CAPTAIN Midnight provided the perfect wedding gift for my new wife, Lisa, when winning twice at Dundalk earlier this month. The horse is owned by my other half, who also races Captain Cullen in her colours. As both have won races for us this season, I can proudly boast to have scored with every horse in my yard!

Growing up my only exposure to horses was the occasional trip to the races. It was not until I left school that the opportunity to work in the industry came about. After finishing my Junior Certificate, I decided to enter the workforce and Barry Kelly offered me a two week trial at his yard. Up to that point I had no hands-on experience whatsoever but during my fortnight at Barry’s I learned how to lead, tack up and ride horses. I was kept on once the initial period had passed and I stayed in the yard for a further two years. During that time I worked away at the usual tasks such as feeding and mucking out, while also going racing and progressing to the point where I was able to ride work.

At 18, I moved on to Juddmonte Farm in Kilcock, where I was tasked with breaking yearlings and pre-training the two-year-olds. Although I was employed full-time, the work was quite seasonal, so I had the opportunity to travel most summers and gain a further education.

GERMAN TRAINER

One of my best experiences was the summer I spent in Germany, working for leading flat trainer Bruno Schutz. He was based in Cologne and had over 80 horses in his care. I rode a lot of work on the two-year-olds and found it a great learning curve.

At the end of the summer, I went back to Juddmonte and continued my work at the farm. Later I spent 10 months at Belmont Park, working for Leo O’Brien, who a couple of years previously had sent Fourstars Allstar over to the Curragh to win the 2000 Guineas.

Horses in the US are trained very differently to here or in Germany, as most of their work is done on their own, against the clock. I did a lot of track work and feel I benefited greatly. Again, I went back working at Juddmonte for a couple of years, then spent a year in Australia, working with Tony McEvoy, who trained 40 horses on the track at Flemington Park.

On returning to Ireland, I left racing for a few years, deciding to go and work on the buildings. However, the recession soon hit and I went back to horses, working with both Joanna Morgan and Gerry Keane.

I met Lisa (Sheridan) six years ago and soon I combined my work in racing with a new role at Navan Memorials, a company owned by her family. Around the same time, Lisa and her Dad bought Captain Cullen at Tattersalls as a yearling and I broke and pre-trained the horse before he was sent to Gerry Keane.

Lisa always had a passion for horses and did some pony racing before moving on to ride with the Meath Hunt. The family had built up a small yard, with stables, paddocks and a lunging ring, as well as a horsewalker. I began to use the facilities to break and pre-train and eventually decided to take out a licence.

Captain Cullen returned to us when I started training and I knew I had a tough task to match Gerry’s feats - the horse won five times under his care. I was thrilled to win with Captain Cullen at the Curragh in August, the location making it extra special. It was a big bonus to get good ground as late as October and the horse made it two for the season, once again at the headquarters of Irish racing.

HORSE FOUND

From early in the year, we were on the lookout for a horse for Dundalk, as we knew Captain Cullen would be having a winter break. The horse we chose needed to have a bit of a rating, not be too old and come relatively cheap.

Captain Midnight fitted the profile we were looking for and when he was entered in a claimer at Laytown in September we made our move. The horse was in our care just short of two months, when making a winning debut for us at Dundalk. A week later, on the eve of our wedding, he returned to the Co Louth track and made it two on the bounce. I think the change of scenery was a major factor, as some horses don’t seem to take to big training centres like the Curragh. We try and let both Captain Midnight and Captain Cullen out as long as we can, finding that horses really benefit from time outside. While I can’t honestly say that Captain Midnight’s initial win was a shock, it was certainly a nice surprise. He had been going well at home but I felt he was getting there and may have needed the run just to put him straight. I suppose he was entitled to go and win on his old form and that confidence enabled him to follow up on his next start. Now that he has regained the winning thread, we are hopeful that he can go in again.

Joseph Murray was in conversation with John O’Riordan.