Robbie Power didn’t pull any punches when responding to Richard Newland’s recent comments about restricting Irish horses running in Britain.
In an exclusive interview, the BoyleSports Horse Racing Ambassador has called into question the narrative of Irish domination in National Hunt racing and reacted to Harry Derham’s decision to bring Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell-owned Givemefive over to race in Ireland.
Plus Power, a Liverpool fan, answers if he would be happy to have Sir Alex Ferguson as an owner and analyses the performance of the Henry De Bromhead stable at Cheltenham.
Richard Newland’s Comments? Some of the Most Ridiculous Things I’ve Ever Heard
I honestly don’t think Richard Newland’s quotes deserve to be commented on, they were some of the most ridiculous things I’ve read. If someone was putting that out on April Fool’s Day as a joke then maybe.
It would absolutely destroy English racing if Irish horses weren’t allowed to run over there.
I thought what Ben Pauling said was that everyone is getting away from Irish domination – it is not Irish domination, it is Willie Mullins domination. The English had to deal with it at Cheltenham what we have to deal with at home every day of the week.
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There is nothing we can do, we have to accept it. Full credit to Willie and his team, he has a great bunch of owners around him and it is up to us to compete with him the best we can and get as many good owners as we can to recruit the right horses.
We are probably never going to get to Willie’s level but if we get progressing then we will have our good days and we will enjoy them.
If Willie wants to be selfish then he could run just one or two of his horses in the big races and we’d have even smaller field sizes. It is very rare that Willie runs two or three horses of the same owner in one race. He might have four or five in a Grade 1 novice hurdle but they could have four or five different owners and they are entitled to take their chances.
They have a fantastic team of horses and it is up to everyone else to get to that level. It is unlikely that we will ever get to that level but if we keep trying hard and looking for the right owners, attracting the right owners, we can catch up or lose the gap.
Harry Derham’s Decision To Bring Givemefive Over To Race in Ireland
The key for the last couple of years is there have been very few English horses coming over to take us on. Maybe they have seen that, well, we haven't beaten them at Cheltenham then why would we go to Ireland and take them on?
But if they do, we have seen other trainers reap the rewards of doing it. Harry Fry stands out, he has had success here, there was one English runner at Dublin Racing Festival and it won. If they come over and try, they have been very successful.
I’ll Gladly Play A Round of Golf With Brooks Koepka & Graeme McDowell!
If you don't buy a ticket, you won't win the raffle. It would be great to see Harry Derham come over and have a winner here in Ireland, he has some high-profile owners in Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell.
If they want to come over and play a round at Killeen Castle which is only a ten-minute drive from Fairyhouse then I will gladly play with them and have a hack around with them!
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I’d Love To Have Sir Alex Ferguson As An Owner With Henry De Bromhead
If I was putting football aside for one minute as a Liverpool fan, then racing is a business. It doesn’t matter what the owner does in other sports or if you like them, it doesn't make a difference and if an owner wants a horse in training with Henry then absolutely.
Sir Alex had a very successful Cheltenham, he has been a long and loyal supporter at the game so we would absolutely love to have him as an owner.
Cheltenham Was A Massive Success For The Henry De Bromhead Yard
We went there with high expectations, a very different team to other years with no Honeysuckle or A Plus Tard, Minella Indo didn’t get to run in the Cross Country as it was prematurely cancelled, but they called it off a bit too soon, they didn't give it a chance to run it on a Friday but we had to live with that decision.
We had two winners and a lot of place horses - four horses were 2nd, three 3rds and three 4ths - so of the 25 runners we had, 48 per cent were in the winners ‘ enclosure.
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