I HAVE been involved in the racing industry in some way, shape, or form for as long as I have been working. My dad P.J. is a saddler on the Curragh and my interest in racing stemmed from there. Some of my earliest memories are of going around different stables with my father after school and during holidays. Mick Connolly’s yard stands out in particular, as his was one of the biggest in those times and was just across the road from our house, as well as those of Con Collins, and Kevin Prendergast.

In my teenage years, I used to go out to
Redhills riding ponies with Johnny Levins. He was very much the one with the riding talent, going on to have a career as a jockey, before turning his hand to training. In third year in school, I responded to an intercom ad for summer staff at the Irish National Stud. Over the next eight years, I spent school and college holidays working at the stud, as well as holding down a casual job on track with Tote Ireland.