Noel Meade is a name that is synonymous with success in Irish racing. He has been crowned Champion Trainer in Ireland on no less than eight occasions and, with the help of his 25-strong team of staff, his horses have consistently gained success at the highest level for many years. However, success in the racing game has been hard earned for Noel Meade over a period of over 40 years.
Early DaysMeade began his training career back in 1971 with just one dual purpose horse to his name that he rode out himself. When asked whether he had ambitions of one day being a Champion Trainer when he started out all those years ago, Meade reveals that he had much more modest aims: “Back in those days it was a case of doing it out of a love for the game. It was just me and a friend that owned the horses and the whole thing slowly gathered pace with more and more horses coming into the yard from outside owners. I was quite lucky in the early years in that we got a few decent horses on the Flat that got the show on the road.” Meade is adamant that it was the win of Sweet Mint in the 1978 Cork & Orrery (now known as the Golden Jubilee Stakes) at Royal Ascot that launched him on the national and indeed, international train-ing stage.
He continued to ply his trade with great success under both codes until the early 1990’s when he decided to concentrate primarily on the National Hunt side of the game, thus beginning his relentless rise to the top of the jumping division. He wasted no time in making his presence felt at the highest level with the talented iananmen Square gaining compensation for his defeat in the Cheltenham Champion Bumper in 1992 with a win in the Punchestown Festival equivalent. Unfortunately that particular horse never reached the heights he had promised to over hurdles due to persistent injury problems, but he played his part in further raising the profile of the Meade yard.
It was in the mid-90’s that Meade began his formidable and last-ing partnership with Paul Carberry and the pair gained a notable success with Johnny Setaside in the 1995 renewal of the Drinmore Novice Chase. That horse went on to win in Eriksson Chase under Richard Dunwoody in 1996 only to tragically collapse and die after the race. Some compensation was gained for the Meade yard following that loss when, three weeks later, Cockney Lad caused a shock in the AIG Champion Hurdle under Richard Hughes.
A Tough LossThe JP McManus owned Cardinal Hill was unquestionably one of the most talented horses that Meade has ever had in his care and he got the collective pulses of racing world thumping during his short career. He looked destined for the top having impressively won the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in 1999 only to be struck down by a fatal case of colic later that very year. According
to Noel, this was unquestionably the low point of his training career: “The loss of Cardinal Hill was particularly hard to take. People say that its all part of the game and that is true to an extent, but that particular horse was very close to my heart and his death had a big impact on me. Those were tough times and hopefully we won’t have to endure another loss like it.”
Hitting The HeightsThe new millennium brought further success to the Meade yard, both in numerical terms and big race wins. The Paul Carberry-ridden Harbour Pilot gained impressive wins in the Drinmore Novice Chase and the P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase during the 2001/2 season before going on to finish third in two Cheltenham Gold Cups in later years. It was also during 2002 season that The Bunny Boiler completed a remarkable double when winning the Midlands Grand National and the Irish Grand National in the space of just over a fortnight. Meade’s good fortune during 2002 continued when he completed a big race double at the Punchestown Festival with Scot-tish Memories winning the Champion Novice Hurdle and Strong Run the BMW Champion Chase on the same day.
The 2004/5 season saw the emergence of Harchibald as one of the most talked about National Hunt horses of the last decade. Ultra-smooth wins in the Morgiana Hurdle in Punchestown, the Fighting Fifth Hurdle in Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle in Kempton prompted many bookmakers to install him as favourite for the Champion Hurdle. However, disaster struck just 10 days before the race when he disappointed in a key racecourse gallop, fueling speculation that he would not even run, never mind win at Cheltenham. But run he did and having landed over the last hurdle still on the bridle, he was dramatically out-battled by the immensely tough Hardy Eustace in the closing strides. Both horse and jockey came in for criticism in the press at the time, but the fact that Harchibald never quite recaptured the same level of form after that day at Cheltenham reinforces the notion Carberry’s ride on the day was of the highest class.
The Cheltenham Festival holds a special place in every National Hunt trainer’s heart and Noel Meade is no different. He reached a significant milestone in the year 2000 when Sausalito Bay won the Supreme Novice Hurdle (beating no less than Best Mate), thus giv-ing him a belated first winner at the Festival. However the meeting that has become the focus of the National Hunt season has not always proved to be a happy hunting ground for Meade. He has had numerous near misses and disappointments there over the years, but thankfully the balance he started to be redressed in more recent seasons with Nicanor and Go Native winning Grade 1 novice hurdles at the meeting.
Flat SuccessThe fact that he is primarily a National Hunt trainer has not stopped Noel Meade gaining a number of notable successes on the Flat in recent seasons. It is quite remarkable how often Meade improves a seemingly middle of the road handicapper into a pattern race winner. Sugarhoneybaby is perhaps the best recent example of this having won her first handicap off a mark of 69 only to win three further races with the last of them coming in the listed Knockaire Stakes. Arch Rebel is another that has improved from an 87-rated handicapper into a winner of four listed races on the Flat in recent seasons.
• Ta Vu Stables - Aerial View
LeopardstownRacecourse
• Ernie - inspecting the morning work at Ta Vu
To The FutureWhile Noel Meade has achieved more than most trainers would dare to dream of during his career, a number of high-profile races remain absent from his CV, most notably the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle and the Aintree Grand National. “The Aintree Grand National is a fantastic spectacle and while I would be delighted to win it, I would much rather win a Gold Cup or a Champion Hurdle. Maybe the fact that we have gone close to winning both of those races in recent years has made us all the keener to win them, but they would certainly be at the top of the list.”
Despite having to endure injuries and loss of top horses such as Aran Concerto, Go Native and Pandorama in recent seasons, Meade looks to have his most promising group of young horses for quite a few years and with the likes of Sword Of Destiny, Monksland, Corbally Ghost, Texas Jack, Road To Riches and Ned Buntline to look forward to, he looks sure to remain at the forefront of Irish National Hunt racing for many years to come.
• Harchibald - At Leopardstown (2005)
• Muirhead
• Pandorama wins the Lexus Chase at The Leopardstown Christmas Festival in 2010
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