By Brian Sheerin
Owner Tony O'Gorman is adamant that Britannia Stakes-bound Bobby McGee (Mayson) is a Group horse in the making and says only “strong money” would see him part with the Noel Meade-trained improver at the Goffs London Sale next week.
Bobby McGee has won his last three starts for Meade, most recently when accounting for a field of highly-touted runners over a mile on Royal Ascot Trials Day at Naas.
That performance suggested that there can be even more to come for the now 93-rated Bobby McGee and O'Gorman says that he is more than happy to roll the dice in the Britannia Stakes himself with the gelding if his reserve is not met in the London Sale on Monday.
He said, “I really don't want to sell him but I am afraid it's looking likely that he'll go because Goffs tell me he's hot. There are a lot of buyers interested in him. We'll only let him go if we get what we think he's worth. He'll have to make strong money for us to sell him. There's a lot of interest in him so we'll see how it goes.”
O'Gorman added, “I've been in horses all my life but, to be honest, I've no other interests outside of the game. You know the old saying, 'if somebody doesn't believe in something, they'll believe anything.' I am nearly retired now. I dealt in heavy machinery all of my life and I've had horses for years. I had a good few horses with Ferdy Murphy, God rest his soul. There's nothing new about me! We have Check This Out with Noel as well – he won two races last year – but Bobby McGee is probably the best horse I've ever had.”
O'Gorman is unique in that he selects a lot of his own horses. It was at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale that he first spotted the potential in Bobby McGee and went to 42,000gns to secure his talents. That has proved to be 42,000gns well spent.
“I saw him the day before the Somerville Sale and loved him,” O'Gorman recalled. “I couldn't make it to the sale myself on the day so I rang Paul Murphy, who is Ferdy's son, and I just said, 'get this horse bought'. We thought he was cheap – we thought we'd have to give more for him because he was a grand yearling. And the second he arrived back in Noel's, he loved him.”
On how he first struck up a relationship with Meade, he added, “It can be difficult to find a trainer that you get on with but I can remember I was looking for a horse and Noel had Mick Collins entered. I rang Paul and told him to ring Noel to see if the horse was for sale. We bought him over the phone and the horse went to Cork, where he had a bit of a mishap. Noel rang me afterwards to tell me that I didn't need to feel obliged to take him. It was only a verbal deal at the time, you see. I said, 'no, I bought the horse.' Anyway, we gave the horse a bit of time off and he came back and won two races.”
While O'Gorman does not describe himself as a trading owner, he will approach the Goffs London Sale with his tail up after selling fellow Meade-trained jumpers Mick Collins and Messerschmitt for a combined £170,000 at the recent spring sale that was held by the same sales company in Doncaster last month.
“We're just tipping along,” O'Gorman says. “Listen, it's a tough game but they made money and I got out alive.”
On his expectations for Bobby McGee selling at the London Sale, O'Gorman concluded, “He'll have to make proper money to go. I enjoy having him with Noel and, listen, if he makes plenty of money, he'll be sold. If not, we'll roll the dice at Ascot ourselves. If we're drawn 20 or higher in the Britannia, I'd be very, very confident. Colin Keane will ride. That's 100 per cent. This is a Group horse. Noel said that to me when he was a two-year-old. Do we fancy him for the Britannia? We wouldn't be going over to Royal Ascot for the day out, that's for sure. I'd be very confident.”
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