Tony Martin is adamant he doesn't care what perceptions people might have of him – "I don't give a damn." He then emphasises the point with words a bit stronger than "damn".
You see when the name Tony Martin comes up, it is near-invariably accompanied by phrases such as “handicap king” or “the trainer bookies fear” or “shrewd”, that conveniently neutral word used to suggest that when the money is down on a Martin-trained runner, it is indeed time for bookmakers to take to the trenches.
It’s become a cliché, one that takes into account a decade and a half’s evidence of the trainer’s ability to sum up any edge he has in a disparity between a horse’s ability and the handicapper’s estimation of it.
But behind the caricature, and the blunt speaking, there are plenty professionals within racing who rate Martin's ability to subtly extract the maximum potential out of any horse in terms of the very best there is – flat or jumps. The difference now is in the raw material he gets to work with.
Significant moment
It's worth recalling that it is only just over two years since Bog Warrior provided Martin with a very first Grade One victory, the definition of top-quality success. If Benefficient can win today's Ryanair Chase, it will be a first Grade One at Cheltenham, a significant moment even for someone with a handful of festival wins to his name already, including Benefficient's success last year.
Martin is well aware of such significance, but strictly in terms of the quality of horse: the point he makes is that his job remains essentially the same. “I do my best for people who employ me, and pay me,” he sums up. “If I feel their horse is only good for handicaps, then I organise them as best I can. Then if you’re fortunate enough to get one like Benefficient or Bog Warrior, you try and get the best out of them too. There’s no difference really.”
Maybe not in the business of getting them fit, but so much depends on the raw material when it comes to operating at the top level and a list of owners that now includes Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown Stud and Barry Connell indicates possibly belated recognition of Martin's ability to produce the Grade One goods.
"It's the same as football; money helps, if you're able to buy new players, nine times out of 10 they're going to be better than the ones you have already. It does give you a better chance of getting success and it's great that Gigginstown and Barry have given us a few good ones," he says. "But money isn't everything either. You'll always get one coming through. She's Our Mare (1999 Cambridgeshire) was practically given away."
Sales ring
For a horse that once went through the sales ring for just €3,000, he has proved a revelation, winning three Grade One races, the first of them a memorable 50/1 victory just two years ago in the Deloitte at Leopardstown.
Owned by New York-based builders Niall Reilly and Aidan Shiels, the latter also runs a pub in Queens, Benefficient represents something a long way from the flush elite. That has proved no hindrance to his progress though, following up last year’s Jewson success with a Grade One at Christmas.
Drying ground is a major plus – “if it had been heavy I’d have told the lads to wait for Liverpool: his action is too good for heavy” – and so is the fact the longer race is run on the New course.
"With all the drainage done there, the ground at Cheltenham can get very quick and around that other course, things happen fast and get very tight sometimes. You have to be very sharp and handy and not every horse is like that. The Gold Cup course is much kinder on horses though, it helps the more galloping sort and Benefficient has won on it which is always a help. Horses for courses does come into it," Martin says.
Trainers for courses can come into it too: and only the blind can fail to see how Benefficient’s trainer is a master of most of them.
