I GREW up in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. There wasn’t really a direct family connection to horses or racing. My great-grandparents on both sides were farmers, and my father grew up above his parents’ pub in Fethard, which was very much an agricultural community at the time.

Dad was a ship’s captain and master mariner and sailed around the world twice. He also drove lifeboats throughout my childhood. We spent a lot of time sailing growing up, and we still do, so I think that’s probably where I developed my love of travelling. My mum and I used to go to the Dublin Horse Show every year to watch the Aga Khan Trophy. My own passion for horses came about when I began riding lessons at about eight. From then on, I was completely horse-mad. I spent many happy hours riding ponies around a field in Rathmichael in all sorts of weather and went to pony camp every summer.

I spent as much of my free time as I could there, helping out at weekends and during the holidays.

That interest continued to grow through my teenage years. My love of animals eventually led me towards studying Animal Science at UCD. When the Equine course was introduced, it was an obvious choice for me. During my time at UCD, I did a work placement at Ashford Stud in Kentucky. It was my first real exposure to the scale and international nature of the thoroughbred industry. It opened my eyes to the possibilities within the industry and confirmed that this was the direction I wanted my career to take.

Dissertation

While I was in Kentucky, I was at the Oaks when a filly named Eight Belles broke down. That inspired me to do my final-year dissertation on the different factors contributing to catastrophic injuries in racehorses. For this, I gathered data from various sources, including the BHA and Dr Mary Scollay of the US Jockey Club. I went on to do a Master’s in Management at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business.

The Master’s gave me a much broader understanding of areas such as management, strategy, marketing and finance. For my dissertation, I brought those business interests back into the industry I knew best, researching the Irish thoroughbred industry as an economic cluster.

I looked at the relationships between the different businesses and organisations within the sector and how they contribute to Ireland’s position within the global thoroughbred industry.

After my studies, I wanted to get as much practical experience as I could, and that took me to Arrowfield Stud in Australia. I spent a year and a half there before moving to Perth to work for Tony Noonan’s yard, based at Ascot.

Aspect of the industry

This was another different aspect of the industry. Working for a small satellite yard, there were horses being sent over from Melbourne to run in Western Australia. It was a very small team, and I got to travel with the horses to all the country meetings as well as those in the city. I then spent two years in New Zealand working at Sir Peter Vela’s Pencarrow Stud and Pencarrow Racing. Again, I worked in all the different areas and attended the sales at Karaka and even tried my hand at riding out.

On returning to Ireland, I spent some time with Johnny Fogarty at Gaynestown Stud and then with Clodagh McStay at Oaklawn Stud. I then took on a temporary role as PA for bloodstock agent John McCormack.

That was a really valuable part of my career because it gave me experience of another side of the industry. I was dealing with international clients, arranging visits and travel, researching pedigrees and bloodstock, attending sales and supporting the overall buying and selling process.

Working with John McCormack taught me how important relationships are in this industry. You need to understand the horses and pedigrees, but you also need to understand people, what clients are looking for, how they make decisions and how to build trust and maintain those relationships. I then had a brief stint working with the IDA. While I was working there, I got a call from Ballylinch Stud. It was an opportunity I was very interested in, and I knew I wanted to get back into the industry.

Great team

I joined Ballylinch in May 2016 as personal assistant to John O’Connor, the managing director. I’ve been very fortunate to work with John and to have been given the opportunity over the years to develop my role and take on responsibilities across different areas of the business.

What I really love about Ballylinch is the people. It’s such a great team, and I think that’s a huge part of what makes the place so special.

My current role is quite varied. As well as being personal assistant to John, I also work across bloodstock administration, marketing, client relations and racing. On the PA side, there’s diary management, correspondence, meetings, travel and general organisation, as well as liaising with clients and people throughout the industry.

On the bloodstock side, I deal with things like registrations and sales entries, and I liaise with organisations such as Weatherbys, sales companies and other international industry bodies. I also look after racing updates and track all of our horses in training. I coordinate staff for the sales we attend and make sure they are as organised as possible, with accommodation, transport and so on.

Promoting the stud

Marketing is another big part of my role. I help look after social media and advertising, promoting the stud and our stallions. I also organise events such as our annual open days, raceday sponsorship and sales hospitality.

We’re very fortunate to have such an exceptional group of stallions at Ballylinch, and I enjoy following the progress of their offspring. It’s particularly rewarding when you have followed a horse from the very beginning and then see them win a big race or go on to make an impact at stud themselves.

Ballylinch-bred Bayside Boy is one example whose progeny have been particularly exciting to follow this year.

The client relations side is also a big part of my role. We have clients and industry contacts coming from all over the world. A lot of it is about making sure everything runs smoothly, whether that’s arranging visits, organising travel and hospitality, or simply being a point of contact.

I think my background in the industry helps with that because I’ve worked on the practical side of studs and racing, as well as the bloodstock and administrative side. I’ve seen the industry from a few different perspectives, which I think is useful when dealing with clients and colleagues.

I understand the horses and the people who work with them, but I also understand the administrative, commercial and business side of the industry. I think that combination has been a real strength in my role at Ballylinch.

Amazing people

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have met so many amazing people through the industry and to have had the opportunity to travel. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel for racing to Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, and I’ve worked in the States, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. It’s also a very small industry in many ways. It’s amazing how everybody seems to know everybody, wherever you go. You can meet someone on the other side of the world and discover that you have mutual connections through racing. For anyone young coming into the industry, I think the opportunities to travel, meet people and experience different countries and cultures are fantastic. If you’re willing to work hard and put yourself out there, there are so many different paths you can take.

Huge honour

I was so surprised and absolutely delighted to be nominated for the Administration Award at the recent Irish Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. To know that the people I work alongside every day felt that I deserved the award was a huge honour.

Winning it was incredibly special and something I’m very proud of. Ultimately, I’m still doing something I loved as a child, which is pretty special. Although, having spent so many years being completely horse-mad myself, I might secretly hope my own children don’t follow me too closely down that particular road. I know just how expensive it can get!

Stephanie was in conversation with John O’Riordan