Natalia Lupini
Made in Milan
How a glamorous young woman from the fashion capital of the world wound up training stakes winners in Loughbrickland
Words: Johnny Ward • Photos: Caroline Norris
Falling for someone is special but falling for someone that will bring your career to another level is, well, another thing. Just ask either Natalia Lupini or Craig Bryson.
When I spoke to the Milanese Lupini for the bulk of this feature, my timing was akin to that of Ryan Moore in the finale on day one of Irish Champions Festival 2023. Moore’s sensational last-to-last-gasp-first on Broadhurst was something else. History is written by the winners but this most improbable of victories came at the expense of Dunum, who looked for all the world as though he would provide Lupini with a double on arguably this country’s biggest day of flat racing in the year, after the juvenile filly Kitty Rose had secured listed honours in the opening Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle Stakes.
You see, when Natalia answered my call, she was less than two days from giving birth to beautiful Tim. Not long ago, she barely knew Craig, nor Craig the lady who loves racing despite having no background in it and hailing from football-mad Italy. And their story is barely a couple of chapters in.
“I don’t come from a horsey family,” she explains. “I’m from near the city in Milan, very little countryside, nothing like Ireland.”
For some reason or no reason, Natalia Lupini was destined for an equine life. Bred more to take an interest in Prada, she ended up in Scarvagh.
“I always liked horses, the interest grew as I grew older; I followed European and American racing in Italy. I went to the track at the San Siro a few times, obviously still quite young but nobody in the family had any interest. Some of my friends liked horses.
“I always read that Ireland was the home of thoroughbreds and breeding. The best racing, the best trainers and horses in the world really. I came over as a student because it was close to Italy.
“When I moved, I was living quite close to Scarvagh House, it used to be a stud; with the landlord I just organised a few stables.”
She says stables like someone living all her life in County Armagh.
“I stayed a couple of years there and then moved not even a couple of miles to a yard in Loughbrickland. That’s where I’ve been seven years, ever since.
“I’m lucky, something I’ve always wanted in my life: someone to share my passion and work with”
“At the start, I didn’t have the young horses as a selling project. I was training mostly handicappers for a bit of fun with my friends. And it was a joint-venture, a bit successful with Blairmayne and a few other ones. When I met Craig, my partner, things started to change.”
She had been tipping away with a few mainly modest horses, Blairmayne the outlier. Blairmayne was known to little more than the yard and the anoraks when taking a Fairyhouse handicap in June 2016, rated 57 and ridden by one K Fallon. Six years later he was within a head of winning off 90. In all, he has won eight races to date. Lupini had shown her talents as a trainer but without money it’s hard to unearth horses like him.
A racing colleague of mine in Northern Ireland describes Bryson as “a genius with horses”. For Lupini, it was the proverbial match made in heaven and Bryson’s experience having worked for Aidan O’Brien must have been beneficial on many levels.
“From then on we looked more into training two-year-olds. It all changed. We’re more into a business kind of thing now.
“Craig’s from nearby. I met him locally. He was a work rider in Ballydoyle, travelled with Aidan’s horses around the world. He always had this in mind: he’d love to train.
“We sort of met, he came to the yard, rode a few horses and we decided to stick together, build a business: a team of horses and owners. It’s something we really enjoy together. I’m lucky, something I’ve always wanted in my life: someone to share my passion and work with. It’s been great, that’s all I can say really.”
And she has a little laugh.
Their alliance’s success is nothing short of staggering in such a competitive arena. She has been unable to quite match last year’s 25% hit rate this season but was not far off and will end the year not a million miles off 100 runners.
And there was Kitty Rose.
Dunum brought premier handicap success at Galway but the difference a Kitty Rose can make to a yard is beyond imagination. An easy winner at Naas on debut, she looked better again at Leopardstown in the opening race of an epic weekend and lost little but the race at Group 3 level at The Curragh subsequently.
“Kitty Rose was bought privately from Robson Aguiar. He always liked her, always told us she was one for later in the year. She was bought before going to the breeze-ups.
