THE aptly-named Epic Ride gave me the biggest win of my training career to date, when landing the Grade 3 Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs earlier this month.

Having arrived in America with no phone, no car and, less than a few $100 to my name, I grafted hard to get to where I am. People often speak about this “land of opportunity” but I honestly believe that if you stick it out and put in the hours, the rewards are there. Starting off with just the one horse, increasing to three or four after a couple of years, I now have a barn numbering 60 horses.

From Longwood, Co Meath, I have no background in the sport. My father was a keen racegoer and, it would always have been on the television at home when I was growing up. I found myself drawn to it and soon developed a grá. Some of my earliest memories are of going to the Phoenix Park with dad.

A friend of mine had ponies and I loved going over to his place to see them. By the time I reached secondary school, I had only sat on a couple of ponies but knew nothing more than the basics.

One evening, there was a documentary about RACE on television and, I just happened to see it. What struck me more than anything, was that it said you could leave school at 15 in order to go to the academy! After a two-week trial, I was lucky enough to be one of 30 accepted onto the programme.

On placement

The first three months were spent at the Army Equitation School, after which I was sent out on placement to trainer Dermot Kelly. He was very good to me and, later when I worked for him full-time, Dermot gave me my first ride on the track at Downpatrick.

In truth, I was very impatient in my early days, hopping around from yard to yard. I probably should have just stuck it out in one place but I was young and naive at the time. I wanted to be a jockey but I think I just didn’t know how.

Thankfully, young lads and girls are better prepared for all that now and don’t make the same mistakes. At the same time, I did spend a long time working for Christy Roche, as well as riding a few winners for Michael Halford.

Christy was definitely one of the shrewdest trainers I worked for, and I learned so much from him. He always had a plan for his horses and was one step ahead the whole time. I went on to ride over jumps for a time, including partnering a few winners for the late Edward O’Grady. When things slowed down in Ireland, I went over to Lenny Lungo, for whom I also rode winners. After that, I went down to Newmarket and rode as an amateur on the flat for a few years.

America

When I first went over to America, I had no Visa, only a three month holiday one. At first, I didn’t really like it to be honest. It was a complete change of lifestyle.

I was employed as a work rider on the track. What struck me almost straight away was how much money you could make doing that job. I would have ridden out up to 25 horses a morning, then went to farms to break young horses after lunch. Once I got my Visa, I worked away for a few years. However, I knew that l couldn’t do that job forever. No one was going to give me a horse to train, so I had a choice to make; either keep going as I had done or, buy a yearling of my own.

Having discussed it with my girlfriend Erin (now my wife), we decided that I should go to the sales at Fasig-Tipton to buy a yearling. We only had combined savings of $3k, so my heart nearly sank when the hammer came down on my new purchase at $7k.

Having borrowed the money to complete the sale, I set about breaking the only horse in my barn. He later went on to win a graded stakes on just his second start, before being sold for $100k.

I reinvested the proceeds and, have basically been doing the same to this day. A year later, I went back and, spent $9k on a yearling that subsequently sold for $500k. As people began to notice my success, I acquired a few clients and, gradually built up a syndicate over the last years.

Slow burner

It has been something of a slow burner, from starting out with that one horse of my own. After a year or so, I numbered three or four but now I have a string of 60. I am based in a training centre in Lexington, Kentucky, where I have two barns; one with 40 horses and, a second with 20. It is a great track, one which is very hard to get into.

In my opinion, Kentucky is the best state in the country in which to train horses. The prize money is excellent and the racing is seriously competitive. We have had plenty of success over the last few years, thank God.

With more winners, comes more prize money, which in turn leads to a better quality of horse. Epic Ride is a case in point. I think that he could be very good. He is very unexposed on the turf and has stepped up every time we have asked more from him. Although he has yet to win a Grade 1 race, he has been beaten less than a length by genuine Grade 1 horses in defeat. He could possibly run in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes in October but that isn’t set in stone as of yet.

I’d love to race in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile at Del Mar but he would have to be accepted into the race. If he can win at the highest level before that, or gain acceptance into the Breeders’ Cup, I wouldn’t be afraid of anyone.

I love Ireland and, it will always be home. I try to go back a few times a year. However, I have a great life over here now. My wife Erin and I, have six-year-old twins, Jack and Eleanor. We are always on the go but I enjoy that. It took me a while to adjust to the pace of life in America. It is non-stop, go, go, go. Ireland is far more relaxed. Here, you can’t take your foot off the gas or, there is always someone else waiting to take your place. Maybe it’s that mentality that makes people work harder in order to succeed. I’ve achieved far more than I could ever have imagined but hopefully with Epic Ride there may be even better to come.

John was in conversation with John O’Riordan