SUPRISE PACKAGE!

It is August 2023, and I am standing in Suprise Package’s box, listening to the vet say, “You can operate with a 50% chance of success, or you can decide to put him down.” The horse was right there, looking at me, and there really was no decision. My only question “Will he be able to retire and be in a field if he pulls through?” The answer was yes, and we moved ahead. He was the best patient, and we knew almost immediately that the field would have to wait; all he wanted to do was to race. As Peter said yesterday, he was the happiest and most enthusiastic horse, and when he won at Ballinrobe in August 2024, it wasn’t even a surprise; it was inevitable.

Yesterday, there was no decision to make. He had broken his tibia, probably when taking off to jump the hurdle, and there was no option but to put him down, out of his misery and the start of ours. It was a completely different injury, with no connection to what happened in 2023 or to the hairline fracture of his hip in 2022, but just another injury to a horse who absolutely did not deserve this fate.

I couldn’t speak for hours after the race yesterday, and given it took Peter over two hours before he spoke to me, I suspect he was feeling the same emotions. It is so hard for Peter and Ber but also for all of the staff and Robbie, who rides him out every day. For Sam, who rode him for the first time yesterday but who is always at the yard and knows what he meant to everyone.

But let’s go back to the beginning, and I’ll try not to bore you too much. In November 2020, we were all still stuck inside due to COVID-19. Freedom to Dream had an injury that would keep him out until late 2021, and I was bored. I wanted another horse, “our summer horse,” a fun horse that didn’t need to be all that good really, just a horse we could support and enjoy.

Peter called in December and said to take a look at Lot 42 at the recent Yorton Sale. I was able to watch the video, and to my eyes, he was the best horse in the race; he just didn’t stay the three miles. We agreed that Peter would go down to Wexford and try to negotiate a deal.

The night before the Wexford visit, Peter was out at dinner with some ‘so-called’ friends (Yes, it was Covid, but, hey, this is the story, and it’s not like he was the Prime Minister). One of his best friends, Aidan Fitzgerald, casually announced that he had heard of this promising young horse in Wexford and would go down tomorrow to complete the deal.

Of course, they were winding Peter up, but he didn’t know that, and it certainly didn’t stop him from driving down to Wexford at 5am the next morning, horse box in tow and cheque in hand.

It was the best 18000 Euros I could ever have spent. Peter felt that if we could get him a rating of 105-107, then we could win a few races. In his first run at Thurles, he started midfield and gradually went further backward; it was a shocking performance, and we were totally bemused. The next time out at Fairyhouse, Kevin (Sexton) was under instructions to look after him and let him enjoy himself. Well, he certainly did that as he was called into the Stewards Room to explain the ‘tender handling’ of the third-placed horse. Fortunately, Kevin has good hearing, so the respiratory noise he heard three out caused him to ‘take it easy’ (the vet confirmed the respiratory issue). Luckily, he never had that issue again!

His next run was average, and after three runs, we could learn our handicap mark, Well, not so fast, the handicapper decided that his performances had been so inconsistent that he needed another run to assess him properly. With Darragh O’Keeffe riding this time, he finished a close second to a horse who would be rated in the 130’s; I knew any chance of a low handicap mark was gone. Not so much Peter, who in a fit of denial, called the handicapper and was shocked when he was informed that he had a provisional rating of 123.

We decided that we may as well aim at the Red Mills Final at the Punchestown festival; he was qualified by running (an overstatement) in a qualifier at Thurles, and he would receive all the allowances and had no penalty; he would have a legitimate chance.

All that changed on the eve of the race when Peter, notably pessimistic immediately before a race, informed me that, far from having a mere chance, he was actually a certainty. He then called everyone he knew on the way to the course, imparting the same confidence. Somehow, he still went off at 14/1 and won easily.

We entered him in two races at Galway and chose the wrong race, the shorter two-miler, and he finished second. To compound our stupidity, we ran him in a 2m 7f hurdle at Killarney, where he patently did not stay. A heart arrhythmia at Limerick caused a bit of concern, but he ran well (beaten by a nose) next time and in his next few races when he was a little unlucky. By this time, he had a handicap mark just about high enough to get into the County Hurdle at Cheltenham – we just couldn’t guarantee it. We decided to run him in the Imperial Cup at Sandown the Saturday before, and if he won, he would get into the County, and if he ran badly, there was no point in going to Cheltenham; he won easily, and so we planned to go onto Cheltenham, and he would run on Gold Cup Day, as would my other horse Freedom to Dream; in what was to be the best racing day of my life.

Suprise Package went to Cheltenham where he ran great, finishing 6th (Freedom to Dream was 4th in his race) and, if you watch the race, he and the ultimate winner, State Man (who went on to win a Champion Hurdle), were the only two horses travelling coming into the straight before the exertions of six days previously caught up with him.

A couple of significant injuries characterized the next two years. The first was a hairline fracture of his hip. He recovered after months of box rest to win a good conditions race at Cork, but the following day came the scan and the choice presented by the vet.

I was so proud of the horse when he won (by a nose) at Ballinrobe; for him to come back and do that was remarkable. Flat racing wasn’t his thing, and he much preferred having a hurdle in front of him. He ran very well at Fairyhouse in early December, and he was in top form going into yesterday’s fateful race.

I have had so many people reach out to me since yesterday, expressing their sadness and condolences; many say how much pleasure the horse had given them and how much he meant to them. It made me think about why his death has affected me so much, what I do now, and what makes me still want to own a horse.

By any measure, Suprise Package was a special horse. Yes, he exceeded any reasonable expectation as to his ability or potential, and he was a magnificent horse, always walking around proud and full of energy, ears pricked. His bravery was there for all to see, and he loved life; if ever a horse deserved a happy retirement, it was him.

Selfishly, he brought me so much happiness, not just the amazing days at the races celebrating with friends but also all of the planning, the anticipation, the hope, and the joy of being on the inside of a sport I love. So many people yearn for a passion in their life; Suprise Package and the other horses I have owned have given me the opportunity to pursue that passion. It’s not about the winning. It’s about the involvement, the chance to know and become friends with people like Peter and Ber, to meet trainers and jockeys and realize that while what they do is incredible, they are just regular people like you and me. Of course, it’s a privilege to be in a position to pursue this passion, and I have always recognized how lucky I am and have tried, with these blogs, to give a sense of what it is like to own a horse.

I realize it is something I can’t and won’t give up. I will never have an ownership experience like with Suprise Package, but I am determined to retain the passion he and my other horses have given me. I will get another horse; I’m not sure when, but rest assured, I will chronicle this next phase and fully expect it to deliver the highs and lows of this great game.

Thank you, Suprise Package! RIP!