Paul Deegan has only been training since mid-2006, but he is widely considered to be one of the most promising trainers on the Irish racing scene and having made a very strong start to the 2010 season, he looks sure to go from strength to strength in the seasons ahead.
Principal Jockeys: Willie Supple, Kieran O’Neill
Notable Wins:
- Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes (Lady Springbank 2010)
- Irish Lincolnshire (Big Robert 2010)
- C.L. Weld Park Stakes (Lady Springbank 2009)
An Education
Before taking out his own license, he spent six years as assistant to top trainer Mick Channon in the UK, in addition to spending time with Jessica Harrington and Victor Bowens in Ireland, as well as gaining experience in America. Such a thorough education was always going to stand him in good stead and has already yielded dividends in terms of positive early results for the yard’s representatives as well as the class of owner he has already attracted.
Early Successes
Deegan saddled his first runner on July 1st 2006, and while Dream Eile failed to beat a single rival home in a maiden at the Curragh on that occasion, but it didn’t take long for his fortunes to take an upturn. That same horse finished in the frame at Wolverhampton later that month and the Deegan-trained Ghostmilk found just one too good at Sligo the following month. While that last-named result was the closest Deegan came to a winner in his first season, the seeds were planted for a successful first full season as a trainer in 2007.
He got off the mark as a trainer on June 17th 2007, saddling Fereeji to win a maiden at Cork under Eddie Ahern. The months that followed that win were notable for a frustrating amount of placed efforts from Deegan’s horses, but he found his way back into the winner’s enclosure on September 21st when saddling Ghostmilk to win a handicap at Listowel. He wrapped up his 2007 campaign with a win in nursery at Dundalk with Croi Mo Ri, leaving him with a total of three winners, six seconds and three thirds from just 15 individual runners, which was a more than satisfactory seasonal haul. However, 2008 would make the year that came before it look positively parched compared to the glorious oasis that lay ahead for the yard.
An Upward Curve
It took no time at all for Deegan to get off the mark in 2008, saddling High Court Drama to win a maiden at Dundalk on March 7th. Indeed, Dundalk would prove to be a happy hunting ground of some note for Deegan in the weeks and months that followed. Just a week later, he saddled Le Citadel to win a handicap at the same track before Croi Mo Ri readily doubled his tally when winning a handicap at Cork on March 24th. Such a burst of winners from a rookie trainer didn’t go unnoticed and Deegan was soon being mentioned as very much a trainer to follow.
The momentum continued to build for him back at Dundalk with High Court Drama and Le Citadel winning a race apiece on consecutive days at the Co. Louth track in mid-April before Fereeji won a handicap there in early-May. A fortnight later, Deegan gained a landmark first juvenile winner when saddling Daffodil Walk to win a maiden at where else but Dundalk. Back on the turf, Ghostmilk got off the mark for the year when winning a handicap at Naas in early-June and later that month at the same track, Le Citadel won another handicap. The very next day, having already been placed in listed races at the Curragh and Epsom in the months since his last win, Croi Mo Ri returned to winning ways in a conditions race at Fairyhouse. July saw Deegan continue his good run of form with Ghostmilk gaining another win in a handicap, this time at Roscommon, and Le Citadel gaining his fourth success of the season at the Curragh. While those would prove to be his final wins of the season, the campaign represented a step very much in the right direction and 2009 would see him once continue his progression up the Irish training ranks.
A Breakout Year
2009 will be remembered by Deegan as his breakout year and that proved to be the case for a number of factors, most notably that his promising run of results in the preceding seasons had caught the attention of two significant owners, Jaber Abdullah and Mark Gittins, with both of them placing a large number of horses with Deegan at the beginning of the season. Those new recruits helped raise the standard of Deegan’s string and he was rewarded with a first win at Group level with the Mark Gittins-owned Lady Springbank winning the C.L. Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh in September on her very first start for Deegan. The Jaber Abdullah-owned Dream Deer was also a lucrative performer for the yard, with the two-year-old winning a maiden and a premier nursery, both at Dundalk. Other notable performers during the course of the season were Celtic Soprano (three wins), Curling Bird (two wins), Moonreach (won a maiden and was second in the Birdcatcher Nursery) and Bobbyscot (one win and listed placed). All told, Deegan registered an improved tally of winners and a much-improved total of prize money, planting the seeds for an even better season in 2010.
Big Race Successes
Deegan made an electric start to the 2010 season, winning the Irish Lincolnshire with Big Robert and the Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes with Lady Springbank, both owned by Mark Gittins. He has also unveiled a promising three-year-old in the shape of the Jaber Abdullah-owned Bashir Biyoum Zain, who has both his starts this season. Deegan almost claimed another big race win courtesy of the Mark Gittins-owned Popmurphy in the listed Alleged Stakes at the Curragh in April, with the four-year-old being headed close home by She’s Our Mark.
Deegan has already made a significant impact in the training ranks and with him having as strong a team as ever this season, things can only get better for this fast rising star of the training ranks.Updated May 2010
