Born on a National Hunt stud farm in southern Ireland, Pat Phelan joined the Irish army at the age of 18, competed at international level in eventing and showjumping, and after being promoted to Captain became O.C. and Instructor at the Army Equitation School detachment at The Curragh, where his role also took in the Irish racing academy. Pat later trained at The Curragh, where he brought on the subsequent Gold Cup winner Jodami, before he moved to Japan to manage a large pre-training centre, with 250 horses and 60 staff. On his return to Europe, he spent two years managing Highclere Stud,and joined Ermyn Lodge in June 2006 as trainer and breeding operations manager. “We’ve got a great team of happy staff, and it’s an ideal combination of racing and breeding,” Pat says.