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A recent recruit to the trainer's ranks, Brendan Powell, born on October 14, 1959, had his first runner at the end of August 2000. Brendan retired from riding two months' earlier, the effects of a crashing fall and the ensuing injuries speeding up the retirement process for this most popular of people.
His father was a National Hunt Jockey and has bred racehorses successfully all his life. Brendan started riding in Point to Point at the age of 14, and rode for 26 years until retiring. His riding weight was 9st 7lbs, his first ever winner was Button Boy at Windsor in 1981.
Some of the best horses ridden by Brendan include Rhyme & Reason, Dublin Flyer, Garrison Savannah, Flakey Dove, Another Excuse, Floyd, Monsignor and Young Kenny. The major races he won includes the Seagram Grand National, two Scottish Grand Nationals, two Midland Grand Nationals, Mackeson Gold Cup, Irish Champion Hurdle, Galway Plate, Norwegian Champion Hurdle. Brendan has ridden a total of 684 winners worldwide, which included Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Japan and Jersey.
Brendan won on Rhyme 'n' Reason in the 1988 Grand National.
The well-fancied "Rhyme 'n' Reason" won £85,000 for owner Juliet Reed in the 1988 Grand National. The horse's chances of victory were virtually written off after sprawling badly on all fours at the famous Becher's Brook during the first circuit of the race. The horse and jockey, Brendan somehow managed to recover from the set back and fight their way back into the race catching "Durham Edition" on the run-in to win by four lengths as a 10-1 bet in the horses one and only victory in the big race at Aintree.
“Rhyme ‘n’ Reason” finished ahead of nine others who completed the course with “Durham Edition” second, “Monanore” ridden by Mr. T J Taaffe in third and “West Tip” along with Richard Dunwoody finishing fourth for the second year straight.
Brendan is probably more popular than anyone you would meet in racing. There were emotional scenes at Kempton on November 15, 2000 when My Galliano gave him his first winner. He was not long in adding to this success and seems destined to be as successful as a trainer as he was a jockey.
Brendan would probably be the first to admit that training racehorses is far harder than riding them, but you will not hear him complaining for he would not have it any other way.
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Photos courtesy of Tracy Roberts.
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