Ger Lyons and Fran Berry discuss racing resumption, Siskin, Colin Keane and horses for 2020

It may be a touch dramatic to suggest that Ger Lyons’ ascent to the upper echelons of Irish racing is a ‘rags to riches’ story of Roy of the Rovers proportions, but his journey to become one of leading trainers in Ireland has been 25 years in the making, built on the foundations of hard work, his obvious talent as a horseman and, as he puts it, a little bit of luck along the way.

Lyons is a self-made man: his own racing story began as a jockey when he decided to up sticks and travel to America in search of work and experience. It was respected US handler Carl Nafzger who offered him employment and after six months of riding Nafzger’s team of expensive juveniles in the mornings, Lyons returned to Europe to begin his career as a jumps jockey in the United Kingdom.

When injury cut short his promising riding career, Lyons moved back to Ireland and began his training career in 1992 at Glenburnie Stables - still home to this day and now housing a burgeoning string that is headed by the unbeaten Siskin, who remains on track for the Irish 2000 Guineas on June 12.

Now, with a lockdown across large parts of the world and the shutdown of racing, Lyons, like many others, has had time to reflect: on his career, on how far he has come within an industry that he feels needs to do more to regain its popularity, and on a remarkable 2019 as Siskin proved himself the best two-year-old in Ireland and Mustajeer landed the first ever £1million Sky Bet Ebor at York. And, of course, on his special relationship with stable jockey Colin Keane.

"As the winter came upon us, it probably dawned on me as more of an achievement that it did at the time," Lyons says of Mustajeer's Ebor victory. "I don’t want to sound flippant but I just took it as another race at the time because for me, a race is a race and it’s always been about winners and then moving on to the next one. But, as you know, careers have been made on winning Ebors and looking back, it was a great achievement."

While the satisfaction of being the trainer to win the first £1million handicap run in Britain appears to have finally sunk in - his name etched into the history books and a sure fire quiz question of the future should lockdown and Zoom parties return to our lives once more - Lyons seems keen to brush over the feat of taking care of a horse from another respected stable, turning him into a money spinner and pulling off a major victory at the conclusion of a campaign that was planned and executed with almost military precision.

Instead, he is keen to keep pressing forward once racing resumes, both in terms of his own yard and the sport in general. "The training, you have to do to survive," he says. "We started off with nothing, just ourselves, and we had to do that to move up the ranks. Back in the day you could do that with a 10 grand horse: invest it and improve your stock and that’s been the way we’ve evolved. It’s taken 25 years but anything worth having takes time.

"I’m lucky enough to train for Juddmonte now and all of a sudden we’ve got pedigrees coming into the yard. Suddenly we’ve got Group One performers and we’ve upped our game every year.

"It’s been a process and I’d say we’ve got a better quality again this year. They’ve still got to go on and do better than last year but I do take a lot of satisfaction from the consistency of the yard.

"I actually think the industry in Ireland is consistent on a high level worldwide and I sometimes think that’s taken for granted. To put it in perspective, Ireland has three or four golfers capable of competing on the world stage every year, the rugby team wins a Grand Slam every few years, but we’re doing it worldwide year in, year out, and people seem to take that for granted now.

"I’d love to see that change and maybe the ‘access all areas’ culture nowadays has allowed people to take our sport for granted but as a youngster I idolised the likes of Cauthen, Swinburn, Eddery, Piggott. We don’t hold today’s stars in the same awe.

"When I was growing up, racing was popular, snooker was popular. The country would stop for the racing, the country would stop for the snooker. I’d love that to come back.”

With that in mind, Lyons feels racing has a golden opportunity to showcase the sport when it does return from the shutdown at Naas on June 8.

He goes on: "It’s easy to spend someone else’s money but I’d even go as far as to say that the racing channels should provide free-to-air, maybe to those currently cocooning.

"People have been starved of sport and if you gave it to them for free now, maybe you’d get a few more interested. The first three of weeks are going to be so competitive, with some great racing, and I’d hate to see it taken for granted.

"It’s important we, as an industry, don’t get complacent and get all the protocols right and don’t drop the ball. It’s easy to get the sport stopped but, as we’ve seen, it’s very hard to get it started again, and we’ve got get this right.

"We’ve proved as an industry we can do it. We’ve kept going and kept working through all of this. The only thing we haven’t done is race and there’s no reason why we can’t race.

"From top to bottom - trainers, staff, and jockeys - we have a collective responsibility to get this right, do our jobs right and ensure we don’t put everything in jeopardy.

"For all the lockdown has given us all a new outlook on life, I do this job to race, to have the horses race, and with a short turf season as it is, we really need to grasp this with two hands and make the best of it from here on in.

"One thing I would say is that I do hope that we don’t fall into our same old habits and that we use this as opportunity to change for the better. We should all be prepared to change.

"I want the industry to be better for me being in it and if it’s not, my generation has done something. We are a great industry for saying ‘I’m alright Jack’ and I think if you take a long, hard look at this lockdown, I’m sure there are things we could do better and I hope that we do.”

