Article in Irish Sunday Independent yesterday. This is the guy who owned Menorah before selling to Hobbs. He spent a fair bit on bloodstock at the height of the market and I believe he tried to buy & sell his way out of trouble a few times around 2009/10.
Horse trainer reveals trauma over loan debt
By Philip Ryan
Sunday August 26 2012
1 Comment
'My wife nearly had a nervous breakdown. I did'
A KILDARE horse trainer has spoken about the personal trauma he has endured since his bloodstock business collapsed and left him with huge debts that he is now unable to repay.
Kennycourt Stud owner Eugene McDermott was once a successful trainer and breeder who trained Cheltenham winners and sold horses to the Qatar royal family.
But when the economy crashed, and the horse industry along with it, Mr McDermott found himself seeking professional help to cope with the stress of trying to keep his business afloat.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Mr McDermott said: "I had to go hospital and I had to see doctors and now I'm on medication."
The horse trainer, who describes himself as a "16 hours a day, seven days a week worker", built up a thriving 550-acre stud farm in Brannockstown where he lived with his wife, Ashley, and their six young children.
In 2005, he decided he wanted to expand the business and sought a loan to build more stables for his growing bloodstock farm.
He said: "It was for stables and to put some roads through the farm so it would be ready for my sons to take over in 15 years.
"I wanted to be ready for the future. I thought business is good and it's going to stay like that."
He approached the former Anglo Irish Bank -- now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation -- for a €1.3m loan and used his land as collateral.
Initially business grew -- Mr McDermott was at one stage employing 18 full-time staff and had up to 70 thoroughbreds on his books at a time when owning a horse was the ultimate Celtic Tiger status symbol.
Kennycourt Stud's website boasted that it was "one of the biggest and most recognised buying forces at major bloodstock sales".
Mr McDermott claimed that 90 per cent of his horses win at either their first or second start, while 70 per cent win by five lengths or more.
The success did not last, however, and Mr McDermott's stud farm succumbed to the same economic fate as many Irish businesses in the wake of the financial meltdown that hit the country in 2008.
He said: "It was a good investment and I was very successful in breeding and training.
"It was one of the best in the country but then the whole thing collapsed and I found myself in a position where I wasn't able to pay the money."
Mr McDermott said he had paid back €500,000 to Anglo but since 2009 he has not been able to make a repayment.
Having not received a payment for two years, the bank moved on the stud farm and appointed Savills auctioneers to sell land pledged to the bank as security for loans.
The Kildare man said the receivership process has been very distressful for his young family who have had to watch as he clashed with the bank-appointed receivers.
"They locked all my gates and put fencing around the bits of my farm they say they own.
"My second son had to go see a doctor, he was having convulsions from all the people around him. He was very sick, he was vomiting.
"My wife nearly had a nervous breakdown. I've had one," he said.
On Friday, People for Economic Justice protested on behalf of the stud farmer outside Savills Auctioneers in Molesworth Street, Dublin, but Mr McDermott could not attend because a court order has barred him from interfering with the receivership process.
People for Economic Justice spokesman Ben Gilroy appealed to people who are under financial pressure to seek help and advice before making rash decisions.
"There are people committing suicide around the country and they don't know that there's help out there and they feel shamed because they can't pay.
"It's not their fault, it's not a farming fault and it's not a bloodstock problem. It's a banking problem and a governmental problem."
Speaking from his family home, a dejected Mr McDermott said he is left wondering why he is not entitled to a bailout from the same bank the taxpayer has recapitalised.
"One of the things I can't understand is that, okay we did borrow money but the bank lent recklessly.
"I don't blame them for everything but they caused the downfall of this country and we have bailed them out," he said.
Horse trainer reveals trauma over loan debt
By Philip Ryan
Sunday August 26 2012
1 Comment
'My wife nearly had a nervous breakdown. I did'
A KILDARE horse trainer has spoken about the personal trauma he has endured since his bloodstock business collapsed and left him with huge debts that he is now unable to repay.
Kennycourt Stud owner Eugene McDermott was once a successful trainer and breeder who trained Cheltenham winners and sold horses to the Qatar royal family.
But when the economy crashed, and the horse industry along with it, Mr McDermott found himself seeking professional help to cope with the stress of trying to keep his business afloat.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Mr McDermott said: "I had to go hospital and I had to see doctors and now I'm on medication."
The horse trainer, who describes himself as a "16 hours a day, seven days a week worker", built up a thriving 550-acre stud farm in Brannockstown where he lived with his wife, Ashley, and their six young children.
In 2005, he decided he wanted to expand the business and sought a loan to build more stables for his growing bloodstock farm.
He said: "It was for stables and to put some roads through the farm so it would be ready for my sons to take over in 15 years.
"I wanted to be ready for the future. I thought business is good and it's going to stay like that."
He approached the former Anglo Irish Bank -- now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation -- for a €1.3m loan and used his land as collateral.
Initially business grew -- Mr McDermott was at one stage employing 18 full-time staff and had up to 70 thoroughbreds on his books at a time when owning a horse was the ultimate Celtic Tiger status symbol.
Kennycourt Stud's website boasted that it was "one of the biggest and most recognised buying forces at major bloodstock sales".
Mr McDermott claimed that 90 per cent of his horses win at either their first or second start, while 70 per cent win by five lengths or more.
The success did not last, however, and Mr McDermott's stud farm succumbed to the same economic fate as many Irish businesses in the wake of the financial meltdown that hit the country in 2008.
He said: "It was a good investment and I was very successful in breeding and training.
"It was one of the best in the country but then the whole thing collapsed and I found myself in a position where I wasn't able to pay the money."
Mr McDermott said he had paid back €500,000 to Anglo but since 2009 he has not been able to make a repayment.
Having not received a payment for two years, the bank moved on the stud farm and appointed Savills auctioneers to sell land pledged to the bank as security for loans.
The Kildare man said the receivership process has been very distressful for his young family who have had to watch as he clashed with the bank-appointed receivers.
"They locked all my gates and put fencing around the bits of my farm they say they own.
"My second son had to go see a doctor, he was having convulsions from all the people around him. He was very sick, he was vomiting.
"My wife nearly had a nervous breakdown. I've had one," he said.
On Friday, People for Economic Justice protested on behalf of the stud farmer outside Savills Auctioneers in Molesworth Street, Dublin, but Mr McDermott could not attend because a court order has barred him from interfering with the receivership process.
People for Economic Justice spokesman Ben Gilroy appealed to people who are under financial pressure to seek help and advice before making rash decisions.
"There are people committing suicide around the country and they don't know that there's help out there and they feel shamed because they can't pay.
"It's not their fault, it's not a farming fault and it's not a bloodstock problem. It's a banking problem and a governmental problem."
Speaking from his family home, a dejected Mr McDermott said he is left wondering why he is not entitled to a bailout from the same bank the taxpayer has recapitalised.
"One of the things I can't understand is that, okay we did borrow money but the bank lent recklessly.
"I don't blame them for everything but they caused the downfall of this country and we have bailed them out," he said.
Last edited:
