HAVING never had any real exposure to, or interest in, horse racing growing up, I got into it quite by accident.

A change in career at a relatively early stage of my life has seen me spend the best part of 40 years working on Irish racecourses.

I am the fifth generation of the family here in Dalkey. My parents were ordinary working class people. Dad worked as a station master for CIE and my mother was a housewife. After I finished in secondary school, I spent four years working as an apprentice goldsmith in Appleby jewellers in Dublin city.

In the mid-1970s, I moved over to England where I was employed in the jewellery business in Hatton Gardens. During those years, I had also started making my own jewellery on a small scale.

By 1983, my wife Noelle and I had had enough of living abroad, so we decided to come back home to Dublin. Later that same year, I began working with my father-in-law Michael Scanlon. He ran a successful binocular hire business at racecourses throughout the country.

I introduced the first pieces in my equine jewellery collection at his kiosk. When Michael passed away a few years later, none of his four daughters were in a position to take over the business. As I was married to one of them, and already working alongside Michael, I was asked if I would be interested in taking over.

Binocular hire

At that time, there were no big screens or television pictures available on course, so the binocular hire business was still quite lucrative. However, as technology improved and more advancements were made, that business gradually fell away over the years.

When I took over from Michael Scanlon, I worked at 12 different racecourses. Now I only go to Fairyhouse, Leopardstown, Punchestown and the Curragh. Whereas binocular hire would have been popular amongst ordinary racegoers in the early years, nowadays it’s really only people within racing that hire them. I mainly look after the stewards and trainers at the races.

The equine jewellery side of the business really took of from the mid-80s. I sold a lot of pieces, both at the races and on my website georgebryanjewellery.com.

Stand out

Commissions were particularly important to me and I am quite proud of two that stand out: I made a set of cufflinks for A.P. McCoy on the occasion of his 3,000th winner, and also a full set for the Cian O’Connor wedding party.

If anyone wants to have a look at my work, they can view samples at my kiosk at the four tracks where I still work. The jewellery is now the most lucrative of the two arms, with very few people hiring binoculars anymore. You still get the odd few looking for them at the festival meetings but that’s really it. I find myself stocking a lot of binoculars but with little demand for them. Unfortunately, that’s just the way things have gone.

I had no idea what racing was all about when I first started but over the years I got to know a lot of trainers, jockeys and owners. In a way, we are like a family, travelling around the country together from course to course. I see a lot of the same people on a weekly basis.

When I first came into the business, Dawn Run was at the peak of her career. She was one of the first really great horses that I saw race. Istabraq, Hurricane Fly and Desert Orchid were other big names that stand out to me.

I saw Desert Orchid winning the Irish National at Fairyhouse. He was a lovely looking animal. On the flat, Sea The Stars was the main horse that caught my imagination.

In terms of jockeys, Charlie Swan, Paul Carberry and Ruby Walsh were excellent over jumps and Mick Kinane and Ryan Moore on the flat. I have a brief chat with most jockeys at the races but they are at work and focussed on their job.

Gamble

People often say to me that, with all my connections in racing, I must get some great tips. I think most are shocked to discover that I never gamble. I hate losing more than winning! In racing, everyone has their own opinion. Unfortunately, I’d be the one paying for it.

Trainers don’t enter a horse unless they thought it had a chance. It wouldn’t be unusual for me to get more than one tip for the same race.

Sadly, a lot of the characters that were in racing when I started are all gone. The white coat men at the entrances have fallen away. With betting and live races on the phone, punters don’t frequent the betting ring like they used to either.

Mid-week racing isn’t what it used to be anymore but the festival meetings like Galway, Punchestown and Derby weekend continue to be strong. However, I think that those are now seen almost more as social occasions than race meetings.

I watched the Galway Festival at home on television during lockdown. It was a very peculiar time for all of us. Seeing the racing take place without any owners or punters was very strange.

Attendances

A lot is being made of falling attendances at the moment. I think that the people who run racing are doing their level best. It’s very difficult to just put your finger on the problem. It’s down to people to do what they want; be that to go racing or attend alternative sporting events.

Racing will be there for a long time to come. The bigger meetings are continuing to go from strength to strength. I love going racing and meeting people. I will retire eventually and that day probably isn’t too far off. I count myself fortunate to have worked in such a wonderful, sociable job.

George was in conversation with John O’Riordan