GORDON Elliott came into racing with no background in the sport and is now favourite with some bookmakers to be champion jumps trainer this season. That suggests Irish racing is an attractive proposition for new entrants. Adrian Keatley is another example - he won an Irish classic this season, Gavin Cromwell has juggled life as a farrier and a trainer and now has an exciting Grade 1 horse in his care.

It’s true that there is a band of up-and-coming trainers who are attempting to make their mark on the sport and giving it a damn good go.

The other side of that coin is those jockeys and trainers who are finding it difficult to make a living from racing but, in some instances, they don’t have options to secure employment outside of the sport. This week I contacted a number of trainers and jockeys outside the top bracket and asked them for their views. Some requested not to be identified.

TRAINERS

A 30-horse trainer I contacted on Tuesday told me he was afraid to increase his basic fee by even €5 a day as he knew it would lead to horses being taken away from him.

Less than 24 hours later we learned that Willie Mullins had just lost 60 horses over precisely such a fee rise. If margins are that tight between the champion trainer and the champion owner, can you imagine how precarious the finances of a small trainer are?

The biggest fear amongst the training ranks is bad debts and the constant threat of losing horses to a colleague who is willing to undercut them.

The point made to me by this trainer, who is in his late 30s, was that the cost of almost everything involved in training a racehorse has increased over the last decade but training fees have not.

“The price of feed has gone up, hay is more expensive, the price of labour has increased but generally lads are charging the same now as they did 10 years ago.

“I know if I put up my fees from €35 a day to €40 a day it would definitely cost me horses. There is always a trainer willing to do a deal with a fella to get the horse into his yard and that’s just the way it is.”

A Co Kildare trainer told me: “I know there’s easier ways of making a living. I would make more money if I went and got a job as an assistant trainer somewhere. At least then I would be getting a solid wage and wouldn’t have the same worries.”

But fledging trainer Andrew McNamara was more defiant. Having recently taken out a trainer’s licence, the Limerick native is looking forward to the challenge.

“Before I went down the path of training I was well warned by many trainers of the difficulties of training, including the financial side of it.

“However, when I left college to be a jockey I was regularly advised not to do it but I suppose you do what you want to do and give it a go. I’m not oblivious to the fact that it is a difficult job and there is a high failure rate but I’m still willing to give it a go.”

McNamara added: “I’m gradually growing in numbers and I’m glad to be doing so. I never expected to be having a bucket-load of winners in my first couple of months training, but there’s a few horses there that will hopefully get on well over the winter and I’m looking forward to being competitive at my own level. Maybe in the future, you never know, I might be training for some of the larger players in the game.”

Colm Murphy is due to have his final runners this weekend. His exit follows that of David Wachman, who is getting out of the game for personal reasons. Charlie Swan and Joanna Morgan are other high-profile names to have left the training ranks in recent years despite apparent success. Figures supplied by the Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association confirm that there have been well over 100 more who have quietly relinquished their licences since the boom times.

As the superpowers of Irish racing continue to strengthen - and their achievements should not be knocked – the reality is that more and more smaller operators will go to the wall.

JOCKEYS

Being a journeyman jockey in Ireland today is “disheartening” according to one Grade 1-winning rider. The lack of opportunities outside of the big yards and retainers, coupled with the reduction in runner numbers, makes life tough, but the hope of a good horse drives the passion.

“There were 42 horses declared for Sligo on Wednesday. A few years ago you would have three or four 30-runner races at Navan and divides - it is just very tough at the moment,” one member of the weighroom told The Irish Field.

“Lads are doing it for the love of the game. The mood in the weighroom hasn’t changed over the years but lads would keep to themselves anyway. There’s no point in one lad moaning when the lad sitting beside you has the same struggle looking for rides.

“You are just hoping that you will get on a good horse and win on him and get the opportunity to stay on him. Good horses make good jockeys a lot of the time.”

Sean McDermott recently celebrated big race success in America and overt the last number of years Australia has welcomed many Irish jockeys, including Johnny Allen, Tom Ryan, Paddy Flood and Shane Jackson.

Adrian Heskin and Jonathan Moore recently took jobs in British stables and Davy Russell has also agreed to travel to Britain more this season. A number of lesser-known riders have called it a day, deciding instead to ride out for top trainers in return for a secure pay-packet. Every day two carloads of talented riders leaves Kildare for Ballydoyle. Instead of riding 33/1 shots in a beginners’ chase, they exercise some of the world’s finest racehorses and are well paid. Who could blame them.