to relocate to Galway,he could easily commute from Galway no hassle now with the new roads.
Who leaves a highly paid job to do nothing for alleged family reasons.
Brian Kavanagh thanks Dryden for returning the Tote to profit,well thats not true.

murphyjust.
Date Joined: 31 Jan 04 Add contact When: 14 May 12 16:59 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Robertson+named+as+Tote+Ireland+manager.-a0264051785

I presume the reason someone with a hospital background was appointed was that the thing is terminally ill?

I had the misfortune of being involved in the previous selection process with these jokers and the whole episode was embarrassing. Brian Kavanagh in particular came out of it smelly of nothing but manure.

To be fair to Drydon Geary, I think he's done a fair job in horrifically difficult circumstances (and no, I don't know the guy at all)

I'd say the powers that be disagree murphy.

Dryden used come on here in the past.

He always did a very good job with the dead wood he was given.

The latest blow for me is the jackpot. It had been guaranteed for at least 5k every meeting. In June it was decided to do away with this, just guaranteeing selective meetings. I did it at Kilbeggan ( approx €760 pool) and Naas ( approx 2.5k pool). At Listowel they had a pool of €500 one day. I won't be doing it any more now without the guarantee unless there is a carry over. Surely they could have maybe a 2.5k guarantee. People will get out of the habit of doing them so even when it will be guaranteed they may not do it.

tote needs a cull of the overpaid lard arses starting at the very top.

HRI obviously recognised a star when they saw one as they recently promoted a new boss over the marketing department-Michael O'Rourke must be feeling a little blue.
As one of the few who posts anything worthwhile on this forum (the 2yo thread is particularly good) I don't like to contradict you RA but
From the recent press blurb...
Michael O'Rourke takes on the role of Director of Strategy and Marketing for Horse Racing Ireland with particular responsibility for strategic planning within HRI and for raising awareness levels and interest in racing generally, particularly via new media.  Barbara White, reporting to Michael O'Rourke, will be Marketing Manager, with responsibility for consumer advertising, promotions and direct marketing.

maxheadroom
tote needs a cull of the overpaid lard arses starting at the very top.
Whom exactly do you mean Max? I think one of the main problems is that there hasn't been strong and independent leadership and vision for the Tote in recent years and much of this has arisen because of a lack of senior management. The spat between BF and HRI which ended up with them coming off this site was a cause of real damage to them.
In my opinion there are some really good people working in the organization (I think DG was one) and it should have a role to play in the future of Irish racing...Pay someone a proper performance-related wage and tackle all those anomolies, glitches and shoddy practices.

PS Anyone know how to do a trifecta with one horse as a place banker in a single bet thru' their website??

3winners: you may be right but my interpretation is that they have given ITM's Michael O'Hagan a role that is now some way superior to O'Rourke and I'd be very surprised if this isn't causing him some pain.

O'Hagan goes from gm of ITM to the grandiose title of HRI Dir of Comms & Int'l Affairs-wow!

I have a very jaundiced view about ITM myself and can't see it deserves many plaudits for helping to shift/export a lot of the over-production problem for next to nothing. Perfectly willing to accept i'm wrong but I have my doubts. Goldhawk occasionally gets the leaks from inside HRI and I will watch his column with some interest.

soapp: I hope that DG doesn't turn to be that guy "poohna" because he should have kept his head down trying to defend matters that bore no reasonable explanation. There are times when saying nothing is best!

I wouldn't envy any new head of tote: I think independence is probably compromised all the time by hri and its unlikely the union issues will ever go away. imo it all goes back to a subject ive droned on about over the years: no-one in hri understands the punter (even the bookmakers have a seat on the board) and what drives him and side-shows will always take preference over engaging and giving the punter what he wants. I closed my account years ago and they've a long way to go to get my custom back. (I can see the powers that be scratching their heads and asking: "what the punter wants?")

2008 figures for kavanagh.. he remuneration package of the Chief Executive of Horse Racing Ireland for the period ended 31st December 2008 is as follows:
Basic Salary €187k (€163k)
Pension Contributions and other Taxable Benefits €61k (€51k)
Long-Term Performance Related Remuneration €65k (€41k)
Total Package €313k (€255k)
wasnt there a row over the addional bonuses and expense claims that had to be handed back, good article by mcclean http://donnmcclean.com/2010/11/16/iba-v-hri/

O'Hagan resigns from post at HRI

RACING: Just three weeks after being appointed as Horse Racing Ireland’s new director of communications, Michael O’Hagan has resigned with immediate effect.

