A Promising Start for MAGELLAN CLOUD
What an encouraging start in the Opulence Thoroughbreds silks it was by Magellan Cloud when finishing fourth, right in the mix after an interrupted passage, in what looked like a useful seven-furlong maiden on the first day of the Ayr Gold Cup meeting.
In the process, the breeze-up purchase only added to the reputation of his first-season stallion-dad Mohaather.
Although 20-1, the performance will have come as little surprise to the Opulence owners who braved a gale-force morning to visit John and Sean Quinn’s historic Highfield HQ on the edge of the Malton racing centre where the colt, owned in partnership with Ross Harman, a stalwart owner at the stables, is one of 100 horses that make-up the operation.
Because although the Quinns are renowned as feet-on-the-ground merchants, disinclined to see their Catterick geese as York or Ascot swans, both were noticeably upbeat about the future for Magellan Cloud, especially next year when he will have matured further.
And they know all about assessing horses with the future in mind, none more so than Highfield Princess which graced the yard until her untimely and shattering death following an accident in her box in March.
The superstar mare, bred by her owner John Fairley – also the owner of Highfield – seemed to give few hints of swan-like events to come when making a low-key start, down the field, in a low-key maiden at Redcar – certainly nothing akin to finishing a close fourth at Ayr on a festival day.
To be fair, things did gradually look-up as John and his son Sean, then the assistant trainer, believed they would, and run number five resulted in success, as it happens, also at Ayr, also over seven furlongs and also ridden by Jason Hart, but at a slightly later fixture.
That day the Princess raced off a handicap mark of 58, but by the time she confirmed herself as flat racing royalty in 2022, when completing the Prix Maurice de Gheest, Deauville–Nunthorpe Stakes, York–Flying Five, The Curragh treble in a whirlwind five weeks, her rating had more than doubled to a pretty amazing 120.
The story of the climb to such dizzying heights as masterminded by Team Quinn – fourteen wins, £1.8m-plus in prizemoney and international recognition – gives hope to everyone that dreams do sometimes come true.
John Quinn has probably done a fair bit of dreaming himself.
As a jump jockey, based in his native Ireland before switching to Malton to work for the masterful, dual-purpose trainer Jimmy Fitzgerald, JJ Quinn, as he appeared on the racecard, was one of those lesser-known riders who represent the backbone of the weighing-room against, at the time, higher-profile names like Peter Scudamore and Richard Dunwoody in the south and Mark Dwyer and Chris Grant on the northern circuit.
Quinn says that he rode “around” 200 winners, though he might just be doing himself down slightly; whatever, the total includes a particular association with talented hurdler State Jester, trained by Bill Elsey, at Highfield – his familiarity with the place really is long-term.
Retiring from the saddle in 1993 with a reputation for having learnt the time of day, and more, from Fitzgerald and others, John and wife Sue were training soon afterwards, at first mainly over jumps before concentrating on the flat.
What’s extra striking about the pattern of Quinn’s story is how similar it is to those of one-time national hunt jockeys like Karl Burke, Roger Varian, David O’Meara, Clive Cox, Kevin Ryan, Richard Fahey and in Ireland Ger Lyons – plus more – all of whose achievements as flat trainers have far outstripped their roots.
It’s a mystery quite why, but one reasonable conclusion is that as they didn’t have as many mounts as others they spent longer ‘at home’ around the horses, keeping their eyes wide-open, clearly.
Which was great for Highfield Princess and – hopefully – will be great for Magellan Cloud too. Good luck to all.