AFTER winning twice inside a week, Perry Mason will try to make it three-in-a-row at the Curragh tomorrow. I might be going to the well again too soon but he loves testing ground and it’s the last chance we have on the grass this year. He seems to be in good form at home and it’s really just a case of trying to make hay while the sun shines.

My dad always had the odd point-to-pointer and a few racehorses in training. He would have been into the greyhounds as well. I have been going racing for as long as I can remember. I started pony racing while still in primary school and later rode out for Eugene O’Sullivan amongst others. At 15, I left school and went up to RACE in Kildare.

My placement was with James Burns and, when he got a bit quiet, he sent me over to Kevin Prendergast. I spent two and a half years there and learned plenty. Even now, I would still do a lot of things that Kevin taught me and have moulded it into my own training. There were loads of good lads in Kevin’s during my time. In 2006, Declan McDonogh was champion jockey and Chris Hayes was champion apprentice. Chris Timmons, Padraig Beggy and Christy Geoghegan were all there too.

After leaving Kevin’s, I came home to Cork and rode as an amateur. I worked for Tom Lombard and spent time with John O’Shaughnessy and Robert Tyner. In 2017, I went out to Dubai where I worked for John Hyde in Dubai Stable for a season. He was breaking in all the Sheikh Hamdan [Shadwell] yearlings, so that was another great learning curve. When I came home, I spent six months in Ballydoyle. I was too heavy to ride out, so was working on the ground.

I learned a lot during that time too. I had always just been biding my time before taking out a trainer’s licence, so getting to see how the very best do things was a real eye-opener.

Pony racing

Before Covid hit, I worked for Eddie Linehan at Lackendarra Stables. I kept flappers at home for a number of years and had plenty of success. In all, I trained 140 winners pony racing, including 19 at the Dingle Festival. I won the three main races down there - the Dingle Derby, Dingle Derby Trial and Irish Pony Derby. Plenty lads that have gone on to do well on the track rode winners for me. Darragh O’Keeffe, Danny Gilligan, Daniel King, Rossa Ryan, Andrew Slattery, Dylan O’Connor and Joey Sheridan, to name a few.

Jack Tudor, who is now stable jockey to David Pipe, came over and rode a winner for me. In 2023, Julian Pietropaolo rode five Dingle winners for us. Dylan Browne McMonagle, who rode for his uncle Adrian, would have been in opposition! He never rode a pony racing winner for me but he made up for it when riding Perry Mason to give me a first on the racecourse.

I had two runners in Newcastle on the day Perry Mason won, so wasn’t at the Curragh. I watched the race on my phone. To be honest, I got as much of a kick from helping Dylan win the jockeys’ championship as I did registering my own first winner. I have known him since he was a child on the pony racing circuit. I thought I might have given him a winner earlier in the season when Lough Leane ran at Gowran Park, and more recently on Shawaamekh at Listowel, so it was nice to finally be able to get one.

I think people had started losing faith in us, so Perry Mason has been an important horse. I had seen him in the sales catalogue and marked him down as his maiden run was very good.

He had lost his way after that but I was prepared to take a chance on him. To be honest, I had forgotten about him until I saw him in the flesh. I loved him as an individual and knew straight away that 3,500gns was money well spent.

Working well

He had been working well at home before the Curragh, so his win wasn’t unexpected. Although he was raised 6lb for that, I knew he had a right chance of following up in Galway earlier this week. He was actually in a lower grade and, with Julian (Pietropaolo) claiming 7lb, he was effectively a pound well-in. Again, I have known Julian all his racng life, so it was lovely to have him ride the horse. Perry Mason won as he was entitled to do, so he deserves to take his chance again at the weekend.

I’d hope that he can progress again and, longer term, we will be aiming him at the Lincoln next season. At the minute, there is just myself and my partner Rachel (Rodman) here. Only for Rachel, it wouldn’t be happening. She is a big part of the whole operation. Rachel was head lass to Andrew Balding in her last job and had earlier worked in America for Wesley Ward. She also did a lot of sales work over the years, so has plenty of experience.

Hopefully with Perry Mason we have shown that, given the right horse, we can produce results. It would be great to get a few two-years-olds or decent handicappers. Like every trainer, I’d love to be able to attract new owners into the yard. We have decent facilities here at home and are close to Eugene O’Sullivan’s and Alex Ott’s carpet gallops.

We are only a couple of minutes from Dromahane and also use Ronan Barry’s swimming pool at Kilbrien Equine Centre. Being such a small team, it’s all about individual attention and training each horse in a way that suits their needs. For that reason, we’d like to focus on quality rather than quantity; doing everything to the highest possible standards. We will be busy at the upcoming horses in training sales. You never know, the next Perry Mason could be out there somewhere.

Maurice was in conversation with John O’Riordan.