The 51-year-old, who has also resigned as chief executive of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, said last evening he was leaving both posts for “purely personal reasons”.  O’Hagan said: “I’ve been in this job for 11 years and while I’ve loved it, there is an awful lot of travelling and I simply want to spend some time at home.
“I’ve given a lot of time to this industry and now I think I should give more time to my family. It’s time for a change. I was asked to take up a new position and I felt it was right to make a decision now rather than six months down the line.”

After a HRI board meeting yesterday, a statement said O’Hagan’s resignation was accepted with immediate effect and he was leaving to pursue private business interests.

HRI’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh said: “Michael offered his resignation and it was accepted at a board meeting this morning.”


Don't think O'Hagan was enamoured by his new role....

i am amazed by this and I guessed that there was more to the whole saga than meets the eye when I posted that O'Rourke might have had his nose out of joint.

I don't buy these "personal reasons" for a moment from the Minister's White-haired-boy any more that I buy the dryden statement.

There's something very strange going on in hri.....

can't believe they haven't give Drydon Geary the gig, he was fully entitled to a shot at it. A complete and utter crowd of jokers IMO

can't believe they haven't give Drydon Geary the gig, he was fully entitled to a shot at it. A complete and utter crowd of jokers IMO

Looks like HRI is going into freefall. The Chief Executive is going to have to earn his big fat salary this year just to keep the ship afloat. The Tote has shown shocking returns over the past 5 years  Dryden Geary did nothing to reverse that trend. ITM  rode the wave of the Celtic Tiger and their results are hard to evaluate. Always thought they were overstaffed and they got a tidy budget.

ITM chose easy targets for years: trade shows and trade delegations, sponsoring races at home and abroad, giving free flights to inward buyers, helping breeders to get rid of surplus stock at give-away prices. Spend, spend spend because the money is free and available! If ITM were responsible for the "public" debate that took place at Leopardstown it was a complete and utter waste of money. The only opportunity to quiz the powers-that-be and it was a "written questions in advance" format. Myself and two friends asked some "hard" questions (amateur, silver-spoon-in-the-mouth stewarding, drugs and non-triers) but they were ignored by the MC (a pretty, insider girl from PR and little else). What a joke and no-one able to be objective.

Two clear issues for any person responsible for promoting Irish racing and thoroughbreds: find people to put horses in training in Ireland and find wealthy people to buy Irish horses-not guys depending on a free two-hundred euro plane ticket. Simples!

Take at look at their websites: about ten years out of date and reflective of a lack of innovation and style.

As for the Tote, as The Gotchee says, its a disaster area-complete and utter.

The reasons are for both organisations being incompetent are clear to me: no accountability thanks to it being a semi-stater, far too many factional interests with their collective heads in the trough, big fat salaries to big fat executives (remember the Kananagh bonus scandal?), no intrinsic understanding of either marketplaces-betting or raising and selling stock, general managers, chief executives and now! directors of international affairs (!) appointed with no gravitas or sufficient understanding of the nature of the job or marketplace (even against the chairman's wishes), way behind the socail media curve, the customer (punter and breeder) not king etcetera, etcetera, etcetera..................................

I wonder what Coveney thinks of all this. He was apparently keen on O'Hagan and his nominee lasts two weeks in the job beating the former Tote manager's tenure by 5 months. There's no movement on the new betting legislation (I once heard that HRI/Tote might have been in favour of slots-I couldn't comment on this as it seems so far-fetched and appalling, if true), the much-heralded review into certain aspects of the industry by Indecon is due to be published (economists that really understand the industry no doubt), the head of HRI is due to stand down and the Tote licence is soon up for renewal. Lots to happen and keep me amused.

Indecon...(economists that really understand the industry no doubt), Ah yes Indecon, International Economic Consultants...the name presumably is some abbreviation of independent economists...unfortunately they are anything but...

Looks like O'Hagan's resignation was caused by something other than the "reshuffle". Today's Examiner has the story...

Wife’s deals see horse director quit post
By Conor Ryan Investigative Correspondent

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The new director of international affairs at Horse Racing Ireland has resigned after twice being sanctioned for a serious conflict of interest involving his wife’s business.

