THE Canary Islands provided a most welcome denouement to the hectic final leg of Wayne Lordan’s best season as a jockey. The Spanish archipelago, just a few miles off the Moroccan coast, concluded with a whistle-stop tour of the world from Santa Anita to Flemington to Sha Tin, with a spot of Dundalk in between.

When he finally got to put the feet up, along with wife Carey-Ann and children Ella (aged two) and Jack (14 months), it was with a sense of satisfaction at being able to reflect on a job done well, and receiving further affirmation that his decision to eschew quantity for quality in 2017 had paid off.

After 16 years with Tommy and Fozzy Stack, 12 with the retiring David Wachman and fruitful partnerships with the likes of Eddie Lynam, he had been associated with horses of the calibre of Sole Power, Legatissimo, Slade Power, Sudirman, Duntle, Lolly For Dolly, Luas Line, Requinto, Fracas and Alexander Tango.

But Wachman calling it a day left a hole and while he had six Group 1s on his CV, Lordan had yet to tick the classic box.

That the filly Winter would move from Wachman’s care to that of Aidan O’Brien had no bearing on the subsequent move to Ballydoyle, though it helped that he knew her so well when getting the leg up to plot her course to 1000 Guineas glory in the opening weeks of his new job.

With Ryan Moore, Donnacha O’Brien and Seamie Heffernan around, steering 40 winners or more in a turf campaign, as he had become accustomed to, was going to be difficult. Tallies of 17, 24 and 19 have been registered in the meantime but at the end of those three seasons, Lordan is now on 13 Group/Grade 1s, has two classics and a Breeders’ Cup in the bag, and is a regular protagonist on the biggest stage. As dual Derby-winning rider Pádraig Beggy can vouch for, there is no such thing as a second, third or fourth string from Ballydoyle.

A flourishing partnership with Joseph O’Brien and Iridessa yielded the richest dividends this year however. The combo supplemented their Group 1 success at Newmarket at the end of last season with three more this term, the highlight, with due respect to the two domestic victories, being the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf in November.

Iridessa and Lordan hit the front late on in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf \Healy Racing

Added to another 1000 Guineas triumph on the Heath for Hermosa, it was no surprise that the Corkman garnered the HRI Flat Achievement Award. The only drawback was that he couldn’t attend the ceremony at the Clayton Hotel but it is very obvious that he appreciated his selection.

“Irish racing is very strong no matter where we go. And there is a lot of people that achieve a lot throughout the year between horses, jockeys and trainers. Lucky enough, I was nominated and I won it. To be picked out of such a strong category, which it is every year, it is a very nice thing.

“I was lucky what I got for the year. There was a few that ran really well and a few were a bit unlucky. I got a few of the important ones anyway.”

Conviction

Four years ago, when Lordan did his first Big Interview, he was just days after booting Legatissimo home in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood. Two years later, Winter had done the business at Newmarket. Regularly during the latter conversation, he repeated his conviction that joining the Aidan O’Brien squadron was the right thing to do. If there were doubters then, they will all long have been converted.

“It never applies whether it is first, second, third or fourth (string). It all comes up to the horse on the day. You could be just lucky that the horse will handle the track or do whatever he does on the day, and you could be on the right one. They are the opportunities I looked for when I went there, just to compete in them big races. And as you can see, it swings around and sometimes it happens in your favour.”

The other side of that is that if he wins on the likes of Hermosa and Winter in Newmarket, he isn’t on board at the Curragh when they double up.

“There is no doubt about it. You would be as helpful as you can to Ryan Moore the next day. He obviously knows them well but if there is something you feel might be a little bit important, of course you tell him.”

There can be a tendency when a Ballydoyle outsider wins, particularly if Moore or one of the O’Brien Jnrs aren’t on board, to dismiss it as a fluke. Hermosa followed up in the Irish Guineas, as Winter did. The latter added two more Group 1s and was only narrowly denied a third by a Lordan-driven Hydrangea in the Matron Stakes, a race he plundered for the third time with Iridessa this term.

Hermosa’s form tapered off as the year progressed, her heart-on-sleeve style of racing possibly leaving its mark, but completing the Guineas double cemented her status.

Wayne Lordan won another classic, on Hermosa in the 1000 Guineas \Healy Racing

“She proved it wasn’t (a fluke) and 90% of the time they do. You mightn’t ride it the next day but you will always be associated with riding it when it won a big race when you were on it. Classics are not easy got. There is only so many of them a year. Winning classics and Group 1s, that is what puts your name higher, and maybe it’s why I am doing the interview today. Winning races is a huge help for your career.”

Joining the greats on the Breeders’ Cup roll of honour was the standout feat however, Iridessa the only European-trained horse to prevail in California.

“It is hard to pick. You love winning Group 1s and you love winning classics. It is probably a bit fresh in my memory but to win a Breeders’ Cup for Joseph was unbelievable. It is a thing that doesn’t happen too often.

“I remember when I started you would be watching it on TV and you would be saying, ‘There is no chance that I would ever get to ride out there.’ You are staring at the telly watching all the racing because it’s unbelievable.

