Sky's the limit for fan of chasing game

Brian O'Connor talks to Ryanair's chief executive on his involvement in National Hunt racing.

It's easy to see why the Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary is so popular among some sections of the media. In the normally staid world of big business, no one delivers a quote quite like him. This, after all, is the man who dismissed Britain's entire air traffic system with a succinct "poxy". But that unpredictability can work both ways.

"This isn't going to be about my 'extensive bloodstock interests' is it?" he asks immediately. "I'm not doing any of that 'I saw the Grand National when I was six and it's all I've ever wanted since' shit. I get a pain in the face reading these people who've been racing for one day and suddenly it's their lifelong passion. We'll talk about the Ryanair Chase, how about that?"

Since the purpose of the interview is precisely to find out why and how O'Leary has turned into a major owner in National Hunt racing - with possession of a genuine star racehorse in War Of Attrition - one is reminded of the hack having dinner with Mao and only being allowed talk to the waiter.

Eventually, though, the tentative and hardly original question of why indeed does he own racehorses is lobbed at him. "Because I'm stupid," he retorts immediately. "The owner is the mug at the bottom of the food chain. As long as you know that, you'll be okay. But you have to know you will lose your money. Which makes me an idiot."

It would be easy to portray O'Leary as one of those owners in the game for the tweedy bling of it all. Rubbing shoulders with the great and the good while struggling to identify their own colours. Or maybe as the business gunslinger totting up the bottom line for tagging the Ryanair brand on to the Cheltenham festival. Except it wouldn't be correct.

If he doesn't know anything about the game, as he repeatedly professes, then whoever's coaching him about War Of Attrition's handicap rating, or the joys of standing in the rain at point to points, or Conor O'Dwyer's riding technique, is on standby for a raise. Except O'Leary won't have to cough up. There's far too much information in his conversation for racing to be some casual fad.

"It's 90 per cent frustration and 10 per cent fun. But then the 10 per cent does vastly out weigh the other side," he admits at one stage. "I like point to points and jump racing. I've no interest in the flat. Usually, my wife and I would be at a point to point or a meeting most weekends. It can be great fun."

However, the dewy-eyed "lovely horsey" approach is not for the man who races under the banner of Gigginstown Stud, the 150-year-old early-Victorian estate house near Mullingar.

There's no doubt he has a genuine liking for the game, but he stresses it would stretch no further than watching on television were it not for his brother. Eddie O'Leary owns Lynn Lodge Stud in Westmeath and has been heavily involved in horses for years. It's a vital connection.

"If Eddie wasn't involved, I wouldn't be," O'Leary admits. "He's the judge. He decides what we buy or don't buy. It's important to have someone like that. Someone you can trust. It's like any walk of life. There are great people in racing and there are messers. Eddie's advice is vital."

Growing up, O'Leary's father always kept a couple of racehorses for the jumps season and most of the family learned to ride. The future boss of Ryanair, however, took an early executive decision. "I fell off a horse at the age of four and I realised it was a stupid activity. My brothers and sisters didn't realise how stupid it was and kept going," he recalls.

However, a meteoric business career that ultimately saw him become chief executive at Ryanair in 1994 and turn the company into one that carries almost 40 million passengers a year did open up opportunities to indulge in the old family interest.

"We started about seven years ago and the first horse was Tuco who David Wachman trained. He won a point to point in Tallow, then the Goffs Land Rover Bumper, a Grade Two hurdle after that, and then he killed himself at Fairyhouse," O'Leary says.

It's a theme he returns to. The 90 per cent frustration part of the deal. Four of the first five horses he owned had to be put down. One of them was Best Mate's brother Inexorable who O'Leary still regards as potentially the best he has owned.

He made it only to the first fence on his chasing debut at Cork and was killed in a fall. The first fence also claimed a very promising youngster at a point to point in Carlow.

"Deaths and injuries are what I hear about most of the time. It's very hard to take. But it's what you have to accept as part and parcel of the game. If you can't deal with them, you shouldn't be in it," he says.

Of course, the horse business being what it is there is never a shortage of possible substitutes on the market. O'Leary's wealth is estimated in some quarters at approximately €500 million. Resources of that kind make him a dream for every bloodstock agent, breeder and bandy-legged shyster in the country.

"We get a lot of calls, but that's where Eddie is so important. I haven't a clue. We're quite disciplined about it and buy only so many a year," he says.

No doubt if it was a business proposition the demand for a long-term plan with various targets to be hit along the way at various times would be vital. Racing, though, demands its own agenda.

O'Leary says he isn't in it for business reasons such as the sponsorship of Thursday's Ryanair Chase. He also makes it quite clear he doesn't need the publicity, and his tone is one of tired resignation when it comes to the subject of enjoying horses carrying his colours. He also scornfully dismisses any idea of long-term plans when it comes to racing. But there is an undeniable air about him of one who protests just slightly too much.

The man will never let on, but if War Of Attrition can deliver a festival success next week, it might just stir the pulse a lot more than many might think. Not that he will ever admit that.

"In many ways I get more of a buzz from a point to point. I was at one recently in Lemonfield and we had a winner and I was just as happy with that as I would be at Cheltenham," he says. "I don't have the same love of Cheltenham as some do. I enjoy it, but it seems to me too many are obsessed with it. We have a lot of young horses who could go this year but won't because it's too early for them."

The one who is going is War Of Attrition, only narrowly beaten by Brave Inca in the Supreme Hurdle two years ago, but a beaten favourite when only seventh in last year's Arkle. This time he has a choice of races, either the Ryanair or the Gold Cup, and a decision on which it will be is not likely to be taken until next week.

"I'm leaning towards the Ryanair. He's only been chasing for two seasons and there's been a slight interruption in his preparation. I think it's the more sensible option. He's rated almost 160 which means he's not at the top of the tree.

"Gold Cup winners have to be nearly 170 and there's no point believing otherwise until they've done it," he says, before praising the input of Mouse Morris and Conor O'Dwyer who has a "gentleman's agreement" to ride O'Leary's horses.

"Conor is very good with young horses and always errs on the side of gentle with them. All of ours are potential chasers and War Of Attrition wouldn't be where he is now if it wasn't for Conor.

"I remember a race at Navan the season before last when he was beaten after two furlongs and Conor just stood up. The horse was sick, but he was looked after. It's different when they are eight or nine and they can take it and you can flail away," O'Leary says. The end result of that kindness will be evident next week when War Of Attrition pitches into the hottest competitive furnace of all. His owner will be there, and if the horse comes out on top it will be interesting to see how stupid and idiotic Michael O'Leary feels.

Either way though, the man should be good for a quote.