AT the recent Listowel Races, brothers Robbie and Paul Fox received a presentation from the jockeys as they stepped away from their valeting business. The business had been on offer for some time and recently jockey Sean Flanagan came to an agreement with the Fox brothers and purchased the business.

Having completed the purchase, Sean Flanagan started his new venture into the world of valeting at Killarney and Tipperary last Sunday. The staff who worked for the Fox family are staying on under Sean and he told The Irish Field how that was a massive help to him,

“The first day went really went really well,” Sean repored. “It went off without a hitch, bar the bit of slagging from Paul Townend. Look, the backbone of the company is still there. It’s brilliant that the staff are able to help me out. I’ve also taking over the sales of all the racing gear, the boots, the goggles. So, it’s exciting and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

The idea to buying the business came about as a result of some weighroom banter.

“Myself and Brian Hayes were in the weighroom in Fairyhouse. I was slagging my valet Jean Cleary about making money at it and just having the craic. He came back at me and said,’Sure if you think we make that much money why don’t you buy the business off the Foxes? They are looking to sell.’ That is literally how it started. Through the years I’ve done loads of work with Paul. He used to do all the sponsorship embroidery on the gear, so I became quite friendly with him over the years. We just sat down and I told him I was interested and we took it from there.”

Sean has no plans to stop riding but the valet business provides him with some certainty for the future. “One thing I was always conscious of was the fact that I’m not going to be a jockey forever. I’m still loving race riding. I’m arguably loving it more now than I ever did. But I felt that when this opportunity came along that I had to go for it. It wasn’t going to be something that was going to present itself again in the near future. I’m very lucky that my wife Lauren is going to be heavily involved as well.

“I have advertised for some staff but they are hard to get. There is an overall staffing issue in the industry at the moment. At the same time, I still think getting staff for the valeting business will be a little bit easier than, say, work riders. The role you play as a valet can be taught and it can be picked up fairly easily. In a relatively short space of time, they will pick it up. So hopefully we can get a few more lads on board shortly.”