I HAVE been involved in the racing industry in some way, shape, or form for as long as I have been working. My dad P.J. is a saddler on the Curragh and my interest in racing stemmed from there. Some of my earliest memories are of going around different stables with my father after school and during holidays. Mick Connolly’s yard stands out in particular, as his was one of the biggest in those times and was just across the road from our house, as well as those of Con Collins, and Kevin Prendergast.

In my teenage years, I used to go out to Redhills riding ponies with Johnny Levins. He was very much the one with the riding talent, going on to have a career as a jockey, before turning his hand to training. In third year in school, I responded to an intercom ad for summer staff at the Irish National Stud. Over the next eight years, I spent school and college holidays working at the stud, as well as holding down a casual job on track with Tote Ireland.

Having graduated with a diploma in Finance and Accounting from Carlow IT, I started working with HRI in 2005. I spent two years in the finance department before leaving to travel; I ended up in New Zealand where I was employed by the New Zealand Racing Board in their accounts department for a time.

On my return to Ireland, I was fortunate enough to secure a role in the HRI racing department, working firstly in publications, before moving to entries and declarations. I later moved to procurement within the finance department, where I spent four years.

In late 2015, the opportunity came up to join the CARE department, in a new role as Industry Education and Training Co-ordinator. I was very interested in that position, as up until that point, very little information was available on the subject. It is a great area to work in as all of the initiatives that I am involved with are for the benefit of the industry and receive great support from stakeholders.

CARE was established within HRI in order to work with all of the industry stakeholders in the evolution of an education, learning and development strategy for the industry at large by supporting initiatives that promote Ireland internationally as a world-class equine educational provider.

Information service

One of CARE’s first initiatives was the introduction of an Industry Assistance Programme which was launched at the Galway Festival in 2016. The programme is 100% free, confidential, and independent and it is open to everyone who works in the racing industry. It ensures that, no matter what your circumstances, you will have access to professional support if you need it. It is also an information service which can be used for whatever you want, allowing you to focus on the things that matter to you.

Mental health issues such as depression can affect anyone, no matter what your age or position in life, at any time. With respected individuals within the industry speaking out about their issues with depression over the last number of years, I hope it will encourage others to seek help if they are experiencing difficulties.

Details of the programme can be found at www.workinracing.ie/industry-welfare/industry-assistance-programme/. If you ring the helpline you are under no obligation to provide any personal details, not even your name.

Range of careers

We also have a website, www.workinracing.ie. The website is designed to provide anyone who may be interested in working in the racing industry with information about the range of careers available, the equine study opportunities in Ireland, and vacant positions within the industry. For people who are currently in the industry, the website has details of the further training and development opportunities are available to them through our partnership with RACE as well as initiatives such as the Education & Training Grant which is open to all who work in the industry, the site also features a job board which advertises vacancies within the industry. It is our aim that our website will become a first port of call for anyone who would like to work, or study, in the racing industry.

We have worked closely with the IHRB medical team over the last number of years; based on the research they have commissioned as part of the Jockey Research Group we setup the Jockey Pathway in late 2017. The pathway offers all professional jockeys access to a support service including a dietitian, a strength and conditioning coach, a sports psychologist, and a career support and transition specialist.

Jockeys’ programme

Last week, in conjunction with the IHRB and RACE, we introduced a new pre-licence programme for jockeys. Areas covered on the programme include diet, sports psychology, a fitness test, a riding assessment as well as a mock stewards’ enquiry and a section around raceday rules and regulations.

We have expanded the team here in CARE over the past 18 months and now have a team of four which is led by our new manager Grainne Murphy and supported by myself, Elaine Burke, and Sarah Stafford. In the coming weeks and months we (CARE) will be going out to the various groups within the industry to carry out a training needs survey. We want to understand fully how we can better serve the requirements around education, training, and personal development for the various cohorts which make up the industry. The findings from this research will inform our ongoing work in the future.

Please go to www.workinracing.ie, emailworkinracing@hri.ie or call us on 045 455455.

Patrick Ryan was in conversation with John O’Riordan