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Pat Downey is looking forward to shining a light on his small family-run yard as a successful trainer open morning series draws to a close this weekend, writes Elise Hamersley. 

The set-up began life as a breeding yard, where the trainer’s father produced successful Grade 1 winners such as 1985 Galway Plate victor Chow Mein, before Downey entered the world of training 12 years ago.

There have been plenty of success stories since and this Sunday, between 11am and 1pm, the Co Meath public have the chance to go behind the scenes and see what makes the yard tick.

Downey said: “There will be one lot of horses on the gallop, a display of the other horses and a chat about each one.  

“We’ll have jockey Sean Flanagan and Robert Whearty, an exciting new apprentice, with us. 

“We’ve got three of our own lads here as well, Alix Balfe, Paddy O’Brien, who has had a good few winners this year, and Lee Grifferty. 

“They’ll be showing people how they learn to improve their riding skills and people will be able to get up on it themselves and try it.”

Located in County Meath’s picturesque Boyne Valley, Downey embraces his yard’s smaller size and celebrates their hands-on approach with horses and owners.

He said: “We’re family owned and family run. We think we’re more unique and more involved with our owners.  

“They’re welcome in any day and we make them feel like they own a share of every horse. 

“We’re very individualised with each horse and each horse gets the same care as the others.  

“We have the same lads riding every day, so the feedback is shared between us all - we’re on top of each horse.  

“That’s hugely important, I say to the lads if a horse doesn’t feel like he did yesterday – why?” 

Downey’s efforts have been rewarded in the past year as the yard has more than doubled its numbers, going from six to 13 horses.

And several of the stable’s stars will be on show this weekend as they gear up for busy winters.

“I think our results from the last 14 months show for themselves,” he added. “We’ve had hurdle winners, a flat winner and horses generally running well for us.

“Little Big Rocky will be there – he was fourth in the Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle at Listowel, he’s the most exciting horse we have. He’s won two of his last three and then was fourth in the big one. 

“We’ve a horse called Penny Jar, who was third on Saturday in Killarney and has won three of his last six races.

“We also have a very nice filly coming through called Letters to Juliet and we’re very excited about her, she’s run some lovely races in her maiden.

“We didn’t have that many runners [this summer] as we’ve been building up on numbers, but Penny Jar will be targeted at the Navan Racing Festival in November and Little Big Rocky will be targeted at Leopardstown at Christmas.”