RIDING your first winner is always going to be special but when that comes at your local track it makes it all the better. I was fortunate enough to gain my initial success on Easter Monday at Mallow – or Cork racecourse as it is now known.

The fact I did so on a mare trained by my uncle, Eugene, also helped make it a real family affair.

Although I wasn’t born when my father, William, won the Foxhunters Chase at Cheltenham, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by stories of that incredible occasion. He retired from race-riding in 2005 but I was old enough to witness him in action in a couple of point-to-points before then.

Lovely Citizen, the horse dad partnered to win at the Festival for uncle Eugene, is buried below my grandparents house – for some reason I can still recall the day he was buried.

It was my grandfather who got the family into horses initially, as he bred his own here at home. Aside from my father and uncle, my cousins Eoin and Maxine are also very much part of the racing industry. My aunt, Marie McCartan, owns Ballyphillip Stud, which bred the likes of Tiggy Wiggy, Harry Angel and Kodi Bear.

Dad felt that I should gain an all round experience of being a horseman, so after I learned how to ride aged nine, I went down the route of show jumping, eventing and hunter trials.

I competed in those disciplines until I was 15 and the next year I got my amateur licence so I could ride in bumpers. A year later, aged 17, I was allowed ride in point-to-points, picking up a few spins towards the end of the season.

Eugene’s horses were sick at the time, so I didn’t have much luck with my early mounts but I did gain some invaluable experience. The same can be said of my couple of opportunities in bumpers on the track.

FIRST WINNER

I didn’t have to wait long to get my first winner of the new season, scoring on A Decent Excuse, at Castletown Geoghegan on the opening weekend. I followed up on the same horse at Loughrea a week later and made it three in three weeks, when Wilcosdiana won at Rathcannon in October.

My winning run came to an abrupt end when I broke my nose a week later, resulting in me missing out until after Christmas. Maxine [O’Sullivan] won on A Decent Excuse while I was absent and I was delighted for her. The horse has been a real old stalwart for the yard and our family. He had just lost his way a bit under rules but thrives in the early part of the season.

I rode my fourth winner in January when Ajijic was victorious for trainer Terence Leonard. At the moment I am having to concentrate on my studies as I am doing the Leaving Certificate in June. I still ride out for Eugene [O’Sullivan] at weekends and holidays but am not in the yard as often as two summers I went up to Joseph O’Brien’s and am hoping to do the same this year. I also spent a summer with Enda Bolger when I was 15.

It is fantastic to get to see how those great trainers operate at close quarters. My plan is to take a year out after finishing in school, spend a season riding in point-to-points, then return to college.

It was hard luck on Maxine that she was away at Ascot Sales, as if she was at home she may have ridden Wilcosdiana in Mallow. She had ridden the mare to win a hunter chase at the track back in November.

Despite having been beaten on three starts since then, we felt that there was plenty to be positive about going into Monday’s race. The mare seems to reserve her best for our local track, where her ability to jump and gallop takes the opposition out of their comfort zone.

As it transpired, Wilkosdiana did just that, having her three rivals in trouble from a long ways out, ultimately winning by 47 lengths. I knew before the turn in that my only dangers were the fences in front of me, so it felt great to be able to enjoy the whole experience.

My family were all in attendance on the day and the mare’s owner, Tony Wilson, is also a local man. My grandmother blessed me with the holy water before I went racing, as she does to all of us.

Derek O’Connor, Davy Russell and Richie McLernon all spent time riding for Eugene and would have been afforded the same blessings before heading to the races.

My immediate target is to have a go at the novice riders’ title next season and hopefully establish myself in point-to-points.

Longer term I feel my future lies under rules as my weight may be too light for point-to-points. Before all that I plan to go to college and further my education then see if I can make a career as a professional jockey in a few years.

Michael O’Sullivan was in conversation with John O’Riordan