I RODE my first winner on Friday night last, when Master Melody won at Dundalk. It was brilliant to get off the mark on the track and hopefully it will prove to be just the first of many, over the coming months and years.

We always had ponies at home, when I was growing up in Newmarket On Fergus. I sat on my first pony at the age of three, and apart from a short break in my early teens, I have always worked with horses. Initially, I learned how to ride from my father at home and in later years I went to Morgan O’Brien’s Riding School, where I honed the skills that I had been taught from a young age. My father bought and sold ponies and I helped him out whenever I had the opportunity. Sadly, he passed away when I was 13 and I found myself taking a step back from horses for a time. However, the break proved short-lived and in my mid-teens I began to ride out for Lorna Casey and Fachtna Twomey, as well as having around 10 rides for Alan Kelly on the pony circuit. At 16 years old, I left school and enrolled in RACE determined to fulfil my ambition to become a jockey.

During my first few months at the school, I was sent out to Kevin Prendergast’s yard on work placement. It was a fantastic opportunity to get, as the boss is recognised as a wonderful teacher and at the time Sam James, Gary Halpin and Samantha Bell were all apprentices at the stable. I remained at Mr Prendergast’s for two months after graduating but then he sent me to Eddie Lynam’s as he didn’t have enough work for me at home. Within two months things had picked up again and I was back at Friarstown, where the boss was keen to give me the chance to prove myself. I returned in November 2012 and the following March, I signed on as an apprentice with Mr Prendergast and took out my licence.

Just a month later, Celtic Dane provided me with my first ride in public and we finished seventh at Leopardstown. Altogether I had 19 rides last season and was placed on four occasions. The boss was very good to me and gave me plenty of chances allowing me the time to adapt to race riding. At the start of the 2014 season I had only three or four rides, before I broke my collarbone in a fall at Cork, an injury that really called a halt to my progress. I was forced to miss six weeks because of the break at a time in the season when I should have been gaining valuable experience. Thankfully, I haven’t seemed to suffer too much of a setback and even managed to finish third on my first ride back. I rode Master Melody at Dundalk late last month and was disappointed not to win, as we didn’t enjoy the best of luck on that occasion. Fortunately the boss allowed me to keep the ride for his next start, which saw me ride my first winner. I was thrilled to win on a horse for Mr Prendergast, but also for the late John Foley, who only passed away a month ago, as he had been a very loyal owner to both the boss and me.

Hopefully last Friday evening’s win will help raise my profile and bring me to the attention of other trainers. I am going to stay at home in Ireland over the winter, so it would be great to gain further experience by picking up as many rides as possible during the All Weather Series at Dundalk. When the flat season finishes next month, I will be working full-time at Mr Prendergast’s as we begin to get going with the yearlings. It is an exciting time as we wait to discover if there are any potential stars among the group of young horses. Hopefully I can continue to build my own reputation as a jockey, by riding a winner or two over the winter, which will help to keep my name out there as trainers go in search of an apprentice who can be deemed value for his claim.

Dylan Hogan was in conversation with John O’Riordan