Henry de Bromhead Racing
How it all began
Knockeen, Co. Waterford has been the de Bromhead family stead of training for many years with Henry taking it on from his father Harry’s lead in 2000. The yard is best known for its successes in the national hunt field but is now building up a competitive contingent for the flat upsides its jumping stable stars.
"Dad was an original thinker, a bit unorthodox but he was successful at what he did and it enabled him to get the yard up and running. He had some great days".
Although learning his craft at home, Henry also spent time with Robert and Sally Alner, Sir Mark Prescott and the world renowned Coolmore Stud.
I went on to work as assistant to Sir Mark in Newmarket for two years. The first year he pretty much knocks the spots off you, the second year he moulds you into a trainer. He's a fascinating man and I've never met someone so willing to teach you, he'd talk you through everything.
Following Newmarket I went to Coolmore. It was a phenomenal job, seeing the breeding/business side of the operation, but I just had this thing in me that I wanted to train horses."
Henry returned to Waterford and took over the licence from his father on the first day of the new millennium and sent out a winner with his first runner that day in Tramore.
In the years that followed, Henry worked hard to build his reputation at Knockeen into one of Ireland’s foremost training establishments. His graft was rewarded with his first Grade One winner in 2008 with the since infamous Sizing Europe winning the AIG Irish Champion Hurdle. "Europe" would go on to cement his place in National Hunt folklore with an incredible further seven Grade One's. In all Sizing Europe won 22 of his 45 races, placing on a further 13 occasions and earning over €1.8 million in prize-money, a clear testament to Henry's ability to source, train and place horses at the optimum level.
“He really was the horse of a lifetime and he had a great impact on showcasing our business, and he helped to raise our profile.”"
Henry is the only trainer to have won the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in the same year, a feat he achieved in 2021. Just weeks later, he saddled the first two horses home in the Aintree Grand National.
Henry won all four races in the space of four weeks. He set his Cheltenham record when taking the Champion Hurdle with the Rachael Blackmore-ridden Honeysuckle, the Champion Chase with Put The Kettle On, which was ridden by Aidan Coleman and the Gold Cup with the Jack Kennedy-ridden Minella Indo. He also took the runner-up spot in the Gold Cup with A Plus Tard which was ridden by Blackmore.
Just three weeks after his ground-breaking Cheltenham Festival success, Henry won the Aintree Grand National with the Rachael Blackmore-ridden Minella Times. For good measure, he also saddled the runner-up in the race, Balko Des Flos (Aidan Coleman). No trainer had sent out a 1-2 in the race since 1908 and de Bromhead is only the second to achieve the feat.
Remarkably, Henry won both the Champion Hurdle (Honeysuckle) and the Gold Cup (A Plus Tard) again in 2022. Both horses were ridden by Rachael Blackmore and de Bromhead became the first trainer to complete back-to-back Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup doubles since Vincent O’Brien, who did it with Hatton’s Grace and Cottage Rake in 1949 and 1950.
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"We've had a great few years and I'm delighted with where we're at. You are always tweaking things and you always need to improve, but we have a great team of staff here and the support of some brilliant owners, so you'd like to think we can keep competing”.