The Guineas will be an early target for Ingabelle Stakes winner Kitty Rose, with the Oaks also a possibility
Meeting Craig Bryson (centre, with jockey Billy Lee on the right), elevated not just Lupini’s personal life but also her professional one
“We gave her time, as he advised. She did her work easily all along. We knew we had a nice filly. She wants farther in time, maybe a mile-and-a-half horse next year and at four. We’re delighted we still have her for next year, as the sale fell through!”
Whilst it was improbable Lupini would lose the daughter of Invincible Army, such is the life of a selling yard. What is fascinating about Kitty Rose is that, despite being by Choisir, the dam stayed 12 furlongs. Kitty Rose is staying in Armagh.
“Unfortunately, when it came to payment, the potential buyer dropped out,” Lupini explains. “The sale was agreed before she ran at The Curragh. We were always told she was going to stay with us but they dropped out unexpectedly when it came to payment. It was disappointing, obviously, for the owners – but they still have an exciting filly on their hands.
“Leopardstown was a massive day. That’s what every trainer wants: a winner on a big day. And Irish Champions Festival is one of the biggest days in European racing. It was massive for everyone, the owners, everyone working in the yard. It was a good incentive to want more of those kind of days.
“It meant loads to Craig. We and the lads in the yard have put in so much effort. The race at The Curragh didn’t pan out the way we wanted because she was left in front a long way; it was hard work over a mile on soft ground, and we were delighted that she stayed there to finish second. She still looks very well, even though she is on a little break, and we are very much looking forward to having her next year.
“We’re looking at a seven-furlong Guineas trial at Leopardstown. She’ll be entered in both the English Guineas and the Irish Guineas. We’ll have a choice. It’s possible she could step up to a mile and a quarter, even a mile and a half. There’s a possibility she goes for the Oaks. If she does settle in her races and does everything right, she will get a mile and four. The Oaks is not to be ruled out! We’ll see how she takes everything.
“She’s doing very well, a very happy filly at the moment enjoying her break. She’s a very big filly so she will fill into her frame and we hope she will improve furthermore, we’ll have a very nice filly next year, we hope.”
Hope, in the words of a prisoner in a film with a plot less unlikely on paper than the rise of Lupini, is maybe the best of things. Lupini now has a name; she has reached somewhere between the start and the next level.
“We’ve 17 stables, building as we speak. Craig has a farm, we’re building a few stables there. We’re expanding and there’s a five-furlong, sanded fibre gallop that’s been working well for the past year. Long-term, the project would be to have all the horses in one place but we’re building the yard, we still have a lot of work to do, but things are looking promising at the moment.
“At the sales, we look at the horse. Is he a nice mover, correct? If he has all the attributes to be sold, obviously the sire, a commercial sire ideally, then you pick the right races for the horse.
“We’ve bought a few yearlings; a few new owners have been in touch about having yearlings in training as selling projects, to join the venture. Things look pretty positive at the moment, long may it continue.
“We’ve a nice Almanzor filly with a staying pedigree but she’s broken and riding now and she’s already shaping very nicely. Very clever, very smart, she takes everything in her stride and she’s a good size. We’re looking forward to doing something nice with her. We’ve others with sprinting pedigrees we’re looking forward to running early in the season.
“It’s always quite hard to get staff but at the moment we’re in a good position. We’ve a few capable lads and girls. We’re going to expand a little bit, get more yearlings and we’re looking for extra hands.”
Now her family comes over a few times a year to see her horses both galloping at home and at the races. They wonder at what their daughter has become and might become so far from home. “Probably 30 horses would be good. We’d like to keep the quality but keep an eye on every horse as an individual, so 30 for next season would be a nice number. We’ve a small team – normally we meet the jockeys at The Curragh or Dundalk, maybe twice before they run. We are able to get feedback then.
“We have four riding out, including Craig – he likes to sit on them and get a feel himself. We’ve a couple of ground staff and occasional staff to give us a hand feeding or make sure all is okay. I’d say we’ll be looking for more before the spring!”
What race would the Milanese want to take most? She’s entitled to dream.
“I’ve no particular race in mind I’d like to win most but with Kitty Rose we’d obviously like to win the Guineas at Newmarket, take her to Royal Ascot. We try to give all horses the best chance in terms of the races they’re capable of winning.”
Short odds about Tim falling for the game.