"There are some really good stories in racing that can be told and racing shouldn’t be all about gambling. There’s so much more to our industry; there’s the characters, the horses and what goes on behind trainer’s doors that people don’t know. There are so many good stories we can tell."

Ger Lyons on...

Buffer Zone

There has to be a big day in him when things go right. He’s a good, honest Bated Breath sprinter and we backed him up quick in the Ayr Gold Cup last year which never works for me; I don’t know why that’s the case. It was the last run of the season, we thought we had nothing to lose, but I don’t like doing that as the plan was the race before, which he won, and there’s always a negative when backing them up quick. If we improve that little bit more this year, hopefully we’re up into the proper races.

Even So

This a quality filly and I thought she’d be good enough to handle the mile at Naas. I think, like Lemista, she’s Oaks-type filly going forward in terms of distance – I’m not saying she’s at that level yet – but I do think she’ll improve for better ground than she got at Naas.

Heliac

She’s a lovely filly. She’s been slow to come to hand but she is that type and we’ve trained her from day one with a four-year-old career in mind. It's all about stakes races with her now and she’ll love the 12 furlongs this year. She was a rake of a filly but she’s done well, looks great and I think she’ll come into her own now. I hope we can at least get her stakes placed.

Lemista

We knew she was flying before Naas and we knew she’d handle the heavy ground. I thought the mile might find her out but you watch the race back and there was only one horse travelling and it was her. She’s won her Group Three now, which is brilliant, and I see her being better over further with plenty of cut in the ground. She doesn’t need it heavy but wouldn’t want fast ground.

Lough Cutra

A lovely, big colt by Oasis Dream who is one of my favourite sires. He wouldn’t want it as heavy as it was at Naas but he wouldn’t want it too quick either as he’s a big, heavy horse who hits the ground hard. He definitely wants 1m2f and I’d be sure he’ll win his maiden all day long.

Nurse Barbara

Her Achilles' heel is her size as she’s tiny. You watch her race at Leopardstown and if Aidan’s horse had have swerved left, she’d have put ours into the middle of next week. She’s was robbed on the line that day, which is a shame as those wins are so important to these fillies, but she’s a stakes filly and she’s training well. She did a lot last year and whether she’s the real deal stakes filly this year, time will tell. I’ll start her off over seven furlongs and have a look. It’ll be all about winning that elusive stake with her.

Peace Charter

Another lovely and we did the right thing by her in backing off and giving her a chance last summer. She’s done well physically and I can see her being campaigned over a stiff six furlongs. There’s a race for her at Naas on the first day back and I think she’s a sprinter who will be best coming off a strong gallop. I’m not saying she won’t get seven furlongs but I think a strongly-run six furlongs will really suit her.

Roca Roma

She’s a lovely, big filly by Australia who hits the ground hard. I’ve supplemented her for the 1000 Guineas, which isn’t something I’d normally do, but we’re all going to be in the same boat this year and she’s a quality filly. Where she rocks out at, I don’t know, but if we could get her stakes placed, her pedigree would be made for the breeder and we could make a plan from there. 1m2f will be optimum but I see her finishing well over that stiff mile at the Curragh.

Siskin

He didn’t win the Middle Park but I’m adamant he would have. I had him spot him on for the Middle Park. I’d say between him and the starter they got their timing wrong and it only takes a fraction of a second, too quick or too slow, to make the difference between coming out on your nose or not at all. It’s as simple as that. He got it wrong, nowhere to go and he’s lucky to be alive. It was just one of those thing and I have to accept that. I’ve done plenty in with him in the stalls the spring and he’s been brilliant. Colin has a 100 per cent confidence he won’t do it again. He’s done great over the winter and the more we’ve done with him the more I’d be hopeful he’ll get the mile no problem. It’s one thing doing it here and it’s another thing doing it over a stiff mile at the Curragh but everything I’ve seen tells me it’s worth a go. He’s bred to get the trip but does that justify him being 2/1 favourite for the Irish 2000 Guineas? I’m not so sure about that but he is the only Group One winner in the race and we have no control over that and I couldn’t be happier with him. I’d be as confident as one can be that he’d get the trip until I see it with my own two eyes.

Soul Search

In fairness to her, it’s not her fault she’s still a maiden as she was highly campaigned last year and the races presented themselves to her one after another. Black Type with these homebred fillies is so important and that’s what we got for her with the plan to win her maiden early this season and then kick on. I’ll think she’ll start off in the 1000 Guineas now because, barring Jessie’s [Harrington] fillies, it’ll just be a winners’ race this year so why not have a crack?

Lyons’ passion for racing and its future has always shone through, his enthusiasm infectious and his preference for straight-talking meaning he is always worth listening to.

Nevertheless, training winners and getting the best out of his horses remains his priority and he is thankful racing has been allowed to resume, earlier than expected, on June 8.

He goes on: "I think we could have raced a time ago but you do what they tell you to do and having that goal now is massive. We had been working the horses, easing off the horses, and you didn’t know what to do. Your work mornings became very important and you had to be creative.

"It won’t do the two-year-olds any harm as I’ve always said the more time they get the better and the fillies have to come to themselves lovely with the warmer weather but starting in June, having a goal to work to, makes such a difference.