Michael O’Hagan, also the chief executive of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, quit with immediate effect on Monday.

His shock departure was accepted after HRI disciplined him because his wife, Josephine Maher O’Hagan, acted as a private sales consultant to ITM’s Chinese clients. A key part of Mr O’Hagan’s job was to fly buyers into the country, entertain them, and organise deals. While they were brought over to look at thoroughbred racehorses, they also bought showjumpers through Mrs O’Hagan’s business, China Ireland Consultancy. HRI said these deals breached its code of ethics.

His resignation came four months after he was disciplined for an identical issue.

HRI said it received anonymous correspondence in February regarding transactions involving Mrs O’Hagan. It said while some claims could not be verified, there "was evidence of a breach of our code of conduct and ethics regarding conflicts of interest".

The HRI said there was no evidence that any of its money was misappropriated. However, it had discovered sufficient information to sanction Mr O’Hagan.

Despite this, in May, Mr O’Hagan was promoted to become the HRI’s director of communications and international affairs.

HRI said it was subsequently alerted to evidence that the couple’s business "behaviour had not ceased in its entirety".

This related to another deal involving Mrs O’Hagan. It is understood there was scrutiny surrounding the sale of one showjumper to an Asian client in March.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr O’Hagan denied there was any wrongdoing. He said that all of the Chinese clients involved also bought racehorses.

"There were a considerable number of thoroughbred sales done as well that are nothing to do with anything you referred to."

Mr O’Hagan said he regretted that his reputation would now be tarnished. "I have worked for the industry my entire life and I have what I hope is very clear and good reputation around the world as somebody who has put the Irish industry and the Irish thoroughbred industry to the fore."

In 2011, ITM and HRI spent €34,527 accommodating and entertaining Chinese clients who were invited to look at thoroughbreds, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show. It also spent €15,067 sending its staff, including Mr O’Hagan, to China to develop trade links.

The HRI said, following its initial investigation, the department was made aware that there were findings against Mr O’Hagan.

These "rumours" had been knocking around for months and it seemed that O'Hagan had weathered the initial storm after a formal reprimand. I was flabbergasted to see that the Minister was prepared to take a chance on an executive with a dirty copybook and actually decided to PROMOTE him knowing his behaviour had been questioned and had been found to be unethical (to put it mildly). This suggests either the Minister was incredibly naive or he was very poorly advised by his department and, by inference, HRI.

We are now entitled to know:
1. why did the matter suddenly re-surface? I don't buy the "another deal" last March for a second. I suspect a whistle-blower decided he/she had enoough of the hypocrisy and HRI were forced to act.
2. why did O'Hagan prosper after his wrongdoing-who made the original call to "forgive and forget?"
3. When a former Tote chief was found to be behaving in an unethical manner a number of years ago he was forced to walk the plank-why not this geezer?
4. And here's the question that will make all our collective stomachs turn when we discover the truth: how much of a pay-off of taxpayers money did O'Hagan get to "resign" when we all know he was fired.

The individual in question would not have been very popular and made lots of enemies along the way. It seems that someone with a nasty grudge has succeeded where HRI failed. The sound of tinkling you hear in the background is schadenfreude.

I think Coveney's honeymoon with the industry is well and truly over and suddenly the impending issues now have a greater impact. He looks a moron after this affair. More low standards in high places.

Finally, I look forward to Leo Powell's reaction this weekend having been THE numero uno fan of said disgraced ITM head for years. I have to say I am pleased that such sychophantic journalism is shown up for what it is.

hashtag#circlethewagons

I have to agree RA. There are more questions than answers to come out of this sorry saga. Will he get a pension and a remuneration package?

I too look forward to Leo Powells comments,it seems they are trying to emulate the board of the National Stud in mixing personal business with the boards.

Oh how lucky HRI are, never had to pander to a betting public unlike nearly every other racing jurisdiction!.

Down on bended knees every year, clasping their hands over their eyes every budget hoping?
The betting public don't exist never existed, the Turd Club is just that The Turd Club, such is the quango they are, all they worry about is how much and where we'll spread the money around our vast vested interests?

I’m almost 63. I feel like I’m 23 and want to do more' - Michael O'Hagan on new challenges and old experiences
Former ITBA and ITM chief executive Michael O'Hagan steps up to the Racing Post Bloodstock Q&A plate
Michael O'Hagan: launched MOH Consultancy this month
Michael O'Hagan: launched MOH Consultancy this month
Let’s dive into your background – where did your interest in racing/bloodstock spring from?

