“I’M not looking forward to the autumn. I think this season opened Bon’s eyes to what needs to be done. I’m dreading it.”

Jamie Codd, The Irish Field Point-To-Point Awards 2016

SUCH is the aura of invincibility surrounding Jamie Codd in the last few few years, we should have taken note.

It is paradoxical, of course, that this latest manifestation of the new champion amateur jockey’s ability to get it right is linked with his own disposal as The Irish Field Leading Rider.

For tonight, his fellow Wexfordian Barry O’Neill (the initials leading to the nickname Bon), will be fulfilling the prophesy of 12 months previously when receiving the coveted trophy, having confirmed his success in the most dramatic of fashions.

The pair know each other for many years and it isn’t just in the Wexford heartland that is dominating the production line of future National Hunt stars where they are rivals. They have also gone toe-to-toe on the hurling pitch.

Back in 2008, Codd scored five points to propel St Fintan’s to a one-point success over Duffry Rovers in the county junior C hurling championship. O’Neill was only 19 and contributed a point for his team but the following year, he was the mainstay with 10 points as the result was turned around in the county semi-final, despite Codd registering a goal and five.

So Codd knew what O’Neill was capable of, how competitive he was, how he tended to improve and apply lessons learned.

ELITE COMPANY

Now 28, O’Neill is the first rider outside of Codd and Derek O’Connor to take the overall honours since the late, great John Thomas McNamara in 2003. He has placed himself in elite company and is one of only five pilots - Davy Russell is the other - to have been champion in the last 20 campaigns.

In recent years, he had established himself as the best of the rest but it wasn’t until his main rival declared his intention to place a heavy emphasis on becoming top dog under rules that he gave himself any chance of aiming for Everest.

“It was in the back of me mind when Jamie announced his number one target was the track,” said O’Neill on Wednesday. “I never actually said anything to anyone but it was there and I said ‘Maybe, if the ball hops right, we might give it a kick.’

“Only for the likes of Colin (Bowe), David Christie and lads like that who supported me, (they) drove on as much as I did. The amount of thanks I owe those people is unbelievable.

“I’m under no illusions. Jamie made his decision to go towards the track this year and that paid off. It was great to win it but we both know that if Jamie went at it fully, there would only have been one result.”

That may or may not be the case but O’Neill still had to accumulate his best ever tally of 66 to see off his fast-finishing colleague by one. In a conclusion that would have stimulated St Bernard-style salivation among TV executives and Hollywood scriptwriters, it all came down to the last race on the concluding day at Ballingarry.

O’Neill was on board the Colin Bowe-trained Lord Getaway, with Codd partnering Fivecardstud for his brother William.

“I was dropped in and so was Jamie. They went a fierce gallop. Obviously I was having a good look at Jamie to see how he was going. I knew early and throughout the race he wasn’t as happy as he would have liked. After a couple of miles I had a fair idea that maybe, this was gonna happen.”

There was no explosion of joy.

Once Codd had the champion amateur title in the bag, he threw everything at the point-to-point sector once more. Having been champion-elect with an apparently comfortable lead, O’Neill had to cope with being hunted.

A treble on the penultimate day put him in a strong position once more - bringing his total number of point-to-point wins to 422 - and he was still those three clear with three contests remaining. Codd being Codd, he won the first but was unable to complete a great escape.

“It was just relief,” admits O’Neill. “It was like a ton was lifted off your shoulders to be honest with you. There were a few sleepless nights. Things were just getting on top of you a bit. Relief. Definitely.”

He elaborates.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, the feeling during that last weekend. There was such a big build-up. Maybe after a while I’ll enjoy it… it will all sink in after a while. It wasn’t nice.”

It would have been a lot worse, you venture, had he been one short.

“It surely would,” he concurs. “It surely would.”

****

YOUNG Wexford man Barry O’Neill shouldn’t have to wait too long to record another track victory to add to his very first winner aboard Shanrica in a bumper at Downpatrick in July.

Trained by his boss, Paul Nolan, the mare was confidently handled by the 17-year-old who was only riding for the seventh time on the track.

O’Neill is the youngest son of James and Margo O’Neill from Ballindaggin, Enniscorthy, and attended the F.C.J. Secondary School in Bunclody prior to taking up employment with Paul Nolan, the well-known horse trainer in Davidstown.

Barry may not have much track knowledge, but this is more than made up for by the vast experience he has gained over the years at Pony Club, Showjumping and Hunter Trial levels. While O’Neill is quick to confirm that he is really enjoying his time at Nolans, he is keen to give credit to Colin Bowe in Kiltealy for teaching him so much.

Wexford People, August 24, 2006

FOR a while, O’Neill harboured dreams of making it under rules, of becoming a pro. He had tried his hand at a variety of equine pursuits and displayed an aptitude for them all, putting what he had learned for the best part of a decade at Colin Bowe’s into best practice.

Schooling Snowy Morning over fences affirmed the direction he wanted to take.

So he left school at 16 and Bowe, who had provided him with his first ever winner, Viking Rebel, at Horse & Jockey earlier in 2006 – another relief after falling in four of his first six assignments – set him up with another local trainer Paul Nolan. They were like-minded individuals.

Nolan is a hurling man too, winning an All-Ireland junior championship with Wexford in 1992. They gelled immediately.

