CORINTHIAN challenger Stephen Thorne hails from Rush, Co Dublin. Stephen grew up on a farm and from an early age he was driving tractors and planting potatoes – he is still very much a grafter to this day. He attributes his work ethic today back to the lessons he had instilled in him on the farm at home, the essence of hard work that he learned from his father Martin.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. He spent five years with Adrian ‘Ado’ McGuinness before he decided to spread his wings to gain more experience of how the industry trains and operates abroad. In Australia, Stephen worked for Anthony Cummings and Coolmore Stud.

Foundation

Stephen is also a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start programme which gave him a great foundation to build on his racing industry and business knowledge. He completed the course in 2014 and spent the following two years assisting Mike de Kock in South Africa and Ralph Beckett in Britain.

In 2017, he returned home and rejoined the team at Skylark House Stables in Lusk, Co Dublin where today 30-year-old holds the enviable title of assistant trainer to Ado McGuinness.

Speaking of his participation in the Corinthian Challenge in aid of Irish Injured Jockeys (IIJ), Stephen said: “I am looking forward to the challenge of getting fit to take part in three races but equally, I am very keen to give a little bit back to a sport that has been very good to me over the years by raising some much-needed funds for IIJ.”

In the opening leg of the charity race series at the Curragh in July, Stephen finished second aboard the well-backed Aussie Valentine for Adrian McGuinness which puts him in a great position in the overall series as we look ahead to race two at Cork this Sunday.

To support Stephen to raise funds for Irish Injured Jockeys, visit: https://the-corinthian-challenge-charity-race-series-2019.everydayhero.com/ie/stephen-thorne.

You can up to date on all the Corinthian Challenge news and updates by following Irish Injured Jockeys at @CorinthianChall on Twitter and @CorinthianChallenge on Facebook.