My personal interest in racing came via my father, Pat O’Hagan, a veterinary surgeon in Dundalk. Dad was a general practitioner with a practice spanning both sides of the border with Northern Ireland. He was passionate about horses and we were lucky enough to always have horses at home on the farm.

He was veterinary surgeon to Dundalk racecourse for 41 years and for many of those he was a shareholder in the track. I grew up spending many afternoons with him as he drove around the track behind the runners. They were magical days. Our annual treat was to go to Fairyhouse for the Irish Grand National.

I competed at all levels of ponies, then horses and even rode in a few point-to-points. Dad was also vet at what was the Ballsbridge Sales at the Royal Dublin Society and for a time at the then new Goffs complex in County Kildare, which was the brainchild of the late great Jonathan Irwin.

A lesser known side of my love of horses came genetically via my mother Oonagh’s family tree. Her grandfather's brother was Freddie McCabe, who on Wednesday, June 5, 1907 saddled Orby to become the first ever Irish-trained winner of the Epsom Derby. He went on to become the first horse to do the Epsom-Irish Derby double.

Orby’s owner was ‘Boss’ Croker, a legendary and somewhat controversial Irish American political figure. Freddie McCabe lived in Glencairn House, outside Dublin, which is now the residence of the British Ambassador to Ireland. He was also responsible for the establishment of what is today The Irish Field, and was also the founder of Mallow racecourse, now known as Cork.

Tell us about your earlier career, in France, Ireland and the United States . . .

In the summer before my final year in secondary school, and with thanks to the late Dr Michael Osborne, I travelled to Normandy to work on Comte Roland de Chambure’s beautiful Haras d’Etreham, near Bayeux. Based at Haras de Victot, a farm leased by the Comte due to an outbreak of CEM in France at the time, I was involved in prepping yearlings for the Deauville sales.

Brendan Hayes, formerly of Knocktoran Stud in Limerick, was the manager there at the time. I went back to Ireland for my final year of school and then straight back to France for my second spell at Etreham. Stallions such as Lyphard, Riverman, Luthier and Caro were all standing at Etreham during those years, I worked the sales in Deauville and paid my first ever visit to Tattersalls in Newmarket. That was the late 1970s.

Haras d'Etreham:
Haras d'Etreham: O'Hagan had three enjoyable stints there
Credit: Haras d'Etreham
Having been accepted for the stud management training course at the Irish National Stud, I returned to Ireland for the following stud season. There I met and made lifelong friends, many of whom have gone on to rise to the top of their game right across the world – James Keogh (Kentucky), Con Marnane (Bansha), Ciaran Conroy (Glenvale), Tom Lynch (Coolmore), David Sullivan (Airlie), Niall Brennan (Florida) to mention but a few. We were all members of the Class of ’81. Finishing up at Tully, I returned for what would be my final spell at Etreham. I was so privileged to have had Dr Osborne, the Comte and Brendan Hayes as my guardian angels in getting me totally immersed into this incredible industry.

I then went to work as assistant to another legend, Peter Kavanagh at Kildangan Stud, which at the time was owned by Mr Roderic More-O Ferrall. It was such a beautiful, natural farm and home to Bold Lad, among others.

After Kildangan, like so many other Irish folk, I took off to Lexington, Kentucky. Working at a small farm called Domino, just off Newtown Pike, I spent just over a year there. Again, Dr Osborne, who had relocated to North Ridge Farm, was a huge influence for so very many Irish who had based themselves in Lexington.

We had some fantastic times there living on very little. The sense of community was palpable. The Lexington Irish football team was a highlight and of course the coach was Dr O! My time there introduced me to Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton sales, which were just so enormous compared to any European companies.

While in Lexington, I received a handwritten letter from a leading stud owner in Ireland asking me to come home to discuss taking on the management of his farm – there were of course no emails or mobile phones in those days. So I bummed a lift back from Cincinnati to Dublin on one of those old Aer Turas horse planes.