“As a man said to me, Mick Kinane rode for many good trainers and the same with Johnny Murtagh. They were the best jockeys when they were riding, with six or seven top-class rides every year and they had three Breeders’ Cups. So that has to be the highlight. The achievement of it. Hopefully I can have another one. But I am sure there is a lot of lads riding that have never rode in one and think that is definitely something they want to do.

“When you go to America things are different. The tracks are usually left-handed, they are only a mile or a little bit less around. If you have a horse that can jump and travel just behind the speed you have a great chance. It is just whether you have the right horse on the day.”

While he hasn’t imbibed alcohol for many years, Lordan wouldn’t have had a chance for heavy celebrations anyway but he can wind back in his mind’s eye and feel the glow again, very quickly.

“It depends on what kind of rides you have next. I was bubbling after that and I still am. I just think it was a great achievement. And the same for Joseph. He is the second person to ride and train one so that is a massive achievement as well. So you are a part of history for that as well.”

Not long after the presentation, he was on a flight to Melbourne, where he finished fourth on Il Paradiso in the Melbourne Cup, promoted subsequently to third after the disqualification of Master Of Reality, though Lordan said that he had never had to stop riding despite being short of room close to the line.

Il Paradiso was finishing strongly, beaten only a neck, and that was the case too with Japan, who also had to come through traffic when a half-length third in the Derby at Epsom. To rub salt into those wounds, Lordan lost his whip 100 yards from the line. It goes without saying that when you are that close in a huge race, you don’t just consign it to the dustbin of your mind.

“I don’t think I would be as good at my job if I wasn’t like that. I do dwell on it a bit but you can’t change, you can only put it right for the next day. But it does wear on you a little bit, of course it does. It does bother you a little bit but you just move on from it. The next race helps you do that.

“Ninety per cent of the time, when your horse jumps slow out of the stalls that is out of your hands and you have to make the best way after that. But when you are after getting a good position and you make a decision to go left and you are after committing and you realise, ‘I should have gone right’, that is the one that bothers you the most. When a horse doesn’t jump, you don’t mind... That is out of your hands and you have to make the best decisions after that.”

Whip regulations

He seems to have a fair handle on the whip regulations that were introduced for this season, only having a caution on his record. He isn’t a fan of some of the suspensions especially but doesn’t see an alternative for jockeys but to do their best to adjust to the regulations.

“It’s very tricky. I don’t know what to make of it. It is what it is and you have to try and deal with it. With lads going one and two over, getting a lot of days it is a bit mad. We spoke early on about, ‘Will I go left or will I go right?’, and then you are trying to remember, ‘Did I give it five or six?’ Some lads fighting out a finish go one over and get punished hard. But I don’t know, you have to just look after yourself in those situations and touch wood, I’ve avoided a suspension so far, thankfully.”

Of course Aidan O’Brien was already established as an all-time great by the time Lordan accepted his invitation to join the team, even though the legendary trainer is only 13 years older than his now 37-year-old rider.

“Every trainer is different. Every trainer, they work with the facilities that they have. It was just so much of the routine, when I got there, that I actually really liked. I like the routine of it. The attention to detail out of Aidan is unbelievable. It is a big operation to run and it is very successful.”

The boss’s eldest son is excellent to ride for too.

“Joseph has ridden at the top end and he understands exactly. He tells you about the horse but he leaves it as an open book to you how to ride, which is very easy because you can get your horse comfortable. Instead of sitting third, you can sit fifth and your horse is happy so you can finish out the race better. He is very straightforward to ride for.”

A chip off the old block?

“Joseph I would think, learned all his trade from Aidan and he took in every bit of it.”

Of course Donnacha is a member of the training ranks now, no longer battling the scales – an issue the far more diminutive Lordan has mercifully never had to contend with.

“He will be another lad on the phone book so it will be costing me money ringing him (for rides) every day!” quips Lordan.

“It was only a matter of time. He rode at a very high level. I thought he might keep going another year but he decided the time was right. He was doing a few horses of his own last year and he had a couple of winners. So I think he will be another fella I would like to be on his side.

“I don’t know how he done it (so long). It was huge dedication and it was a lot of hard work too. I don’t weigh that much, I am probably the wrong fella to be asking. But I wouldn’t like to do what he did and still ride at such a level as he did.”

He will enjoy Christmas and return to Ballydoyle at the end of January, fresh and ready to go again, fitness maintained thanks to Dundalk. Then it’s kid-in-a-sweetshop time, sitting on two-year-olds thinking “any one of them could be anything”.

With Donnacha no longer on the riding roster, there should be more opportunities from Aidan, Joseph and indeed the reigning champion pilot himself. But there are no targets in terms of numbers.

“I don’t think I ever set targets. The only thing I have a rule with, my dad (Pat) told me that years ago, he said, ‘If you keep your boss happy you will always have a job.’ And that is the way I roll with it.

“I feel good and I am probably just after having the best year of my career. You would have to say things are happening and luck is on my side at the moment anyway. Hopefully it stays that way.”