Fergie Sutherland
Eton and Sandhurst-educated Scot who lost a leg in a landmine explosion when serving in the British Army in Korea.
Returned to Britain where he became a successful trainer on the flat at Newmarket before moving to West Cork. A small string of horses was embellished when Lisselan farms sent him Imperial Call but despite his success, Sutherland believes in quality rather than quantity.
"Fergie sees himself as more a horseman than a trainer. He's very good at getting a horse ready for the big day and he has coped with the pressure of training Imperial Call very well. More than anything, he believes in getting his horses jumping and Imperial Call is the proof of that," says trainer and point-topoint champion jockey Enda Bolger.
Michael Hourigan
Former apprentice jockey to Charlie Weld who first combined training with running a pub, he waited a long time for his first winner.
Has made up for it since and is consistently in the top ten of the trainers list. A shrewd man who has got successful results from operating in the lower end of the buying market, Hourigan is another with deep roots in the point-to-point field. "He is a great trainer to have one right on the day and Dorans Pride will be 110 per cent. The horse is always immaculately turned out and so relaxed which is due to the training he gets. Michael is a great man to school his horses and Dorans Pride won first time out as a four year old in a point to point," says Bolger.
The Jockeys
Conor O'Dwyer
A Wexford-born product of RACE, O'Dwyer tasted big race success in the Ladbroke Hurdle with Redundant Pal.
Seemed set to miss out on the heights, however, until his association with the Christy Roche stable sparked some big winners in 1995. O'Dwyer, one of the most popular and amiable characters on the scene, has capitalised on his opportunities since then and after winning the 1996 Hennessy on Imperial Call has retained the ride ever since.
"Conor is a great chase jockey, far superior over fences than over hurdles. Horses just jump for him and he has the most important thing of all, loads of guts. Big race pressure doesn't seem to bother him now and he has really matured in the last year. Without doubt he is now riding at his best," says Bolger.
Richard Dunwoody
Twice winner of the Grand National, is acknowledged as the outstanding jockey of his generation and one of the best ever.
Also a winner of the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, Dunwoody had to wait for the first of his three British championships until Peter Scudamore retired and then had to fight with an unprecedented intensity to hold on to it. So intense was the effort of remaining champion that Dunwoody briefly contemplated retirement.
"We are lucky to be around and able to see him. He's the bees knees, the best I've seen. There has been no sign of a slide because he has such a great appetite for the game and he and Dorans Pride were poetry in motion before that Naas run. He just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, really gifted. If he was 2st lighter, he would be where Frankie Dettori now is," says Bolger.
