I RODE my first winner under rules on Lir Speciale on the final day of the flat season at Doncaster. I wasn’t sure that I had won pulling up and, even when the result was announced it took a while for it to sink in.

At the start of the year, I wasn’t really worried too much about winners; I just wanted to pick up rides and get as much experience as I could. Riding a winner was an added bonus but I definitely got great satisfaction from it.

While my own parents have no connection with horses, both my Mam’s sisters married into racing. One is married to Mick Kinane, while the other is married to Niall McCullagh. I would have been too young to have seen Mick ride but Niall is still going strong. Growing up, I would have been aware that both were jockeys and I’d have watched all the videos of their big races.

Niall had ponies for his own kids and I learned how to ride on those. When I was 13, I started off in Paudie Roche’s yard at weekends. In secondary school, I had got to know both Josh and Tommy Halford. We all became good friends and through that connection, I went on to ride out for their father, Michael Halford.

I finished off in school right through to sixth year. I would have ridden out in Halford’s all the way up to fifth year. During third and fourth year in school, I also did two seasons of pony racing. I only rode the one winner but it was a great experience.

While in sixth year, I went on to ride out for Danny Murphy. I got out my apprentice licence and had a handful of rides in Ireland. It was always in my mind to make the move over to England sooner rather than later.

Making the move

Scott McCullagh had been over there as an apprentice and he was flying. I wanted to give that a try for myself and see how I found it. I had been chatting it through with Niall and Scott but at the same time, I was talking to Calum Hogan who had made the move.

He was based with David O’Meara, so I decided to come over here as well. Obviously, David is also Irish and that made it that bit easier settling in. Although I came over in July 2024, I had to wait until the beginning of this year to get my licence.

The rules are different in England; you have to do a course at the racing school before being approved. After eventually getting my licence, I had about eight or 10 rides on the flat before the end of the turf season.

The plan had always been to use this season as a learning curve. I hoped that I could get some experience on the turf, then give the all-weather a good rattle over the winter. If everything worked out, I thought that next season could be the one where I made the big breakthrough. Lir Speciale winning was brilliant.

He had been one of the favourites for the race but to actually go and do it was beyond words. After the race, I received so many texts and calls from people, both those in and out of racing. It was just brilliant.

Community

My grandmother on my dad’s side had worked at the Curragh racecourse years ago but outside of that, the family have no involvement. There is such a great community in racing and, I’m lucky to be part of that. I got a few lessons off Niall McCullagh when I was starting off. Paddy Flood was then my jockey coach while I was riding in Ireland.

Since I came over to England, Kevin Darley has been a huge help. I am very fortunate to have been able to call on each of them for help and advice. Although he no longer lives in Ireland, Mick Kinane is never more than a phone call away. He has also been very good to me.

Obviously David O’Meara has been a big influence since I moved over here. Mark Winn, Ben Robinson, David Nolan and fellow apprentice Cian Horgan are all riding out in the yard. It’s brilliant to be able to chat to them as well. I’d also like to thank Brian Ellison, the trainer of Lir Speciale and the owner Kristian Strangeway who gave me the opportunity on the horse.

I’d like to improve over the winter months, both in terms of race riding and experience. Hopefully, I can build up some new contacts and develop existing ones. I want to try settle down over here and stay for as long as I can. At the moment, I have no plans to go back home to Ireland. If I can get my name out there and ride a few more winners over the next few months, I should hopefully be able to give next season a good rattle.

Conor was in conversation with John O’Riordan.