Two years after cheering Al Boum Photo home from her sofa for his second Cheltenham Gold Cup victory, Louise Duffy found herself aboard him as her own, writes Elise Hamersley.

Following an illustrious six-year career with Willie Mullins and Joe and Marie Donnelly, Al Boum Photo, or ‘Boum’ as he’s known in the stable has now been re-training as an eventer under Duffy for the last ten months.

The pairing’s work has already proved fruitful as the gelding came fourth out of 25 on his showing debut last week in the Tattersalls Ireland and Treo Eile Novice Racehorse to Riding Horse Class, something Duffy was ecstatic with.

She said: “I couldn’t believe I was sitting on his back at first, he definitely falls into the legend category.

“I read the text [offering him to me] twice, turned off my phone and read it again just to make sure I hadn’t imagined it.

“To finish fourth was brilliant -  I was delighted with him; it was a huge class.

“He got a bit hot in the first lap – in a group of horses I suppose he was expecting to go a bit faster than a trot!”

This is not Duffy’s first rodeo with ex-racehorses, the 37-year-old chemical consultant has taken on others from Mullins fame, like Arvika Ligeonniere after his retirement in 2014.

With experience in the past, she knows transforming an ex-racer into a collected school master poses distinct challenges - even with his incredible genes.

“Even from the basics like different weight on their backs, a lot of the saddles we use for normal riding are heavier and having legs around their side can be strange," Duffy explained.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Horse Racing Ireland (@hriracing)

“It took a bit of time for Boum to find his feet, get confidence in himself, trust me and trust that he could do what I was asking him to.

“Boum has an athlete’s brain and a willingness to work.

"What made him a good racehorse was his huge engine – he has a big canter and big powerful stride. But for me, having such an engine is a huge asset so I didn’t want to take that away from him.

“He can use that power; we’re just learning to channel it in a different way. Instead of going fast in a straight line, its learning to use it in a circle, bend or curve.”

Duffy has seen a significant change in the re-training sphere since Treo Eile, which promotes the retraining of racehorses in Ireland, was established in 2020.

“Showing has been big for the last decade but now the opportunities for racehorses have widened, and the community is growing. You see a lot more of them out now eventing, show jumping, dressage, even polo," continued Duffy.

“It has highlighted that racing does care, the trainers do care, the people involved in racing care and everybody is getting behind the movement to promote that they can do stuff after racing. Racing is not their life and then they’re forgotten about.

“Even with Jackie Mullins, she still loves to get photos of Arvika and be kept up to date all these years later and it’s the same with Boum.”

Despite a strong result in his first showing competition, Duffy sees Boum’s future in more active disciplines.

“Ultimately, he’ll need to go more down the performance line or eventing because his brain needs to be more stimulated - I’ve had him cross country schooling and he really surprised me," she said.

“If he carries on this way hopefully he’ll be out eventing next year.”