DEREK O’Connor had already long established immortal status in the point-to-point realm, but his record-extending 12th champion rider title in the season just gone belongs in the history books as one of his finest accomplishments yet.

In the same campaign that saw him move on to the incredible 1,400-winner mark at Ballyknock in April, the Fiddaun, Co Galway native ended his term on 45 winners from 134 rides - a superb 34% strike rate that towered over any of his nearest rivals. He ulttimately finished eight successes in front of his top-calibre title rival Barry O’Neill. Having been presented the The Irish Field Champion Rider Award at last weekend’s Point-To-Point Awards in the Whites of Wexford Hotel, O’Connor spoke to Mark Boylan about a period to savour between the flags.

It’s been a remarkable season for you, and one of the most notable elements is that you managed to win your title after a gap of 11 years since your last. Over the best part of those 11 years, did you ever really think we’d be having this type of conversation today, reflecting on your 12th championship?

“I definitely never felt we’d be back in this position again - never, ever in my wildest dreams was this on my mind. Look, this is a lot to do with the Sam Curling outfit and his dominance throughout the season. He’s had an incredible year.

“What he’s doing as a trainer is phenomenal and I feel privileged to be riding in the position of his first jockey this year. I was in very good company with David [Doyle] and Nicole [Lockhead Anderson], and a lot of young riders around the yard.

“The ball bounced in my favour a lot, I got to ride plenty of very good horses. Only for Sam, this wasn’t achievable for me.”

At what point of the year did you sense this was a real possibility?

“You never try to let that enter your thoughts when you’re riding against a top rider in Barry O’Neill. No more than myself, he has a lot of experience and is a worthy competitor at any stage.

“If you’re talking about fighting out titles, it’s bonkers to be getting confident taking on a man like that. Until there wasn’t enough races to be ran, I never felt satisfied for a second that I would win.”

I was thinking the other day that this title charge would have been different in another way for you too; your kids wouldn’t have had an awareness of this when you were in the process of rattling off those championships in years gone by. Talk to me about what it meant to get your hands on the trophy again, but with them by your side.

“There’s no better Sunday for me than having runners, having the lads in the yard riding well and being in the thick of it. But then to have a family atmosphere and the kids coming racing with us - it doesn’t get any better than that.

“We have three girls, aged nine, 10 and 12. Jessica was the only one who was around the last time this happened, and you can definitely tell that they all picked up on things this season. They knew the atmosphere around the house was getting tense through the last few weeks. They saw daddy was trying to play it down, that he hadn’t any great interest in it. But, if the truth be told, over the last month or six weeks, it was all that was on my mind.”

Do you see your kids embarking on a career in horses as well, or do they have more sense?

“We know nothing else here, I suppose. It’s horses from morning to night, every day. Although, the kids have so many sports they have an interest in. I’m not sure whether they will go down this road.

“Now, they have a good work ethic, but you wouldn’t always say they burst you out of it riding their ponies every day! They do work at it, though, and give us a good hand around the yard. That’s lovely for me to have them involved in our family business.”

You mentioned having runners of your own, and this season you trained nine winners in point-to-points. What are your reflections on how the campaign went for you as a handler?

“My season as a trainer probably got a little bit turned upside down because my horses got sick mid-season, maybe around February or mid-March. I definitely felt I had a good standard of horse, so I was a bit disappointed with that. They turned a corner for me and finished out very well, though.

“In terms of highlights, I got great pleasure in seeing Evan Nugent ride a first-time-out winner of a four-year-old and Bill Coonan had another four-year-old winner. Those lads work hard and are very loyal men. I enjoy watching them winning on horses for me. The quality of horses I’m getting my hands on is incredible.”

Some of those nicer horses are coming from the J.P. McManus operation, and there were some good moments on the track for you in those green and gold silks this year. You teamed up with Showurappreciation to win the Amateur National for Jonathan Sweeney, as well as your old friend Its On The Line [trained by Emmet Mullins] at Down Royal over Christmas. Tell me about working with J.P. and his impact on the sector.