"If we’d have been forced to cram the whole season into 16 weeks it would have been impossible. You have one Classic generation and the Stud Book is made of that. Without no Classic generation there is no Stud Book, with no Stud Book there is no breeding there is no sales. If you don’t have a Classic generation and Stud Book the whole pyramid crumbles.

"It’s so important, especially if you’re lucky enough to have a Classic horse, as you only have one chance at that."

Despite his optimism, it is clear there have been training challenges for all in the sport and, as he terms it, being able to ‘think outside the box’ while resumption plans were still up in the air has been crucial.

Furthermore, he is lucky to have the support of a trustworthy team which includes stable jockey Colin Keane.

Lyons says: "I thought outside the box, started doing things a little bit differently on work mornings to give the horses an extra taste in their mouth.

"I think I have a nice bunch but I’ll be nervous until I see them running; it’s one thing galloping at home but it’s another thing doing it on the track.

"Like I say, it’s going to be really competitive when we get back but touch wood, we are in a good place and the horses are well. I can’t wait to get them started but once we do, we’re going to be so busy.

"I said to Colin the other day ‘when racing starts, don’t be coming in every day. Come in when you want, I’m not banning you, but once racing starts it’s going to full on and you’re going to need to rest and mind you don’t burn yourself out.’

"Life’s going to be a little bit different for the jockeys, too, in terms of going racing not being normal for them and it will take its toll. These are professional athletes and we’ll have make sure we look after the jockeys just as we look after the horses."

In many ways, Lyons’ relationship with Keane typifies all that Glenburnie Stables is about: hard work, professionalism, trust and loyalty. When Lyons opted to make Keane his stable jockey before he had rode out his claim, many were surprised, but the trainer knew he had a special talent on his hands and has been proven right in the ensuing years.

"I’d love to say I’m clever but I’m not. It was obvious and I don’t mean that flippantly. He came in, he was very personable, he’s not loud, he’s a very, very good rider and he’s a horseman.

"The thing with me, I’m easy enough to ride for, but I have a way of doing things that’s about loyalty, about having my people, and I’m usually all in or I’m all out. The minute I saw him [Colin] it just dawned on me, ‘this lad is a little bit special’ and it sat well with me.

"It never felt like a big decision to me and almost like winning the Ebor, it probably dawned on me afterwards that I threw him in there as young kid. I’d like to think I always had an eye for a good jockey and as I say sometimes, ‘what’s meant for you, won’t go past you.’ This just fit and it worked.

"I love that about him," says Lyons when noting Keane’s rare ability to coax maximum effort from his horses without always needing to resort to the whip. "If they don’t go for one, they won’t go for two, and they certainly won’t go for ten. The beautiful thing about this yard is that there’s always tomorrow and today’s race isn’t the be all and end all.

"The one thing I’ve always demanded is that you are professional and I certainly get that from Colin and Gary [Carroll]. 100 per cent.

"The irony with Colin is that he's still a young guy. People think he’s an old guy but that’s because I put him up so young and though I’ve noticed him, it doesn’t mean everyone else has. But they will, the light will come on.

"When they all catch onto him, they’ll be using him and that will be the next chapter and good luck to him. It will happen. Cream always rises to the top."

On the face of it, everything would appear rosy in the Lyons camp as the 2020 Flat season finally gets ready to kick into gear but racing has a habit of throwing curveballs that you least expect and having spent the season continually impressing with his apparently unflappable temperament, Siskin having to be withdrawn from last year’s years Middle Park Stakes – a race his owner, Khalid Abdullah, sponsors – still leaves the handler frustrated.

"It was just one of those thing and I have to accept that," reflects Lyons. "He didn’t win the Middle Park but I’m adamant he would have. I had him spot him on.

"I’ve done plenty in with him in the stalls the spring and he’s been brilliant. Colin has 100 per cent confidence he won’t do it again."

Moving on from disappointment can be the hardest part of sport but having a young stable of horses packed with talent would lift the mood of any trainer, and Lyons has seen enough from Siskin in the past few weeks to give him confidence as his Irish 2000 Guineas date looms closer. Typically, though, he isn't getting carried away by bookmakers installing his colt as favourite for the first Irish Classic of the season.

"He’s done great over the winter and the more we’ve done with him the more I’d be hopeful he’d get the mile no problem. It’s one thing doing it here and it’s another thing doing it over a stiff mile at the Curragh. He’s bred to get the trip but does that justify him being 2/1 favourite for the Irish 2000 Guineas?

"I’m not so sure about that but he is the only Group One winner in the race but we have no control over that and I couldn’t be happier with him. I’d be as confident as one can be that he’d get the trip until I see it with my own two eyes."

Those eyes of his have a lot to answer for: from spotting the special talents of Colin Keane when very few had even noticed the fresh-faced jockey to setting his sights on the richest handicap in Europe, the 2019 Sky Bet Ebor, with Mustajeer - a horse who had apparently been handicapped to the hilt when fourth in the same race in 2018.

Now those eyes are guiding Lyons towards another big-race target and with a horse boasting as brilliant and unblemished a CV as Siskin does, it's easy to see why.

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