VIC VENTURI
10 ch g Old Vic - Carmen Lady (Torus) 10-11-06
Form: 2/131213/12625P/7205982/5424458-211501
Owner: Seamus Dunne
Trainer: Dessie Hughes IRE
Breeder: Mrs P & C Brabazon
Vic Venturi emerged as a serious John Smith’s Grand National contender when winning the totesport.com Becher Chase over three and a quarter miles of the famous Aintree course on November 22.
The Old Vic gelding, whose name derives from the 1964 US Open golf winner Ken Venturi, made his racing debut in a point-to-point at Tinahely on February 20, 2005. Initially in the care of trainer Philip Fenton, he made his debut under Rules a month later when runner-up in a Fairyhouse bumper.
He returned to action that October at Galway for a first start over hurdles and duly won the two and a quarter mile contest under Barry Geraghty. That 2005/2006 campaign saw him emerge as a high-class novice. Victories in the Grade Three Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle and the Grade Two Festival Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse were backed up by placed efforts in good company, including when third to Nicanor in the Grade One Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown that April.
Vic Venturi returned to Galway to kick-off the 2006/2007 season and landed the spoils in the Grade Three Ballybrit Novices’ Chase over two miles and a furlong. His novice chase campaign followed a similar pattern to his season as a novice hurdler with some high-class efforts, including when runner-up to Mister Top Notch in the Grade One Dr P J Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown in February, 2007.
His form tailed off thereafter as he finished fifth in the Jewson Novices’ Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and was pulled up at Punchestown in April. A lacklustre start to the 2007/08 season resulted in owner Seamus Dunne transferring Vic Venturi to Edward O’Grady’s stables following a fifth place finish in the Grade Two Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse that February.
There were only fleeting glimmers of his former spark until his final outing that term when runner-up to Emma Jane in the Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival. Vic Venturi joined trainer Dessie Hughes ahead of the 2008/09 season but again seemed a touch below par. He failed to win during the campaign, taking his losing streak to 20 races. However, he did run a respectable race in the Irish Grand National and the last of those efforts saw him clinch the runner-up berth for the second successive year in the Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase, when conceding 9lb to the talented Ambobo.
That race marked the first and only time to date that Vic Venturi has worn blinkers. Cheek pieces were in place when he made his seasonal return in the Wilderness Chase at Clonmel on October 29, three years to the day after his previous win. Vic Venturi showed resolution as he stayed on to defeat Rathmore Castle by six lengths in the two and a half mile contest on soft ground.
Carrying top-weight in the totesport.com Becher Chase on his next outing, the gelding saw off Keenan’s Future by five lengths. Vic Venturi contested the Grade Two woodiesdiy.com Christmas Hurdle over three miles at Leopardstown on December 28 and finished a fair fifth to Powerstation.
He was then 15th of 19 in a handicap hurdle over the same course and distance on January 23. Vic Venturi returned to fences for his John Smith’s Grand National preparatory race, the Grade Two Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse on February 20. Ridden by Paddy Flood, the 10-year-old won comfortably on the soft ground by eight lengths from stablemate and fellow John Smith’s Grand National hope Black Apalachi.
Race Record: Starts: 33; Wins: 7; 2nd: 8; 3rd: 2; Win & Place Prize Money: £259,770
Seamus Dunne Based in Kilkenny, Seamus Dunne owns Kilkenny Electrical Wholesale Limited, the company he established 35 years ago. Born on May 21, 1951, Dunne is not from a racing or a horse background but recalls his childhood when he would give his father money to place his bet on the Grand National. He is an enthusiastic owner and it is his long held dream to win the great race. He has always had an interest in animals and before buying his first horse in 2004 he invested in keeping gun dogs. Vic Venturi is the first horse he purchased. He now has about 10 horses in training including five new recruits on the Flat and three trained in France. He has enjoyed 21 victories as an owner at a strike-rate of around 20 per cent. Alongside Vic Venturi’s notable successes, Dunne’s black colours with yellow diamonds have been carried to big race victory by the classy five-time winning mare Shirley Casper and Roberto Goldback. The Dessie Hughes-trained Shirley Casper landed a Grade Two bumper for Dunne as well as a Grade Three hurdle. The Jessica Harrington-trained Roberto Goldback was a high-class novice hurdler, defeating no less a horse than Weapon’s Amnesty, and landed the Grade Two MCR Novice Chase at Leopardstown in January. John Smith’s Grand National record: No previous runners
Dessie Hughes IRE A highly successful jockey, Dessie Hughes (born October 10, 1943) partnered Davy Lad to win the 1977 Cheltenham Gold Cup and returned to Prestbury Park three years later to ride the diminutive Monksfield to victory in the Champion Hurdle. Having always had one eye on the future, Dessie prepared his yard for three years before finally taking out a training licence in 1980 and the winners soon started flowing, including a first Cheltenham Festival victory as a trainer when Miller Hall took the 1982 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. His yard was struck down by a persistent fungal problem in the late 1980s which resulted in Dessie enduring several years of poor form, but the yard began churning out the winners again in the late 1990s, with horses such as Guest Performance, Rathbawn Prince and Grade One winner Colonel Braxton being standard bearers. But it would be Hardy Eustace who would provide Hughes with some of his finest hours as a trainer. Owned by long-standing patron Lar Byrne, the Archway gelding won the Grade One Ballymore Properties Novices’ Hurdle at the 2003 Cheltenham Festival before returning a year later to win the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle under a superbly judged ride from Conor O’Dwyer. Hardy Eustace went on to victory at the Punchestown Festival and returned to Prestbury Park the following year for another win in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle, becoming the first horse since Istabraq to successfully defend his crown. Central House became another outstanding performer for Hughes, winning five Grade Two contests as well as a Grade One Novices’ Chase at Leopardstown. More recently, Schindlers Hunt has emerged as another superstar, winning two Grade One events as a novice chaser and finishing the head runner-up in the Grade One John Smith’s Melling Chase at Aintree in 2009. Dessie also holds the notable feat of saddling a winner on nine consecutive racing days over the 2006 Christmas period. His son Richard is a leading Flat jockey. John Smith’s Grand National Record: 2008 Black Apalachi (Fell 2nd), 2009 Black Apalachi (UR 22nd)
