Behind the scenes in Ireland: Gallops man goes extra distance for his trainers.

Byline: Alan Sweetman

Barry Langan, manager of The Curragh training grounds, will have been on the gallops at 6.30am today, as he is six days a week, writes Michael Clower.

"The first horses appear at 7.15am," he says. "Declan Gillespie, John Muldoon and Michael Grassick are invariably among the earliest and at 8am the masses appear. One notable change is John Oxx. He used to be an 8am man but now is one of the early team."

Langan finishes at 4.30pm but, as his mobile is never switched off, nor is he.

"I can get calls up to 10pm from trainers asking what the ground is like on the various gallops and what is going to be available in the morning.

"I will ask if it's for young horses or older horses, whether the trainer wants a trip or a shorter distance, and I recommend the gallop that is going to suit."

Langan has had to learn not just to please his customers, but also how their minds work. "I can have ten of them on to me one after the other asking for good ground and I know they each have a different interpretation of the word `good'. I may end up telling some to use the Bush Gallop and others to use Walshe's Hill, where the ground could be quite different."

Langan, 56, comes from Blackrock in Dublin. When he left school he graduated from gymkhanas to Glencairn, where he became apprenticed to Seamus McGrath. After 14 winners, he became too heavy and switched to the stud scene. His first job was at Pat Needham's Trimblestown Stud in County Meath, but he soon transferred back to the McGrath family and became stud groom at their Brownstown Stud.

He became a gallops man 15 years ago until promotion saw him elevated to the hotseat. He has seen some great horses sweeping past him, most notably Sinndar. But the ones who have meant the most to him were the dual Irish St Leger winners Vintage Crop-also the winner of the Melbourne Cup-and Oscar Schindler.

"Trainers will always tell you that good horses train themselves and there is a lot in that, but these two had problems. Oscar had suspect feet and Vintage Crop arthritis, and they took a deal of training. I worked closely with Kevin Prendergast during Oscar's campaign, and with Dermot Weld in the build-up to the Melbourne Cup, to find ground that would enable them to keep the horses motoring."

You might think Langan is so well placed that he has the bookmakers quaking, but sorry, you would be wrong.

"I don't bet," he says. "As a Turf Club official I'm not allowed to, and while people are only too delighted to give you tips, you'd soon go broke if you backed them!"

CAPTION(S):

Barry Langan: nominates Oscar Schindler and Vintage Crop as his favourite horses