Pat O’Donnell

Pat O’Donnell drove the Jeep himself.  Just the three of them, himself and his daughter Sylvia and Extensio, across on the ferry and arrived at York 24 hours before the start of the Ebor meeting, York’s flagship meeting.  

“When we went to Newmarket last year for the Cesarewitch Trial,” he says, “we went 48 hours before the race, and I just wasn’t happy with how he drank up.  It wasn’t anything major, it was small, but I thought that we would minimise our time away as a result.  It was just my instinct.”

His instinct has served him fairly well through the years.  Like in 2018, when he was at Goffs to meet the person to whom his wife Una had sold a half-bred horse.  Michael Browne of Mocklershill Stables met him and told him that there was a yearling there who hadn’t sold, and whom he should see.  The yearling wasn’t overly big, but Pat liked him straight away and, for less than the minimum bid of €800, he had him home with him.

A son of Xtension out of the Manduro mare Endino, the name Extensio would come later.  Initially though, at home, he was known as Tea Bags, because before Pat left the house that day, his wife asked him to be sure to bring home some tea bags.

Extensio was a slow burn.  He didn’t run as a two-year-old and he didn’t win as a three-year-old.  He did win as a four-year-old though, a handicap at Tipperary under Billy Lee, just got up on the line to get home by a neck.  That was a good day.  

And he won as a five-year-old, the Ladies’ Derby at The Curragh in the summer of 2022, ridden to victory by Pat’s daughter Sylvia.  That was a great day.  

“Nothing could compare to that day,” says Pat now.  “That was a special day.  That’s the parent in you. 

Wednesday came close though.  And he wasn’t nervous.  Not really.  All the work was done, he knew that his horse was well, and he could go to the races with confidence. He may just have a handful of horses to train, but he knows when he has a good one.  And some good judges had told him that he deserved to be there, in there along with Richard Hannon and Andrew Balding and Gordon Elliott and Charlie Johnston and Hugo Palmer.  

Standing at the rail with his wife Una, about a furlong up the track, Pat watched the big screen through his binoculars as Joey Sheridan settled Extensio into his racing rhythm in the Sky Bet Stayers Handicap.

“I said to Sylvia, you’re welcome to ride him,” says Pat.  “She rode him to win at Fairyhouse in July.  But she didn’t ride him last year, and she said to me, it looks like we have a nice horse.  Let’s see how good he is.”

Joey Sheridan rode Extensio to win at Clonmel last September, and he rode him to finish third in that Cesarewitch Trial at Newmarket.  They talked about the race beforehand.  I think that we still have a little bit in hand, said the rider.  Try to be the last one to challenge, said the trainer. 

It was smooth.  Extensio broke well and he settled nicely, just behind the leaders.  He had to switch on the run to the two-furlong marker, but once he got the gap, Extensio picked up well.  He went between horses and hit the front as he raced past his trainer, just inside the final furlong.  

“Joey is such a good rider,” says Pat.  “He gave him such a good ride.  We were drawn wide, and there’s only a furlong from the start to the first bend, but Joey got there with no fuss.  From there, he was in the catbird seat.”

Once he hit the front, Extensio wasn’t for catching, and that was some feeling.  When you are standing at the furlong pole, away from all the cameras and all the microphones, you can shout as much as you like, you can jump as high as you like, and you can compose yourself a little if you like before the cameras find you again.

“York were so good to us,” says the trainer.  “I’d never been to York.  I rode for Gordon Richards in the north of England for a little while, but I’d never been to York before.  From the moment we arrived though, they couldn’t have done enough for us.  And the ground that they produced, the covering of grass that they have on the track, it was unreal.”

Pat worked for Liam Browne and he rode for Austin Leahy before he went to England to ride for Gordon Richards, and he rode for John Brassil and for Ian Ferguson when he came back to Ireland before he took out his own trainer’s licence.  Chance Coffey made his debut over hurdles for him at Thurles in 1992.

“I remember Gerry O’Neill saying to be that Chance Coffey would travel well in any race.  This was in the spring of 1994, the entries for all the novice hurdles at Cheltenham were closed at that point.  So we put him in the Pertemps Final and the Coral Cup.”

Chance Coffey finished third behind Time For A Run in the Coral Cup that year.  Then he went back the following year and won the race, and that was fantastic.  Different times too.  He was one of just four Irish-trained winners at the Cheltenham Festival that year.

“This was different to the Coral Cup too,” says Pat thoughtfully.  “Chance Coffey was brilliant, but there was more thought put into this.  This was more professional.  We were coming up with this plan since he won the Ladies’ Derby.”

And what plan is he coming up with now?

“We put him in the Cesarewitch, but I’m not sure that he will go there.  I’m not sure that he truly stays the trip.  I’m thinking more about Royal Ascot next year, plan to go Royal Ascot and work back from there.  Maybe go over hurdles in the meantime.”

Pauses for a second to think about that.

“That’s my instinct.” 

© The Sunday Times, 25th August 2024