Amy Marnane Q&A: 'This Industry Is Like A Big Family – It's Very Special'

There were few more deserving winners at this year's ITBA Awards than Amy Marnane. At just 30 years of age, Marnane has crammed a lot in. From breeding to pinhooking and even consigning horses under her own name, Marnane has accomplished plenty in the industry, which led to her scooping the Next Generation Award. 

Of course, that award was tinged with sadness after the death of Marnane's mother, Theresa, at the age of 61 in December. 

In this week's Q&A, Marnane discusses how the bloodstock industry has served as a tonic in times of sadness, her hopes for Givemethebeatboys and much more.  

BS: In all of his 25 years hosting the awards, Master of Ceremonies Leo Powell said he'd never seen a standing ovation like the one you received at the ITBA Awards last Sunday? That must have been pretty special. 

AM: It was a very emotional night. Sure I just thought there would be a small award and everyone would clap but there was a standing ovation when I went up to the stage and then again when I came back down after I got the award. It was just unbelievable. It meant a lot and it certainly put a lump in my throat. Although I might not show it on the outside, it was very special. For the ITBA to even put my name to paper initially, and then to be picked as the winner, it's just incredible. Obviously the award was tinged with sadness after we lost Mum in December but this industry is like a big family. Whenever anyone is going through something, the whole industry rallies around them. It's very special. 

We've been through some desperately sad times as an industry. Take the death of Pat Smullen or Jack de Bromhead as an example. The sport tends to pull together in hard times and I gather it was no different when Theresa passed away. To that extent, I think we can be immensely proud of our industry. 

Completely. It's an amazing game. We found out that Mum had cancer the morning of the breeze at the Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale. We tried to keep it quiet but people knew that there was something up and that something was wrong. By the time the yearling sales came around, the word was out that Mum was sick. Any consignment we went to visit, you wouldn't be met with a, 'hello, how are ya? What would you like to see?' You were met with a, 'how's your Mum and is there anything we can do?' Mum passed away during the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls. It's the biggest funeral I have ever seen but, if that sale hadn't been on, there would have been even more people there. The phones were hopping. We got through Christmas and headed off to Australia for a holiday. Even at the Goffs February Sale just gone, people have still been amazing. Frances Smullen, in particular, has been very good to us. Obviously she has been through everything with Pat and was there to offer us a helping hand. I must say that, in the sales ring or on the track, everyone in the industry is ready for a dog fight but, when you go through something like this, you couldn't ask for better people to rally around you. The industry has shown this time and time again and I'm hugely proud to be a part of it. 

Your life has been a soundtrack of horses for as long as you can remember. I can only imagine that, for all of the big days and success that you have enjoyed, the horses and working closely with them were just as important to you when you were going through such difficult times. 

Absolutely. Going out to the yard every morning and keeping yourself busy was important. Con is a bit like a child, you need to keep him busy all the time, but even he will tell you the very same–it was getting up every morning and getting into the yard to watch the horses canter or to simply just be around them, that proved to be a major therapy for us and helped us to take our minds off everything else that was going on. They're incredible animals and the team of people we have working with us are equally as important. I couldn't thank them enough for what they have done for us. They would literally stand on their heads for you. They look after us just as much as they look after the horses. Particularly Mike O'Brien, Mr Ribchester himself, he has been an absolutely saint. He manages everything at home and without him we'd be lost. 

You've gathered up a lot of experience in the industry in your 30 years. Is there a certain path you'd like to go down or are you happy to continue as you are with your finger in so many pies?

I think it's important not to put all of your eggs in one basket. Some years the breeze-up horses can be very lucrative and the next year it might be the foals that you bred or the yearlings that you pinhooked that do well. Once you have your finger in every pie, something is bound to go right every year. That has to happen to keep the whole thing afloat. If the truth be known, we're probably completely addicted. If there's any Flat sale on, we'll be there. Trading horses is our business.

I suppose you're getting sick talking about Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) but he provided you all with plenty to smile about last year and the best may yet be to come in 2024.

I'll never get sick of talking about that horse. He has been a revelation. The Brickley brothers, who sold him to us, have been unbelievable and have tracked his journey the whole way through. The horse was bred by Mrs Rogers at Airlie Stud and you just can't beat those families. Givemethebeatboys got us through last year. To go and make that kind of money at the Goffs London Sale, to win the Marble Hill and to run such a good race in the Coventry Stakes, he's just been phenomenal for us. He's done very well over the winter-he's grown and filled out. Hopefully this time next year we'll be sending mares to him.

The Commonwealth Cup would presumably be the big aim for him this year?

