Ken Condon has held a license to train for almost nine years and in that time he has established himself as a versatile and skilled handler that places his horses well. He has had a number of smart performers through his hands and is currently enjoying his best-ever season. However, it hasn’t been a straightforward rise up the ranks to where he is now, as Condon has had to overcome his share of adversity to get to the position he is currently in.
Principal Jockey: Declan McDonogh
Notable Wins:
- Rockingham Handicap (Bay Knight 2010)
- Round Tower Stakes (Norman Invader 2007)
- Danehill Dancer Tipperary Stakes (Porto Marmay 2007)
Early Days
Condon’s racing education was split between both the breeding and racing industries. Initially, he spent a lot of time in America, most notably working for the world-renowned Lanes End Farm in Kentucky. The more racing-relevant phase of Condon’s racing education was five years with the legendary John Oxx, the majority of that time being spent looking after his two-year-old barn. During his time with Oxx, Condon would spend the winters in America, picking up additional experience with the likes of Todd Pletcher and Neil Howard. Having finished his time with Oxx, Condon went about acquiring his own training licence and embarked on his own training career.
A Strong Beginning
Ken saddled his first runner as a licensed trainer on March 30th 2002 when sending out Glebe to contest an 8f maiden at Cork. He only had to wait until the following September to first gain entry to the winner’s enclosure, but it was a shared victory as his Musical World dead-heated with Foxhollow Lady in a 5f handicap at Down Royal. However, there was nothing shared about the clear-cut win of the Condon-trained Battish in a 12f handicap at Punchestown the following October and two days later Musical World gained a deserved outright success when prevailing at Cork. That win wrapped up a fine first season for Condon and one would have presumed his stock would have continued to rise, but unfortunately he had a poor 2003, failing to saddle a winner the whole year, despite hitting the crossbar on a number of occasions.
National Hunt Success
2004 saw him regain the form he had shown in his first season as a trainer, with him having winners across both codes. Domnul Admiral gave Ken his first win in the National Hunt sphere when winning a maiden hurdle at Tralee in early-June and that horse went on to add a further two victories in novice hurdles to his tally the following September. He reached a notable first when saddling his first ever winning debutante when sending out Grand Baie to win a bumper at Tramore at the first time of asking in mid-August. He had to wait until October before sending out his first winner of the Flat season with Toricella winning an 8f handicap at Cork and that filly followed up with another win just nine days later.
Continued Success
2005 proved to be a break-out year for Condon, as he saddled by far his highest yearly total of winners. One of his star performers that year was Fuerta Ventura who won three handicaps in quick succession in the early part of the season. Another useful performer was Wilman, who won a juvenile maiden at Tipperary in September before finishing fourth in a Listed race at the same venue the following month. During the summer months, Cellarmaster proved a good servant over hurdles, winning a maiden and a handicap. Battledress also boosted his tally with two wins in juvenile hurdles in August.
2006 was another successful season in terms of number of winners trained for Condon. On the Flat, Porto Calero and Courtwood both paid their way by winning two races each, while Patrickswell, Violet Wings and Weekend Escape all did their part by winning maidens. In the National Hunt sphere, Share Option won a maiden hurdle and the aforementioned Battledress added a beginner’s chase to his tally on what would prove to be his final start. However, that year Condon began to concentrate on Flat horses more so than National Hunt horses, and the number of members of the latter sphere began to shrink significantly. Indeed the aforementioned success of Battledess in that beginner’s chase has proved to be Condon’s most recent winner over jumps.
A Break-Out Horse
For all that Condon was making an impact with the number of winners he was saddling, for a young trainer to really get noticed, he needs a star performer, and in 2007, Condon got his break-out horse in the shape of Norman Invader. A $190,000 yearling, the son of War Chant made an immediate impression on his racecourse debut in May, finishing second to the subsequent dual-Group 1 winning Saoirse Abu. A narrow defeat at the hands of Bruges was following by a creditable third of 4 to New Approach in the Group 3 Tyros Stakes and a slightly disappointing fourth of 6 to Lisvale in the Listed Ad Valorem Stakes at Tipperary. However, Condon’s decision to drop his stable star back to 6f proved significant and it resulted in a memorable victory in the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh. It was much the biggest success of Condon’s career and resulted in no end of positive publicity for the yard. The colt wrapped up his productive season by finishing second in a Group 2 at Maisons-Laffitte in France before being sold to race in Hong Kong.
Other notable performers for the Condon yard in 2007 were Porto Marmay, who won a maiden at Cork in April as well as a Listed race at Tipperary in July before being sold to race in America and Lilleshall who gained an unexpected but valuable success in the Goffs Autumn Bonus race at Listowel. Others that contributed to the yards best-ever season were Davidii (2 wins) and Khatiman (3 wins).
A Period In The Wilderness And Exploding Back To Form
Despite having had his best-ever season in 2007, 2008 and 2009 showed just how cruel a game training racehorses could be as, with his main owner significantly reducing his racing assets, the regular yearly flow of yearlings into the yard halted and as a result, those seasons would prove to be very quiet for Condon. Indeed, he saddled just three minor winners during this time. Just surviving two such lean years with the country in the midst of a deep recession was an accomplishment in itself, but Condon continued to persever and 2010 saw an influx of Iona Equine horses into his yard, which kick-started a significant change in his fortunes.
Condon didn’t waste any time getting the ball rolling, sending out Little Arrows to win at Leopardstown in March, but it wasn’t until the summer months that Condon really hit his stride. Bold Thady Quill, Table Forty Six, Perino and Third Intention all did their part by winning races, but it was Bay Knight that really stole the show. Having won a claimer at Leopardstown in mid-July, Condon made the bold call to turn him out again just three days later in the ultra-competitive Rockingham Handicap at the Curragh and the four-year-old didn’t disappoint, coming from an impossible position to gain a lucrative win. Condon also saddled Zabaleta to dead-heat on his debut in a juvenile maiden at Fairyhouse and that colt was subsequently sold to race in Hong Kong.
Condon has already saddled a career-best seasonal tally of winners in 2010 and with his horses continuing to acquit themselves very well, it looks likely that he will raise that particular bar even higher before the season is concluded.
Updated August 2010.