“J.P. is an amazing man, and last week alone - with the investment he made in stores at the Goffs Arkle Sale - is another show of his love for this game. The amount of people he brings along with him on the journey is incredible. There’s no doubt that we will never have another person like him in the industry. He’s the most selfless man of all time.”

There was also a nice touch recently for members of your staff when the once-raced Cool Companion sold for £235,000 [to Ian Ferguson] at the Goffs UK Spring HIT/Point-To-Point Sale. He was a profitable venture that your team bought and brought along at home. That must have given you great satisfaction for everyone involved?

“It’s brilliant for anyone to have skin in the game. Those men put down their own money and bought shares in the horse with me. We kept the horse at home and trained him together. I was delighted for them, and to stumble on what could be a very nice horse as well makes it even more enjoyable. I just hope they don’t think it’s always that easy!”

Well it has definitely felt like a seller’s market lately, and the results of the Goffs Arkle Sale last week were pretty remarkable. Trade seems so strong at the moment. You’re obviously a part of the Goffs team, what do you make of the demand at these sales now? We came into last week on the back of some very robust boutique point-to-point sales too.

“The game has never been better than it is now in that respect. There is a shortage of horses, foal crop numbers have been dropping consistently over the last few years and, when you have a shortage of any nature, there’s a high demand. I don’t envisage that foal numbers are going to rise, so I don’t think there’s any reason to think this trade won’t last for the foreseeable future.

“We all know there is a high volume of races and that creates a requirement for an elevated number of horses. As long as people need to fill those races, I hope we’re in a good place as an industry. There’s no doubt that horses are trained and prepared to a very high level too.”

What in particular do you look for in a store horse?

“When you’re on the lookout for stores, I think you have to stand back and look from afar. I’ve stood inside parade rings up and down the country, and you’d like to think that when a horse walks by you, you see something in them that reminds you of a racehorse. That’s often what I find works best.

“You obviously inspect them more closely to look at other things like conformation afterwards, but the first key for me is believing you’re looking at an athletic animal that could be a racehorse. Horses can come from anywhere in this game too. They have the potential to appear out of pedigrees that make no sense at times, so you cannot beat seeing them in those settings.”

Training on its own is a massive undertaking, let alone when you’re still winning riders’ championships. How are you finding the balance between training and riding at the moment?

“Oh it stretches you. Something will have to slow down at some stage.”

You’re 43 now, but I don’t suspect on the back of a championship you’ll be hanging up your boots imminently?

“We won’t make any commitments yet, but I wouldn’t think so. To go back to J.P. and the connections I have, the quality of horses that are there and at home, that I get to work with every day… God, it’d keep you awake at night with the excitement thinking about those horses around me.”

You touched on Sam’s talents as a trainer earlier, and he obviously broke Robert Tyner’s 2009 record with 49 point-to-point winners in a season this year. You know both men very well. What is it that makes Sam so good at what he does?

“Honestly, both men are very similar. They both have a great work ethic and are very particular. There’s a high level expected from horse and man, and you have to pull your weight with both men.

“Robert achieved it and set a fine benchmark. Colin Bowe tried for it on a couple of occasions, so it took an extreme effort for Sam to match it and then surpass it for a new record. It was a huge push and there wasn’t a day missed all year in pursuing it. Now, there were maybe a couple of winners left behind because of bad rides that I was personally responsible for, but the push for it came year round.”

It stood out that Sam’s recruitment of horses from the track to win between the flags was particularly effective this year as well. The game is about much more than just being able to train, and he’s recruited well.

“Absolutely. I think it was very obvious that he set out a goal on the very first day of the year to have a crack at this. To be invited on side to play my part in it was an honour, and it’s fantastic to have done that.”

Finally, what about a horse to follow from the season just gone?

“Onehellofalaugh won at Tallow on his debut in February and I thought he was very good. Metal d’Ainay won for me at Kirkistown around the same time and has gone to Donald McCain. He’s a proper horse, I’d say. I think he’ll be very good.”