'It All Started In The Pub' – Meet The Owners Raising A Glass To Amy Murphy

You've heard of their horses and are familiar with their double blue silks, but who exactly are the owners behind what seems to be a never-ending supply of Amy Murphy-trained winners in France?

Daniel Macauliffe and Anoj Don are similar to the majority of people who have ever got involved in the ownership game in that their initial interest was very small. 

What started out as a good idea in the pub has exploded into the business partners owning their own racing stables in County Mayo, over 20 horses in training across Britain, Ireland and France as well as a small broodmare band and their own stallion. 

But it is farming juvenile races in France that the pair have become most noteworthy for and Hot Darling (Ire) is the latest example in that success story. Bought for just 25,000gns by Rodrigo Goncalves during the Book 3 session at Tattersalls last year, Hot Darling has already repaid that investment with back-to-back wins in France. 

The daughter of Too Darn Hot (GB) followed up her hard-fought debut success at Chantilly with a Listed victory at Vichy, leaving just shy of £40,000 in prize-money in her owners' account. 

However, while Macauliffe and Don are both successful businessmen in their own right, sustaining a string over over 20 horses does not come cheaply and on Monday it was announced that Hot Darling would be offered for sale by Tattersalls on June 12–just in time for Royal Ascot.

Amy Murphy and Lemos de Souza | Tattersalls

Don, a native of Sri Lanka, explained, “It is of course exciting and it is special to be selling a horse with Royal Ascot claims. We have a price in our minds and won't let her go unless she makes that figure. She has achieved black-type already and the sire won two Guineas in the one day [with Fallen Angel and Darnation] so we said why not bring our filly to the market now rather than later. Even since Monday, when Tattersalls announced that she would be for sale, we have received many calls from people who want to book time slots to view Hot Darling, so that's very exciting.”

He added, “We have had plenty of offers for her already but we thought that the best thing to do in order to get her value right was to offer her online with Tattersalls. It is a good time to sell because everybody wants to have a runner at Royal Ascot and she looks like she will go there with a big chance. She will be sold with an entry in a Group 3 race on June 16 in France as well and that could also be a nice option for her.”

Macauliffe and Don are the proud owners of Killala House Stables in County Mayo. Diehard fans of the all-weather action at Dundalk will remember the purple patch that the pair enjoyed in 2017/18 with trainer Fergal Birrane, who operates from that training establishment, courtesy of stalwarts like California Lad (GB) (Aussie Rules), Rock On Dandy (Fr) (Rajsaman {Fr}) and more.

Targeting races in France is something of a more recent development, with Manhattan Jungle (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) being the filly that forged the pair's relationship with Murphy and her husband Lemos de Souza.

Don explained, “The early-season races in France are a bit weaker than they are in Britain and Ireland. Most of the French-bred horses are best over seven furlongs or maybe a mile. We can't go over to France with a mile-and-a-half horse, but we can go over there with a fast two-year-old, and thankfully we have had some success over the past three or four years doing this. 

“The first one was Manhattan Jungle–she won her first three starts in France and was second in a Group 3 out there. This year we have had three separate winners in France, so it's so far so good.”

He added, “We only have a small budget to buy these horses and we work as a team. If you work as a team, you will have more success. Matt Coleman does a lot of our work and he introduced us to Amy. Nirodha (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) was the first horse we had with her. She won four races for us and we still have her. We also have horses with Ivan Furtado, Charlie Fellowes and Kevin Philippart de Foy in Britain while in France we have horses with Gavin Hernon and Francois Monfort.”

Macauliffe is an entrepreneur by day. Along with Don, he is heavily involved in property, with the two men the driving forces behind Danoj Developments. 

Recalling how the business partners first got the bug, he said, “It was in the pub! One of our friends in Lambourn said 'why not come in on a horse' but unfortunately he turned out to be no good. But it just started from there. Then we bought California Lad (GB) (Aussie Rules) with Harry Dunlop and he went on to win three or four races with Fergal Birrane in Ireland. We have some nice two-year-olds this year; Convo (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) won first time out and was second in a Listed race in France, Rock Hunter (GB) (Expert Eye {GB}) also won first time out and has placed in his last two starts and then Hot Darling as well.”

He added, “Pride Of America (Fr) (American Post {GB}), who was in training with Harry Dunlop before going to Amy Murphy, gave us our first big win at York a couple of years ago. We've also been lucky enough to own Fighting Irish (Ire), who won a Group 2 in France, and is now based out there [at Haras d'Annebault] as a stallion. We supported him with about eight mares and now some of his progeny is starting to come through.”

But just like in business, there is always a bottom line. While there is huge fun to be enjoyed in the ownership ranks and in breeding, it's the same principals that has sustained Macauliffe and Don in business that has helped them reach the winner's enclosure. 

“The wheel is always turning,” Don said. “For example, we purchased a lovely New Bay (GB) colt at Arqana and he cost a lot of money [€285,000]. We also bought an Arizona (Ire) colt at Tattersalls Ireland [€60,000] as well. In order to pay the bills, we have to sell some of the horses and make sure that some money comes in.”

With that in mind, connections are already planning to send Rock Hunter, who, like Hot Darling, has done extremely well in France this year, to the Goffs London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot. It begs the question; with all of these classy two-year-olds off to the sales, might Macauliffe and Don end up turning a profit this year?

“I don't know about that,” Don laughed. “As I said, we need the money to pay the bills. But I like going to the sales and buying and selling the horses. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But we have had some great luck with Lemos and Amy and hopefully we get a good payday together soon.”