BACK in 2009, I rode my second career winner aboard Cochlear at Dundalk. Little did I realise that the wheel would come full circle and, a decade later, I would be enjoying a fruitful winter riding on the all-weather.

My introduction to racing came about in a somewhat unorthodox manner. In 2003, RTÉ showed a six part series entitled Only Fools Buy Horses.

The offering followed the fortunes of Traverse, a three-year-old gelding, trained by Pat Flynn, for a syndicate headed by well-known presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin. I was glued to the television every week as the horse went on to win twice.

With a new found interest in racing, I started a weekend job mucking out[later riding out] for the late Mike Lee [father of Billy]. I never had a great interest in school, so left after my Junior Cert, taking up a job with Mick Murphy in Tipperary. I had planned to go to RACE but Mick signed me on as an apprentice and gave me my first four rides under rules.

With breaking and pre-training forming a large part of his operation, Mick didn’t really have many riding opportunities for me, so he kindly arranged for me to move to Fozzy Stack. I rode two winners in my first season [2009] – Cochlear for Fozzy [Stack] and Doorock, my first success, for Stephen Nolan. Over the next two years, I rode a handful of winners from limited opportunities - the best being My Girl Anna and Our Conor. The former went on to win the Group 3 [now Group 1] Flying Five Stakes for Muredach Kelly, while the ill-fated latter horse won the Triumph Hurdle for Dessie Hughes.

Around the same time [2011], I moved up to the Curragh and signed on as a conditional jockey with Dessie.

He was instrumental in the development of my career and I remained with him until his death in 2014. I was champion conditional jockey in 2012/’13 riding 35 winners.

Unlucky with injuries

I have been unfortunate with injuries over the years and the first real serious knock came the season after I was champion. I broke my back in a fall at Kilbeggan, so ended up missing much of the campaign. I still managed to ride 20 winners but my chances of retaining the title had passed.

My final year with Dessie was another very successful one, which saw me finish on 32 wins. I have always been able to do light weights and over the last couple of seasons I have received huge backing from both J.P. McManus and Gigginstown. Two of the biggest wins of my career came on horses for those leading owners – Off You Go [2018 Coral Hurdle] and Clarcam [2018 Galway Plate].

Having been going along nicely up to last April, I was sidelined by injury once again after the Irish National. I broke my shoulder in the Fairyhouse race and was out of action until Galway. I then suffered another fall, where I broke both my back and shoulder for a second time. Just a few weeks after my return, I took a fall in the Troytown, which required surgery.

Up until this November, I had only ridden 12 winners on the flat. To be honest, my career over jumps had taken off so I just never got the chance to ride on the level. My weight had always been good, so the summer before last I rode out two mornings a week for Willie McCreery. It was nice to ride work alongside Billy Lee and great to fine-tune the clock in my head.

The opportunity to ride in Dundalk this winter came about mainly due to the initiative which restricts certain races to jockeys who have ridden 10 winners or less over a specified period. As well as providing up and coming young apprentices with further opportunities, it also affords lads returning from long spells on the sidelines the chance to shine. I was delighted when Johnny Levins gave me the ride on Nigg Bay last month, as his win has opened the door for more opportunities. On Friday last, I rode another winner, this time for Henry de Bromhead on Paris Duvet. I can easily ride off 9st and 8st 11lb is not a problem, given a bit of notice.

Nigg Bay and Mark Enright won in Dundalk last month for trainer Johnny Levins \ Healy Racing

I live in Trim, so I am just over half an hour from Dundalk Stadium. I ride work on the track for a few different trainers so have gotten to know it well of late. With National Hunt racing mostly restricted to Thursdays and weekends for the winter, I enjoy the Friday night trip to Dundalk. After Christmas, the 10 winners series is extended to 15 or less, so I will hopefully get the chance to ride in a few more over the winter. If I can keep doing well and build up a profile as a flat rider, who knows what it may lead to over the coming months.