In more than three years at Toberona Stables, the young Ballindaggin lad booted in 14 winners, starting off with Shanrica at Downpatrick and including future dual Grade 1 victor Joncol in Thurles, and dual graded winner Alpha Ridge at Limerick.

But when he decided to target the novice riders’ championship between the flags, he returned to familiar surroundings. Initially, the idea was that it would give him more experience over fences and he was novice champion two years in a row.

But as Bowe developed his operation, it occurred to O’Neill that maybe he would be better concentrating on this sphere. He hasn’t had cause to regret that decision.

“I love riding on the track but a few years ago, I said to meself that I would focus as much as I can on the points. I’d take whatever comes on the track but definitely, I have focussed more on the point-to-pointing side of it.

“Colin is my next-door neighbour. I think I was eight or nine when I started. Colin had half-bred horses and things like that. I was there every weekend, any time outside of school. I grew up there.

“(He) is outstanding. He can go up to the sales and it’s not just a fluke. It’s year after year after year. To keep the ball rolling you have to buy good horses. At the end of the day, it is a business.”

FORMATIVE STAGES

His own role in the process cannot be overstated, as how horses are handled and ridden in the formative stages is critical. O’Neill is involved in the breaking, pre-training and schooling, and is in the plate on race day.

It is a delicate operation for the team as the horses have to be impressive enough to attract potential owners but must also have room for improvement or the buyers will not return.

He picks up one or two stores himself, and might get into partnership with Bowe or another neighbour Donnchadh Doyle, who was a colleague at Milestone Stables before going out on his own. Donnchadh and his brother Seán, like Bowe, were significant contributors to O’Neill’s glorious success.

“I grew up with the Monbeg buys, I was right next door to them. Like Colin, they are doing an unbelievable job.”

A real game changer though has been the flourishing link with David Christie, who has made an art form out of transforming injury-prone or quirky horses into winning machines.

O’Neill had made a number of calls to the Fermanagh handler looking for rides and eventually got offered the mount on Not Before Eight at Downpatrick on December 21st, 2011. They prevailed, getting the better of Tammys Hill by a short-head and though just touched off by a nose by Carsonstown Boy in Down Royal five days later, the partnership was established.

“Before David, I wouldn’t have had much rides in open races. It would have been four- and five-year-old maidens. I was always available so I was able to promise David I would ride every horse. He could take it for granted because I wouldn’t have had any rides in those open races. We were lucky then and we struck up a partnership. Only for him…

“He’s some man to get a horse that the best trainers have had problems with them and he sorts them out. Whatever he does, I don’t know, but he’s able to work it.”

Christie pushed the boat out for O’Neill this term, sending out Maple Mons to win in consecutive days last weekend, at Kinsale on Saturday and Ballingarry on Sunday, before the brilliant mare signed off for a career as a broodmare.

She is one of a slew of quality animals the jockey has been associated with over the years.

TRIUMPHS

Samcro is one of the most recent recruits from Bowe’s Milestone Stables who could turn out to be a champion for Gigginstown House Stud and Gordon Elliott.

Others O’Neill has been associated with over the years include Shantou Flyer and Askanna, who provided him with the two Grade 2 triumphs on his own CV, and Little King Robin, who established a fruitful partnership with Mark Wash that yielded Grade 2 and listed success, the former at the expense of Arctic Fire.

The aforementioned Joncol and Alpha Ridge would clearly be on any list of the best horses he has ridden but he doesn’t waste much time considering which of the major successes gave him the greatest thrill. That was at the 2011 Punchestown Festival.

“I’d say the biggest kick I got starting off was Askanna winning the Grade 2 at Punchestown. It did loads for me early in my career. It was a big thing for me. Things were just beginning to get going. It was brilliant.”

The journey has continued to be a largely positive one since. He knows that he has so much to be thankful for, and so many people to whom he owes a debt of gratitude. And if it wasn’t an experience he relished in the final weeks, he understands context completely.

His thoughts turn to Shane Prendergast, who suffered a serious injury in that last race in Ballingarry, as O’Neill was keeping a weather eye on Codd. While O’Neill was being dumped into a trough of water to kick off his reign in traditional style, Prendergast was being attended by a wonderful team of medics as he lay prone on the turf.

The 19-year-old was placed in an induced coma at Tullamore General Hospital due to the bruising sustained on his brain as a result of a fall when Jack The Snake slipped-up.

He also suffered fractures of the T6 and T7 vertebrae. Turf Club chief medical officer Dr Adrian McGoldrick described himself as “cautiously optimistic” that the Carlow teenager would make a full recovery and he was brought out of his coma on Thursday. He will be transferred to the Mater in Dublin in the coming days.

“We can talk all we like about winners and all the rest but the most important thing is that Shane comes out of it and will be okay. It puts it all into perspective and if Shane makes hopefully a 100% recovery, we’ll all be happy.”

Meanwhile, the business of buying, prepping, racing and hopefully winning, continues.

“It will be quiet enough for a week or two in the yard. Colin will be restocking again and then the young horses will be in, breaking them and getting ready to go. It’s a big circle, you know what I mean?”

The difference this time is that at tonight’s awards ceremony, it will be Barry O’Neill making the speech.