I borrowed my mum's car in Dundalk and went to meet the owner in question. I was 21. We discussed everything and I asked if I could think about it for 48 hours. En route home to Dundalk that evening I stopped in Dublin to meet my brother for supper. As I parked the car in Dawson Street, I bumped into an old friend who asked me what I was up to. I explained, Lexington, the job offer etc. They said, 'Why not go to Coolmore? They are building a new farm', and so on. When I got home that night, my mum told me that my friend had called to say I had to be at Coolmore the next day at 3pm. I was due to catch that lift back to Lexington with the horse plane 48 hours later. Plus I had to decide about the gentleman’s offer to run his farm too.

I didn’t go to Coolmore as requested the next day but the telephone rang around 3:15pm. A young lady, Louise [Holohan], introduced herself as a secretary at Coolmore and was I coming to meet them? Mr Bob Lanigan and Mr Christy Grassick were waiting. To those who don’t know, Dundalk to Coolmore in those days was almost four hours. So I borrowed poor mum’s car and took off for Tipperary and met them at around 7pm in the old offices behind Coolmore House. The rest is history.

My time at Coolmore taught me so many things, including in order to stand out from the crowd you should do the most ordinary things extraordinarily well. Good wasn’t good enough. Excellence is the base line, so always push harder. This ethos, driven by Mr John Magnier and supported by his wife Sue, was coupled by the expert eye of Dr Vincent O’Brien. Backed by Robert Sangster and others over the years, all this drove Coolmore to their rightful place as one of the world's thoroughbred powerhouses.

Coolmore:
Coolmore: O'Hagan learned plenty there
Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)
The stallion roster there was incredible. Soon after my arrival a little horse walked in and changed the face of Coolmore. Sadler's Wells was a legend. He will go down in history as one of the greats. My time there exposed me to handling clients, working the breeding shed, working with some fantastic people and paying attention to detail. All of which still stands to me as I launched into the next chapter.

Then came the step up to being CEO at both the ITBA and ITM . . .

When I joined the ITBA, I'd been previously exposed to the organisation throughout my career at various points, ending up as chairman of the Southern Region for a period. So when I walked in to take the position of regional coordinator, I already knew the territory. Working alongside two fabulous ladies in Paula O’Neill and Angela Brown, we worked so very hard to engage with and support breeders at all levels.

At the time, the association was slightly Kildare-centric. So I began a campaign of encouraging regional committees to become more active and engaged. Parallel to this, I had morphed into the role of CEO at the organisation. With the help of various chairmen and women, along with so many terrific breeders from across the country, the association became stronger and stronger. We engaged with government at the highest level and with numerous government departments. We also had to travel to Europe on a few occasions to fight the case for the thoroughbred industry there.

While there, and with the help of many, the Annual ITBA Awards were catapulted to a higher level of visibility, bringing government involvement and outside sponsorship into the mix. The ITBA Expo was born and, probably the most incredible of all, the first ever pre-Cheltenham Festival preview took place in the Grand Hotel, Fermoy, owned by Gerry O’Neill, whose brother just happened to be Jonjo. Joe Hernon, of Castlehyde Stud fame, was the brains behind that event, with more than 600 people turning up on the first evening. Given that the venue held only 350, that proved to be a challenge . . .

Cheltenham Festival previews are now two a penny but
Cheltenham Festival previews are now two a penny but the first one, at the Grand Hotel, Fermoy, had to pack 600 people into a venue that held 350
Credit: Ben Hutton
The transition into Irish Thoroughbred Marketing was an exciting time. I was loaned by the then chairman of the ITBA, the wonderful Sir Edmund Loder Bt, to ITM for a six-month secondment. In football parlance, I guess that I was a free transfer. For those six months I looked after both the ITBA and was second in command at ITM to another legend and lifelong friend, Dick O’Sullivan.

Dick was, and is, a cute Kerryman. Having worked for Denis Brosnan’s empire that is the Kerry Group, Denis as chairman of the then Irish Horseracing Authority and latterly Horse Racing Ireland knew exactly what was needed to escalate ITM to the forefront of the Irish thoroughbred industry.

Experience equals Dick, while energy equals Michael and off we went. The first project was to form a new team built on a wide variety of skills. A young Joey Cullen was our resident racing encyclopaedia, Nicola Kent ditto for breeding, Nicky Sweetman, organisational skills, Isobel O’Donovan, people skills, and Shona as our administrator. Caroline Gray looked after the day-to-day finance, while the supremo, Margaret Davin, kept a watchful eye on budgets.

