Co. Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the s ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...
stable and breeding business that was established by
Noel Meade
Noel Meade is a horse trainer from Castletown, County Meath, Ireland. He established Tu Va Stables in Meath as a place to train his horses.
Early career: flat racing
Meade began his career as a horse trainer in 1971,
, a prominent
National Hunt racing
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...
horse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
.
Although he was a trainer, Meade did ride one horse early on in his career, Tu Va. He rode Tu Va to a win in a maiden hurdle in August 1971. Responsible for his first win as a trainer, Meade decided to name his stables after Tu Va.
Tu Va is spread out over . There are a number of different facilities on the stable grounds. There are three different gallops: a six-
furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...
, all weather gallop; a mile long, all weather gallop; and a mile long, half grass gallop. There is also an indoor gallop that is used as a warm up, especially during the harsh winter months. There is an
equine
Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, which have lived worldwide (except Indonesia and Australia) from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They are thought to be a monophyletic grouping.B. J. MacFa ...
spa on the grounds to help treat the horses to the various injures that occur during practice. Two horse walkers are present that are used to keep the horses active. There are also schooling facilities for horses, including baby
hurdles
Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...
and fences to regulation hurdles and fences seen during actual races.
Tu Va has three principal
jockeys
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual w ...
,
Paul Carberry
Paul Carberry is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey.
Background
He was born on 9 February 1974.Niall Madden
Niall "Slippers" Madden (born 11 November 1985) is a retired Irish jockey who rode the racehorse Numbersixvalverde to win the 2006 Grand National steeplechase at Aintree Racecourse.
Madden's nickname is "Slippers", as a comparison with his fathe ...
and Paul’s sister,
Nina Carberry
Nina Carberry (born 19 July 1984) is a retired Irish female National Hunt jockey. She hails from a racing family and is the daughter of jockey Tommy Carberry.
Career
Carberry got her first Cheltenham Festival win in 2005 on Dabiroun in the Fred W ...
. The current stable lad is
Alan McIlroy
Alan may refer to:
People
* Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname
* Alan (given name), an English given name
** List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
...
, who has spent 13 years at Tu Va. McIlroy and the employees at Tu Va were in line to be the first stable staff to receive part of the £1m
Triple Crown of Hurdling
Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble":
Sports
* Triple (baseball), a three-base hit
* A basketball three-point field goal
* A figure skating jump with three rotations
* In bowling terms, three strikes in a row
* In ...
bonus offered by
WBX
World Bet Exchange (WBX) was a person-to-person betting exchange based in Notting Hill Gate, London in the United Kingdom, and licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. WBX.com was founded in 2002 by Malcolm Gray but did not offici ...
. Had
Go Native
Go Native (foaled in 2003 in Ireland, died 23 November 2012) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse, born to sire Double Eclipse and dam Native Idea.Fighting Fifth Hurdle
The Fighting Fifth Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Newcastle over a distance of about 2 miles and half a ...
and
Christmas Hurdle
The Christmas Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres ...
, gone on to win the 2010
Champion Hurdle
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...
, McIlroy would have received £100,000 and the staff would have received £50,000. However, Go Native struggled early and finished a disappointing 10th out of 12 entries.Bone scans and back specialists turn 999-1 Binocular into a champion guardian.co.uk, 16 March 2010, accessed 17 March 2010.
Famous horses trained at Tu Va include
Harchibald
Harchibald (foaled in 1999 in France) is a retired French-bred, Irish-trained thoroughbred racehorse.
Background
Harchibald was sired by the stallion Perugino out of the mare Dame D’Harvard. He was owned by DP Sharkey, trained by Noel Meade ...