Look, Royal Ascot is what it's all about for us. We finished second in the Commonwealth Cup with Sands Of Mali (Fr) so we'd love to go and win it. The King's Stand Stakes is also an option and, to be honest, it would just be a dream to win any of the big sprint races with him. The Sands family own the majority share in Givemethebeatboys and they have been so good to us. They are really, nice genuine people and I just hope the horse can go on for them this year and that we have a very exciting horse to look forward to together this summer. 

What was the result that got the whole thing off the ground for you?

I had just finished my honours degree in Equine Science when I went over to America in 2015. I had been buying a few foals here and there in Ireland and, before I went to America, Con told me that if I saw a nice foal in America, to go and get it bought. I saw this Orb foal–it was his first crop-and I bought him for $13,000. I gave him to Gerry Dilger, who has been so good to me, to prep him for the year. Gerry rang me and told me that the horse was getting into Book 2 at Keeneland in September. I was expecting him to tell me that the horse got into Book 4 or something. We chanced it anyway and the horse went on to make $125,000 and he turned out to be a Stakes horse. We were delighted with the price and even more delighted that he turned out to be a good racehorse. His name was Zero Gravity. 

What do you do with $125,000 in your mid-20s? I know what I'd do!

I reinvested the money. Con told me to go back and buy a couple of breezers and I did. I bought an Uncle Mo colt for $40,000. We brought him to the Craven Breeze-Up Sale and he made 150,000gns. He turned out to be a very good horse called Corrosive and was sold on again at the Tattersalls Horses-In-Training Sale in October 2018 for 450,000gns, so that was another good result. 

To have someone like Con in your corner must be brilliant. I know he said it half tongue in cheek at the awards night on Sunday, but you really couldn't have learned off many better people in the industry, could you?

I'd never say this to him but I'm probably the luckiest person in the world. We get up at seven o'clock in the morning to feed the horses together. I watch them galloping with him, and see all the things that he does with them, which is a lot-there's a treadmill, a swimming pool, they go away to gallop and we've five different gallops. His mind is working overtime. He never dwells on the past and never stops thinking about what he can do next to improve. Whether that's staying up to three in the morning Googling how to produce his own Alfalfa hay in Ireland or looking at the next gadget for the yard, he never stops. He'd always say that you never stop learning in this game and he's a prime example of that. He's a bit of a freak lately. 

It's not just Con that you have struck up a good relationship with. You've enjoyed some good results with his brother and your uncle David through buying a number of yearlings to race in the famous MRC International silks each year. Lady Tilbury (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and Night Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) are two good examples given that both horses made six figures at the horses-in-training sale last year. 

David has been so good to us and the whole family has grown closer in recent times. I buy all of David's yearlings and we've had plenty of luck. We never spend huge money on a horse and we have to try and think outside the box. Lady Tilbury cost us just 18,000gns and was sold to Paddy Twomey for 150,000gns and I hope she's very, very lucky for him. She's a very good filly. Night Moon came from Germany. He's a bit different to the horses that I usually buy but he won impressively for David at Listowel and was sold to Harold Kirk on behalf of Willie Mullins for 100,000gns. He could be an exciting horse going forward over hurdles for them. 

There you go. You grew up watching with the Bansha Bullets but a nice horse is a nice horse no matter what the code and you can clearly spot them, whether they are out-and-out speedsters or middle-distance types. What is it that you look for at the sales?

You know a nice horse when it comes out of the box. The horse literally needs to take one or two steps and it's either a yes or a no. You need an intelligent-looking horse who has a good ear and a good eye. Different people like Mike and Mary Ryan, Niall Brennan, Gerry Dilger, Peter and Ross Doyle and even a lot of vets, they'd forgive a horse for not being perfect in front. I don't think we should start messing with them in terms of putting screws in and things like that. It can cause more trouble than good. I usually find that, if a horse is strong enough behind, he'll keep the weight off his front legs. 

Finally, your family is known for unleashing top-notch two-year-old talent so I can't let you go without nominating one or two for us to keep an eye on this year. 

I wish we had a Pinatubo (Ire) in the yard. We tried and tried to buy one last year but we kept coming up short. I think he is in for a big year. We have a couple by Sands Of Mali and they are very nice. They have super temperaments and have huge hind quarters. His progeny remind me a lot of him because they have such good attitudes. We have 24 to breeze this year. There are some very special horses in there-four Blue Points, four Havana Greys, a very talented Starspangledbanner (Aus) out of a sister to The Tin Man (GB) and a half-brother to Sands Of Mali himself who goes really well. There's a lot of quality in there.