Kildare's Ross O'Sullivan, making his mark over the jumps and on the flat

Love it, absolutely love it; I bounce out of the bed every morning, in the yard at 6.45, it's a passion and you have to love it; you won't be good at anything unless you love what you are doing; it doesn't feel like a job although it is a seven-day-a week job but it is a nice way of life; a challenge, tough going; your dealing with different stuff all the time.

The words of trainer Ross O'Sullivan.

We visited Ross at his headquarters in Kill, just outside Naas in Kildare.

Married to former top jockey and TV racing personality who also runs her own business, Katie Walsh, they have two young children so as you can imagine they live one hectic life but one, as Ross points, they love.

Always with a smile on his fact, Ross comes from a racing family, just like Katie.

“My father is from Buttervant in Cork and in the late '50s was an apprentice jockey to Con Collins; he would have rode on the flat as well as over jumps; eventually finished up working with Mick O'Toole in the '70s, back in the golden days with top horses such as Davy Lad, Chinrullah and the like; Martin Brazil and Bobby Ryan were there at the time.

“Myself and my sister were born in the Curragh, just there in Maddenstown; my mother, originally from Maynooth, worked in racing game as well so it was always going to be racing for me.”

Ross went to primary school in the Curragh Camp and to the Patrician Brothers School in Newbridge.

“We didn't have a yard at the time, but there was a man down the road, Charlie Chute, he let us use his yard to hold a pony or a hunter and eventually our first race horse was kept down there.

While he played underage football with Suncroft once he reached 16 the racing took over, although he did manage to play a bit of soccer with Newbridge Town, but it was racing he wanted and that was top priority.

“My first winner at 16 was on a filly, Comedia, that was in 1999; finished my Leaving Cert and went to work for Jessica Harrington, was there for five years; Moscow Flyer was the star those days.

“At the time I was there Jessica had about 80 horses in the yard, 150 or 160 now; great experience, it was alive, loads of good people working there, very exciting; I rode a few Bumper winners, rode Max Joy; overall that was a great experience.”
Ross said he rode until he was around 30 and then moved into the training area; he takes it up from there.

Pre-training
“We always had a horse at home, and then we might break a horse or two, then pre-training and breakers and then a few winners in point-to-points it all started off that way; would have rented originally off Richard Pugh in Kilmeague who had a small yard, then moved on to the Osborne's beside Punchestown, Paddy Osborne and Joe, from there to Michael O'Brien's year that was on the Curragh, eventually then got to build beside Ted and Helen (Walsh) his in-laws in Kill that was in 2017.”
Ross started with around 30 horses and that has now grown to over 60; a gradual progression as he says himself with lots of lessons along the way; “slow progression but in the last few years we have really taken off.

“We were lucky, had a nice filly called Baie Des Iles, Katie won the National Trial in Punchestown and also won the Cunningham Cup; a good mare to have early on; Katie went on to ride her in the Aintree Grand National finished 10th or 11th and won a Grade 2 race in France.”

Training, says Ross, is a passion, “a bit like farming, seven days a week; 365 days a year; we train flat and jumps so no quiet time but it also means you have work for your staff the whole year round; you keep the business going; but it is addictive but we love it, you have to be fully immersed, it takes over, addictive but I wouldn't change it for it for anything; we love it; Katie is very involved as well; a lovely way of life; you meet lots of different people from all walks of life; we have a good mix of owners, from local people all around Ireland, to England and to America; great, very interesting people.”

Ross employs some 15 staff full-time as he says himself, a good mix of locals, five or six; two chaps from Ukraine, a chap from Brazil, a girl from France; it's great; it's good employment to the area; a good young team; everyone gets on together we also have a few jockeys with licences.

Tom Harney from Eadestown, “he's a good time this year riding winners, second last year for us in Cheltenham with Eagle Rain; a good fella; amateur Lee Shanahan only up the road, again riding winners this year.”

Overall a good young team; great atmosphere and that feeds into the horses as well; all get on with one other; you need a team to mix well and you have to have that, they work together and they socialise together and all is positive; happy staff and happy horses and great vibe in the yard, says Ross.

Like most folk from Kildare Punchestown was a place most went as youngsters and Ross was no different.

“As a kid of course I went as a racegoer; then as an amateur jockey, you were hoping to get a few rides there and I did with Jessica (Harrington) and Colin Murphy who I also worked for; the excitement, hoping to ride a horse with a chance.

