'We finished only second but it was the greatest day of my life' - Dreeling

The legend of Eros and Psyche is one of the most beautiful in Greek mythology, possessing that rarest of twists for the genre - a happy ending - as the deities of love and the soul are reunited for eternity, never to be parted.

Their celestial names were the inspiration for Barbara Fonzo when the time came to register the Sepoy gelding she and husband Mark Dreeling had nurtured at their Coole House Farm outside Monasterevin in County Kildare.

Trained by Paddy Twomey, the four-year-old is writing his own fairytale for the couple and their daughters Megan and Julia, following his second place behind Highfield Princess in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh this month.

That followed on from a Listed second at Tipperary on his previous outing, and Erosandpsyche's dreamlike qualities don't just begin and end with his racing record. Like any true hero, his origin tale adds to the wonder of his story.

He and his Footstepsinthesand half-brother (lot 176) who leads the line for Coole House Farm at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, which begins on Tuesday morning, are the fourth generation of their family to be born and reared at the stud.

"We were very fortunate to be able to buy the mare, she was an unproven mare with three foals of racing age but she hadn't even had a runner," says Mark Dreeling.

Then in the space of a few short days around midsummer 2021, the pedigree exploded as Erosandpsyche, his two-year-old half-brother Some Respect and Laciredski, their four-year-old Toronado half-sister, all won their maidens and in three different countries.

Better was to follow as Some Respect, a son of Gleneagles, went on to win two Listed contests and finish second in the Group 2 Gran Criterium last season before winning the Listed Premio Estate at the San Siro this summer.

Erosandpsyche and Billy Lee on their way to victory at TipperaryCredit: Patrick McCann

Irish Champions Weekend at the Curragh surpassed all that.

"It was unbelievable," exclaims Dreeling. "We finished only second but it was the greatest day of my life. Even though we are not officially the breeders, Erosandpysche was born and reared here and everything was done with him by Barbara and I. It's the most rewarding experience of my entire life in this racing game."

Erosandpsyche had been bred by Italian clients of the couple prior to their purchase of his Listed-winning Oratorio dam Sciolina, and his entire life spent at Coole House Farm. It's a family farm with Barbara, who still works as a veterinary surgeon having spent more than 20 years working for the late Ned Gowing at the Curragh, and Mark the mainstays of the operation.

"This kind of thing doesn't happen in real life and we keep pinching ourselves because it has happened," says Dreeling. "It's the dream, it's why we are all in racing, because of the dream and it is okay to dream, dreaming is good.

"It's what I did my entire life when I was a young man living in caravans in the back of yards - reality is built on a dream. If you have the dream, it can come true."

Everything, from foaling to breaking and pre-training, is done in-house and it was that, coupled with their innate understanding of what was right for the horse, which has allowed Erosandpsyche to flourish.

"What Paddy Twomey and his partner Claire have done with the horse is incredible," says Dreeling. "It was a revelation for us with the horse. We always thought he had it in him, I've told everyone through the years that we finally got a diamond, an absolute proper one.

"It just took time, we had to be patient because as a two-year-old he was weak and backward and we had to give him a chance. I didn't want to push him and leave his career on the training gallops at home, or send him into a yard and leave his whole career behind him because he was pushed too hard as a two-year-old. It has paid off now."

It certainly has and the feeling is that Erosandpsyche still has more ahead of him. That exciting promise is a richly deserved reward for the unrelenting dedication and incredible commitment of the family to their horses and animals, which include their dogs and Barbara's herd of pedigree Simmental cattle.

Since establishing Coole House Farm a quarter of a century ago, and long before that, through their work in the industry, theirs has been a total immersion.

A week of skiing in northern Italy before the foaling season is their solitary break from work, which is a seven-day-a-week commitment with 14-hour days their normal schedule. That can rise to 20 hours during foaling season, when they will deliver and care for between 50 and 60 foals each year.

Barbara Fonzo with Billy Lee at TipperaryCredit: Patrick McCann

Then there is the breaking and pre-training aspect of the business, where Dreeling, who educated the likes of Micko's Dream and Numbersixvalverde during his time with Martin Brassil, will start off around 100 young racehorses on their journey to the track.

It is a real family operation and Dreeling's love and admiration for his wife, and appreciation for their daughters' involvement and commitment, are evident.

"Barbara is the operation," he says. "I do the horse work and the yard work and I like to keep quiet, but Barbara is everything.

"When I am under pressure with the horses, she keeps me calm, she looks after my health, she's my best friend, she runs the entire business and without her there's nothing. She's the most amazing person and on top of all that she's a full-time working vet."

He adds: "Megan and Julia are marvellous. They would be here foaling mares with us in the middle of the night, the girls are very proficient and helpful with everything, and without both of the girls we'd be lost."

Megan is currently in Kentucky, where she is working at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, while Julia is employed by the HSE (Health Service Executive). Her partner Damien Melia, along with Peter Smithers, ride work on the horses and were instrumental in the development of Erosandpsyche, while Peter McGahan and Dreeling's brothers Damien and PJ are all hugely supportive.

Dreeling grew up in the shadow of Gowran's beautiful racecourse and was in the same class at school as legendary Kilkenny stars DJ Carey and Charlie Carter as well as Shane O'Neill and Michael Kehoe, all lifelong pals, but Dreeling, who had no connection with horses or racing, had his sporting passions elsewhere.

Horses and athletics are the fuel of his sporting dreams; the latter led him to win 14 All-Ireland medals at distances from 800m up to cross-country, while the former led to local trainer John Kennedy's yard and an apprenticeship before he was a teenager.

The late Dessie Hughes, for whom he was head man, was an enormous influence on Dreeling, and on Damien and PJ, now an assistant manager at the Irish National Stud. For only seven years in the entirety of Hughes's training career was he without a Dreeling in the yard.

"The greatest man I ever met and the greatest inspiration of my life was Dessie Hughes," says Dreeling. "Everything I am and everything I've done, I would put down to the advice, the nurturing he gave to me.

"He wasn't just a great trainer, he was an immense trainer of human beings. He was a great man and is sadly missed."

Group 2 Minstrel Stakes winner Larchmont Lad was sold by Coole House Farm at Tattersalls IrelandCredit: Patrick McCann

He adds: "If you dream hard enough for long enough and you work hard enough, and focus long enough, you will achieve your dreams. Any young person that comes through here, a lot of young jockeys have ridden out here, I'd tell them all that. Reality is built on a dream. Work hard and stay focused."

That hard work sees them take their largest draft of yearlings to Tattersalls Ireland, with a quartet of colts - three in Part 1 and one, a son of Camacho pinhooked by uncle and niece Damien and Megan Dreeling, for Part 2 and one that Mark Dreeling sees appealing to a specific market.

"He's turned into a gorgeous horse, he has a great walk, and I think he'll be one for the breeze-ups," he says of lot 587.

The Footstepsinthesand half-brother to Erosandpsyche and Some Respect will be the first of the Coole House Farm draft through the ring.

"He's a beautiful horse, you never know until you get to the sales, but we hope he goes down well and is popular," says Dreeling.

Day two sees them offer a homebred Bated Breath (355) colt who is a half-brother to the Footstepsinthesand colt bought by MV Magnier for £95,000 at this sale last year.

Dreeling says: "He's a beautiful individual. He's an incredible walker and is the second foal out of the mare."

They also have a Profitable colt (260), a pinhook from the foal sales by Barbara, and he is out of a half-sister to Avenue Gabriel.

"Since then, two of the foals have won for the mare - one in Hong Kong and one here - so that's been good for him," adds Dreeling.

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