Born in Limerick in 1967, Brian Meehan
worked for the Irish National Stud before joining Richard Hannon as
assistant trainer in 1987. Five years later, he set up his own
training business in Lambourn with a string of just eight horses.
He made a bright start to his training
career, winning his first Listed race with Amaretto Bay in the
National Stakes at Sandown in May, 1995, and his first Pattern race
with Tumbleweed Ridge in the Horris Hill Stakes at Newbury the
following October. He had to wait a little while for his first Group
1 winner, Tomba, in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp three years
later but, by that time, was firmly established in the training
ranks.
In 2005, Meehan earned over £1 million
in total prize money for the first time. Highlights of that season
included wins for Johnny The Fish in the £300,000 St Leger Yearling
Stakes at Doncaster, Donna Blini in the Sky Bet Cheveley Park
Stakes and David Junior in the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes,
both at Newmarket.
Evidently, his efforts did not go
unnoticed because, in 1996, Meehan was recruited by the Sangster
Family to take over Manton House Stables – a state-of-the-art
training facility surrounded by one of the finest country estates in
Britain – near Marlborough, Wiltshire. Remarkably, in March, just
weeks after moving in, Meehan saddled David Junior to win the Dubai
Duty Free, worth nearly £1.75 million to the winner, at Nad Al Sheba
in the United Arab Emirates. In July, David Junior also won the
Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown and, in November, Red Rocks won the
John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs, Kentucky to round
off a memorable first year at Manton.
Other notable winners have included
Crowded House in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in 2008, Arcano
in the Darley Prix Morny at Deauville in 2009, Dangerous Midge in the
Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs and Most
Improved in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
In early 2015, Paul Clarke bought the
Manton Estate from the Sangster Family and, thereafter, Meehan leased
his 90-box training facility from the new owner. However, in October,
2017, he announced that he would buying his yard and gallops. He
said, “I’ve been a fixture here for years; now I’ll be a very
much more permanent fixture. I’m here for the duration.”
Meehan has been building up the number of horses in his yard, without
sacrificing quality, in recent times and will have a string of about
90 for 2018.
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