ITM worked hard to establish itself as the premier thoroughbred marketing organisation in the world. We were aggressive and fearless. We were omnipresent and we pushed the boundaries all the time. The answer was always ‘yes’ . . . now what was the question?! We all knew that in marketing especially the skill lay in trying to identify the next big fish versus ending up with a tyre kicker. The person who taught us the difference was Dick. That was his skill. I'm sure over the years he knew that we, or more likely I, had backed the wrong person. Sometimes he'd let me crash and burn. I now understand why. Unless I caught the odd bloody nose every now and then, I'd never learn how to spot the difference myself. I still get the odd bloody nose.

The team evolved over the years but the premise for our activities and initiatives was always the same. Get into a room, thrash out ideas and make a plan. Most importantly, always be aware that not all plans work. Having earned the respect and support of the finance department, we became fierce in our activities.

By a chance encounter in my early days, with the then Irish Ambassador to Singapore, Brendan Lyons, we began to explore using already available existing resources. We worked through a network of Irish embassies, overseas trade board offices and tourism offices dotted around the world. Suddenly we didn’t have one office in Ireland, we had 137 around the world, all working for us.

This opened doors. It also led us to developing a very close working relationship with a number of government departments, officials and ministers. This in turn led to the door of our Taoiseach and our President, both of who were incredibly supportive of what we did and took us with them on numerous overseas trade missions. To those old enough to remember the TV show Yes Minister, you should always remember that Sir Humphrey is, without doubt, the most important man in the room . . .

Yes Minister
Yes Minister - left no doubt as to the most important man in the room
Credit: BBC
After almost 12 years with ITM and having been appointed a communications and international affairs director at HRI, I stepped down and started to do some private consultancy with, among others, Connolly’s Red Mills. As a multigenerational business that started so many years ago in a red feed mill in Goresbridge to what is today a multimillion international brand, it was a joy to be involved in a tiny way with such a wonderful team. It was led at that time by Joe Connolly, who even though he has now retired and handed the reins to his son, Gareth, is busier than ever.

And your most recent role with Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai, what did that involve?

When Mr Malih Al Basti approached me in 2014, I wasn’t sure what to do. I had already known Malih for many years, and it was a pleasure to work for and with him.

For the last nine and a half years I have travelled around the globe many times for Malih. Primarily setting up sponsorships and branding opportunities for Al Basti Equiworld, representing him at various business meetings or events, buying and selling his thoroughbreds and basically being there when he couldn’t, wherever ‘there’ was.

In that time, and with Malih's incredible support, we built up the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai brand into what is almost a household name, certainly within the worldwide thoroughbred community. I guess my speciality was spotting opportunities and convincing Malih to allow me to do them!

Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai has become a well-known sponsor of races


Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai has become a well-known sponsor of races
Credit: Mark Cranham
This role involved a considerable amount of travel and gave me the opportunity to increase my connections around the world. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Malih, but as his requirements reduced, I began to consider another challenge. Hence MOH Consultancy was born.

Moving on to your own business, MOH Consultancy, what’s the thinking behind it and the plan?

The thinking behind it is really quite simple. I've had the most incredible career, I’m almost 63. I feel like I’m 23 and want to do more. So I'm using my past to fuel my future. I want to bring my expertise and experiences to a variety of companies and individuals across the globe.

I launched as MOH Consultancy about two weeks ago and have already eight people talking to me about an incredible variety of projects. Some marketing. Some branding. Some business to business. I'm talking to entities in the Middle East, the USA, UK and Ireland. Their lights won’t all turn green. There will be plenty of red lights.

While obviously looking to the wider global thoroughbred community as a core business, there are so many opportunities sitting perhaps just outside the industry. I want to hunt a few of them down and perhaps convince them to see the world through a fresh set of eyes.

What were the key factors in choosing to be based in Newmarket?

A number of reasons. I initially moved here for personal reasons, plus it was where Malih had all his horses and major sponsorships. So it made sense.

With no disrespect to Ireland, I have found there are so many more opportunities in the UK. Sheer number of people gives it the edge. Plus the amount for foreign investment in the British thoroughbred sector is considerable. So I guess the simple answer is more opportunities.

Favourite racehorse past or present – can you tell us yours?

I feel obliged to say Orby, but it has to be Sea The Stars, with Mick Kinane doing what he was a master at doing. Brilliant.

Same slurry in The Irish Field.

Unceremoniously booted out of ITM for double-dealing via his wife. Just like injured racehorses, they never come back.