LAST Sunday I enjoyed my biggest win since taking out a trainer’s licence five years ago when Vics Canvas claimed the Cork Grand National at Mallow. It was rather apt that I tasted success in that particular race as my family and I have a long association with staying chasers.

My father Liam, worked for the Dreapers for many years and was the first jockey to win on the legendary Arkle. He also won many of the big staying chases over the years, including the Irish National, Thyestes, Leopardstown Chase and Sun Alliance. Unfortunately his career was cut short by a bad fall and he had retired from riding by the time I was born.

My uncle Peter also worked for the Dreapers and enjoyed plenty of success in the saddle. I suppose given my background, I was always destined to work in racing and I started off with Sean Connor in Ratoath, going in weekends and on school holidays. After a few months I went up to Paddy Mooney’s and at 15, I followed in my father’s footsteps, going to work for the Dreapers. While there, I rode a number of winners, thus keeping up the family tradition.

Jim Dreaper was in charge and was a fantastic man to work for. I learned my trade at the yard and he taught me so much about racehorses, particularly staying chasers. Carvills Hill was the stable star in those years and was a real high quality horse. Jim is a great believer in feeding horses properly, schooling them intensively and giving them time to develop as individuals before running them. He felt that every horse deserved the same time and respect, whether they were a potential star or moderate type – a principle that I have carried with me into my own training career.

I gradually progressed onto breaking and pre-training young horses and by 2006, I was working with my own clients, including the late Oliver Brady. Despite the increased workload I had taken on, I combined the two roles for a further three years, before making the decision to apply for a licence and go it alone.

Having trained point-to-pointers with reasonable success, I carried that winning streak onto the track and in 2010/11, won races with Vics Canvas, Ocean Bright and Sadlers Mark. The former has been a real standard bearer for the yard and last Sunday’s win was his sixth overall.

He came to me as a young horse and I started him out in point-to-points (winning his maiden at Loughbrickland in 2010). He later beat Alderwood and Raz De Maree in a Naas bumper, before winning three times over hurdles. Prior to last weekend, he had given me my finest moment as a trainer, when he took the Grade C Proudstown Handicap Hurdle at Navan last November. Ocean Bright has played his part with four victories, while we have also won decent prizes on the flat in recent seasons. Sadlers Mark was a winner at the 2012 Galway Festival, New Magic was blacktype-placed at Dundalk and earlier this year, Dragon Fei gave the stable its first victory at the Curragh.

Just three years ago Vics Canvas suffered a tendon injury and we missed nine months with him. It is always difficult to get a horse back from such an injury, but thankfully our patience paid off and we were rewarded last Sunday.

Going into the race I was a little concerned, as he had only run three times over fences and I felt that lack of experience might be his undoing. It had always been in my mind to give him another race but with the summer we have had that made the ground so fast, I wasn’t prepared to risk him, given his previous setback.

When Vics Canvas made his chasing debut at Roscommon in June, it was the first time in five years, since his point-to-point win, that he had jumped a fence. Fortunately he is a very straightforward horse and we had done plenty of schooling with him over the past few months - the Lee Valley schooling grounds are just 150 yards from our stables and have been of huge benefit to us. Everything that is required to train flat and jumping horses is on site and it is a tremendous asset to all the local trainers.

Conor Maxwell gets on really well with the horse and is an important member of the team - I was delighted to be able to share the plaudits with him on the day. We are very lucky to have good owners and staff and my wife Gillian is a great support.

Dermot McLoughlin was in conversation with John O’Riordan