“I rode a winner of the Banks, the Ladies Cup, Wedger Pardy, for Ted (Walsh) great excitement, one of the highlights of my riding career; was second on him the year before; a great race; you need a horse that loves the banks to win there.

“In our 20s if you were racing during the day, you were going out at night; great craic; then after the riding you were training and hoping you would have a runner in Punchestown but it was always ultra competitive racing, a lot of Grade 1s, you need the right horse but we have been lucky over the years.

Over the banks
“We won over the Banks during covid, Call It Magic, so after riding a winner of the Banks it was great then to go and train the winner over the Banks; but being during covid there was no one there, unfortunately, myself and Katie, but it was lovely, we have a picture up in the office of Call It Magic.”

Ross says Punchestown is a great festival and like the Dublin Festival, or Galway, a winner at Punchestown is like five or six winners anywhere else, people notice; so you are trying to keep a look out all the time for a horse you think might win at those major festivals.

A mention of Willie Mullins and what he has achieved and like most folk in the racing game Ross has nothing but praise for the Carlow trainer.

“Willie has raised the bar, so good, to be honest he is just unbelievable, he has the horses but top, top trainer as he has proved.

“I remember Ted (Walsh) telling the story that Willie, was just getting into the training, driving into his (Ted's) yard with a trailer and a horse in the box, collecting Ruby to bring him to ride in a bumper, so Willie started off driving the box to the races like everyone else and he just built, and built and now into the monster that it is today.”

Ross says “you can't be sitting around saying poor me, you have to look at how them boys got going; Gordon Elliott started with nothing and look at the force he is now and remember if Willie Mullins wasn't around with all his winners today, Gordon Elliott would be looked upon as a genius.”

The racing
As for Punchestown Ross is hopeful of having a few runners, not yet finalised but expecting to have a few, particularly in the handicaps

“My stand-out filly is the one that won the other day, Switch From Diesel, she has been very good; she won a bumper in Naas and won the Listed Mares Bumper recently; two options for her in Punchestown, the Grade 1 Champion Bumper and then a Grade 3 Mares Bumper, so two options; she looks like she has a big engine, very impressive, she's our main hope but we have a few handicaps, Giant Haystacks won at Leopardstown, owned by a syndicate from Clane, a nice horse; and a few more for handicaps as well.”

Punchestown, Ross insists, is brilliant for the county, for Naas and the surrounding area.

“I have a couple of owners in England, they are coming over, they have no runners but they are coming over to stay; come to the Yard in the morning; go to the racing, have the craic; it's a great for the local economy; it has just got bigger and better and they have a great crew working there.

GREAT CREW
“Dick O'Sullivan of course and now Conor O'Neill, Shona (Dreaper), Richie (Galway) and many others; are all there over 20 years or more; a great team; it's the highlight of Kildare and in many respects the highlight of the National Hunt year, and long may it continue.

Of course Ross has not only been making his name with National Hunt horses but he also has runners for the flat; “that keep us busy; no quiet time”.

His love for horses and what he does comes through over and over again, as he explains.

“You have to work each horse out; they are all so different; all with their own personalities; you have to figure each one of them out.

“When a horse arrives first they are exactly like people, you have energetic horses, you have lazy horses; you have happy horses and you have grumpy horses, all different personalities, you try and work what way they are; what way you can train them; the lazy one, just like a footballer, if he is lazy in training you try and get him a bit fitter and if you have a lad that nearly tries too hard all the time you are trying to conserve his energy; it is the exact same thing; we have the round gallop and the straight gallop so we are well set-up.

“I love talking to people who train as runners, or footballers; we were at Aintree last year and I met a chap who is a boxer and I love comparing notes, what do they do every day; how do they train, do they do interval, or short and sharp training; diets, everything is the same, just as humans, keeping the horse healthy, free of colds, keeping diet right, keeping their stomachs right making sure you get everything right.

“I love talking to those people and enquiring what is their day-to-day routine; and thinking would I try this or that on my horses; you have to be challenging yourself all the time.”

There is little doubt that Ross certainly does that.

Hopefully it is onwards and upwards for Ross and Katie; if hard work; if the time put in; if the preparation and all that entails is anything to go on, we can be assured that winners under the name of Ross O'Sullivan will continue to multiply in the season and years ahead.

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