Address: Straffan, Co. Kildare

Principal Jockeys: Tom Ryan, Adrian Joyce

Notable Wins: Munster National Handicap Chase (Treacle 2009), Coral Cup (Ninetieth Minute 2009), Irish Form Book An Uaimh Chase (Glenfinn Captain 2009), Red Mills Chase (Glenfinn Captain 2009), Horse and Jockey Hotel Hurdle (Ninetieth Minute 2008), Clonmel Oil Chase (Glenfinn Captain 2008), PricewaterhouseCoopers Chase (Finger Onthe Pulse 2008), Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase (Finger Onthe Pulse 2008), Paddy Power Handicap Chase (Cane Brake 2006), Troytown Handicap Chase (Cane Brake 2006), Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa Novice Hurdle (Glenfinn Captain 2006), Johnstown Novice Hurdle (Merdeka 2006), Galmoy Hurdle (Emotional Moment 2006 + 2005), Hilly Way Chase (Tumbling Dice 2006), Boyne Hurdle (Emotional Moment 2005 + 2003), King George VI Chase (Kicking King 2005 + 2004), Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup (Kicking King 2004), John Durkan Memorial Chase (Kicking King 2004), National Lottery Agent Champion Chase (Kicking King 2004), Arkle Challenge Cup (Kicking King 2004), Christmas Hurdle (Emotional Moment 2004), Byrne Group Novice Hurdle Punchestown (Kicking King 2003), Go And Go Round Tower Stakes at Curragh (Lady Of Kildare 2000), Dan Moore Memorial Chase (Mr Baxter Basics 2000), Normans Grove Chase (Mr Baxter Basics 2000), Slaney Novice Hurdle (Champagne Native 2000), Fortria Chase (Delphi Lodge 1998), Powers Gold Cup (Delphi Lodge 1998)

60 Seconds With Tom Taaffe:

Q: W hat has been your most memorable day in racing?
A: No doubt about that, Kicking King in the Gold Cup.

Q: Do you get a bigger thrill from training a winner than you used to get from riding a winner?
A: Definitely. When you are training them you are practically married to them and so much work goes into getting them there that, when they win, you get a massive thrill from it.

Q: If you had not become a trainer after you finished riding, what would you have been?
A: Would you believe I seriously considered being an accountant.

Q: Of the big races you have not yet won, which would you most like to win and why?
A: I would love to win any of the big races and if I do win them, I’d be able to tell you why. The Aintree National, the Champion Chase, the Champion Hurdle, all of those races are the reason we train horses and it would be great to win any of them.

Q: What is your horse to follow for the remainder of the season?
A: Ninetieth Minute.

The Early Days

Like so many of Ireland top trainers, Taaffe first shot to public prominence due to his exploits in the saddle. He enjoyed a highly successful career as a jockey and his partnership with trainer Arthur Moore yielded plenty of big-race winners. Considering his substantial height, Tom did well to keep his weight in check throughout his career and while his biggest win as a jockey came on the Kevin Hitchmough-trained Brittany Boy in the 1987 Irish Grand National, his association with Arthur Moore brought him no less than four victories in what is now known as the Pierse Hurdle.

Success In A New Profession

It was only natural that Tom would start training after finishing his riding career and despite a slightly slow start after taking out his license in 1994, he has gradually become one of Ireland’s top National Hunt trainers. One of his first big wins as a trainer was that of Delphi Lodge in the 1998 Power Gold Cup at the Fairyhouse Easter Meeting, while later that year the same horse won the Fortria Chase at Navan. Tom also enjoyed good success with the useful Mr Baxter Basics who was a smart hurdler/chaser and in 2000, Taaffe showed that he could mix it with the best of them on the Flat when saddling the two-year-old filly Lady Of Kildare to win the listed Go And Go Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh. In recent years, Emotional Moment has been a great servant to the stable, winning over €280,000 in win prize money alone and the smart Tumbling Dice has won 7 races, with the pick of them being the Grade 2 Hilly Way Chase at Cork in December 2006. In 2006/7, Cane Brake completed a remarkable handicap double, winning the William Hill Troytown Chase and Paddy Power Chase, the latter being especially meritorious under the welter burden of top weight on heavy ground.

The Kicking King Era

However, despite all of the above successes, without doubt the best horse that Taaffe has trained is Kicking King. A precocious individual, he was forward enough to win the first four-year-old bumper of the season at Leopardstown in January 2002 before going on to prove himself to be a classy novice hurdler in 2002/3, winning at Grade 2 level and finishing second to Back In Front in the Supreme Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. However, chasing was always going to be his game and he duly blossomed into one of the country’s top novice chasers in 2003/4, winning the Grade 1 Arkle Challenge Cup at Leopardstown before finishing second in the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival and the Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse. The following season saw Taaffe’s patience with the son of Old Vic rewarded as once stepped up in trip, he proved himself to be one of the best staying chasers of his generation, winning four times at Grade 1 level, namely the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown, the King George VI at Kempton, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Guinness Gold Cup at the Punchestown Festival. Following such a remarkably successful season, Kicking King was expected to rule the staying chase division for many years, but 2004/5 didn’t go at all to plan as he met with shock defeats on his first two starts of the season before grinding out a narrow win in the King George VI Chase at Kempton. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get a chance to defend his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown that season as soon after Kempton it was announced that Tom Taaffe’s stable star has picked up a career threatening injury. That injury saw him miss out on just over two years of his prime and while he shaped with promise on his return on an emotional day at Gowran Park, he failed to rediscover his spark in four subsequent starts and was retired by his connections in November 2008.

A New Era Of Success

While the loss of Kicking King was obviously a significant blow to the Taaffe yard, while he was recovering from his injury, a number of other talented horses began to emerge from the woodwork, including one that was owned by Kicking King’s owner, Conor Clarkson, called Finger Onthe Pulse. Indeed, just a matter of weeks after the disappointment of Kicking King’s second run back after his injury and the subsequent decision not to send him to Cheltenham, Finger Onthe Pulse played the role of the super-sub by winning the Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase at the greatest of all festivals under Barry Geraghty.

2008/9 produced even greater levels of success for the Taaffe team, with the JP McManus-owned Glenfinn Captain delivering on the promise on his earlier career by racking up a number of valuable wins over fences including the Grade 2 Clonmel Oil Chase, the Grade 2 Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park and the Grade 3 Irish Form Book An Uaimh Chase at Navan. The aforementioned Finger Onthe Pulse also got in on the act, winning the Grade 3 PricewaterhouseCoopers Chase at Limerick. However, perhaps Taaffe’s most notable performer that season was the Dermot Cox-owned Ninetieth Minute, who showed that his narrow defeat of the subsequent Grade 1-winner Solwhit in the listed Horse and Jockey Hotel Hurdle at Thurles was no fluke by grinding out a game win in the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival the following March.

Taaffe has really began to hit his stride in the new season in recent weeks, sending out Treacle to win the Munster National Handicap Chase at Limerick last month to get off the big-race mark for the term. With the vast majority of his better performers likely to emerge between now and Christmas, including Ninetieth Minute making his seasonal reappearance in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan on Sunday, the best is still very much to come for the Co. Kildare-based trainer and he is very much one to keep on the right side of for the remainder of the season.

Updated November 2009.