TURN the clock back to 1987 and Seamie Heffernan was in the right place at the right time. That place was PJ Finn’s yard and the right time was when Aidan O’Brien was there.

The pair were teenagers and they got to know each other well. They’ve been friends and colleagues ever since.

“Aidan’s sister was married to the head man in Finn’s – Shay Slevin,” Heffernan recalls. “Aidan left to go to work for Jim Bolger and it was he who got me a job in Bolger’s.”

Heffernan was seven and a half years at Coolcullen, and in that same period O’Brien went to train jumps horses on the Hill. When O’Brien accepted John Magnier’s offer to move to Ballydoyle, he asked Heffernan to come with him.

“I suppose he knew I’d put in the effort and that I’d be an okay lad to have around the place,” Heffernan says. “I was very lucky that I met him in Finn’s and I was very lucky that he gave me the call because there would have been loads of people that would have been able to fill my boots but Aidan made sure that I got the chance.

“He made sure that I was very well looked after and made sure that I had a very good job for all these years. Now it’s looking like he is sticking me in for all the good rides. I have an awful lot to thank him for.”

Turn the clock forward to 2020 and Seamie Heffernan is still in the right place at the right time. On Monday afternoon he reflects over another fantastic weekend at the Curragh. Santiago gave him a fourth win in the Irish Derby and Magical provided him with “the easiest Group 1 winner” he’ll ever ride in the Pretty Polly Stakes.

Suspended from riding at Limerick, perhaps there was a small celebration the night before.

“Celebrate? I celebrate every night just in case it doesn’t happen!” he laughs. “It’s brilliant to win these races, of course it is, but the winter time is when I sit back and relax, and maybe go away somewhere.

“I’m here on my son’s farm at the moment and enjoy that, being out with the cattle on the land. My son rides out in Ballydoyle in the mornings and goes back to the farm after. I give him a hand when I can.”

Covid-19 circumstances have conspired to allow Heffernan a golden opportunity this season and the 47-year-old has made hay. He has recorded three Group 1 winners already, two of them classics. That brings his total of top-level wins to 34, 12 of them classics.

Four Irish Derby winners means he sits alongside Pat Eddery and Johnny Murtagh, one more win in the race than Christy Roche, two more than Mick Kinane. The latter two are highly relevant because they are two jockeys he has always looked up to.

Heffernan has never held the title of first jockey at Ballydoyle but he has always been there to take opportunities presented to him. This season more than ever. Before racing at Navan yesterday evening he had 20 winners from just 95 rides, giving him a strike rate of 21% which has already led him to pass his wins and prize money earned for all of last year.

This has led to champion jockey talk. Johnny Murtagh said on RTÉ last week that he’d love to see it happen.

But Heffernan was playing down his chances even before he was informed he’d be riding in Epsom today and Chantilly tomorrow, which will, as the protocols stand, mean he will have to quarantine for two weeks on his return to Ireland.

“It’s not ideal to be missing two weeks but that’s the way it is at the minute and in any case, it’s brilliant to have the chance to ride in these big races,” he says later in the week. “I’ve been saying it’s highly unlikely I’ll win the championship anyway because I struggle to get outside rides and I struggle to get good rides in handicaps.

“I can ride Aidan’s horses at the moment but when restrictions allow, Ryan is going to be coming back over here and later in the season our best horses will be racing outside of Ireland. Of course I’ll give it my best shot but I think it’s highly unlikely.”

He pauses for thought and continues: “I suppose there is more to it as well. I could put myself forward for a few more outside rides but there are plenty of hungry young jockeys out there that are riding work on these horses and the trainers have to be loyal and give them their rides.

“It’s not a thing I would feel comfortable doing, ringing up owners or trainers and asking them to give me rides, knowing that I would be taking them away from the lads or girls who are working with these horses day in, day out.

“Some of them kids need a chance, they’ve bills to pay and everything else. Of course I’d love to be champion jockey and I’ll give it my best shot but I’m content with what I have as well.”

Would he trade an Irish Derby for a jockeys’ championship?

“No,” he replies affirmatively. “The Irish Derby is a massive race to win, it’s massive for me anyway. Any Derby is massive to win. The Group 1s are the ones I want to be riding in and winning, they are top of the pile.”

Heffernan’s first two Irish Derby winners came back to back: Soldier Of Fortune in 2007 and Frozen Fire the following year. He had to wait a while before he tasted success again with Capri in 2017. All three were lesser fancied Ballydoyle entries.

Santiago was 2/1 favourite, first choice in the market and first choice of Heffernan. More expectation usually leads to more pressure, but he doesn’t go along with that either: “I don’t feel pressure any more. I actually have more pressure at home, riding them at work, preparing them.

“When they pitch up on race day, it is what it is, what price they are is spread by rumours or bits or form. I don’t feel any pressure riding very fancied horses in big races.

“A lot of the time it is very simple. Sometimes jockeys can interrupt a horse’s stride or balance or wind. There are a lot of things you can do to interrupt a horse. Most genuine horses just want to jump and run and do their thing.

“I’m a big believer in letting them get comfortable, wherever that is. If you’re on the best horse, letting them get comfortable in front, other horses are going to have to have a lot of luck to come and get you.”

Pressure

If Heffernan’s attitude to pressure has changed so has his attitude to winning.

“As I get older I appreciate every ride and every winner. That is just the way it is, very few things last a long time and nothing lasts forever. I suppose it comes with experience and age that you appreciate the big days and you’re happy about them. I’d say my attitude has got worse with losing though. It’s a strange one really.

“There is one thing that drives me mad and that is getting beaten on horses that I should have won on. It puts me in bad form straight after the race. Hopefully I don’t stay in it too long but I hate getting beaten on horses that should have won.

“Regardless of whether they’re favourites or outsiders, if I fancy them, I fancy them to win. That is the way I handle it.”

While the majority of Heffernan’s rides come for Aidan O’Brien, he still rides plenty for smaller trainers when called upon.

He rode for 22 different trainers at Dundalk last season and while he says he can handle pressure in the big races, he admits it’s a different sort of pressure riding for the small trainer at the lower level of racing, where competition is fierce.

“In Ballydoyle I never really know which horse I’m riding in which particular race until late in the day,” he says. “It’s different with the smaller owners and trainers. They have a plan that could be made months in advance.

“They have an ordinary horse and they have to try and figure out his mark and get him into the right race. It’s a big plan for them. If they turn up and they really fancy their horse, there is pressure there.

“It has to be an addiction for those lads. To train those horses, to graft so hard for such little reward. They’re not doing it for the money, they’re doing it for their love of racing. Aren’t we lucky to have these people in the game? Pure racing people.

“Some of those big syndicates, to see the eyes on them when you come back in. They’re so delighted. It makes me happy when I can deliver and you can make the small man really, really happy. We’re only passing through here so as many people I can make happy around me, the better. That’s what makes me happy.”

Priority

Of course the day job will always be a priority to Heffernan, to continue to restore the faith O’Brien showed in him all those years ago. He is over a quarter of a century working at Ballydoyle now, the longest serving member of staff. To him, O’Brien is as much a friend as he is the boss.

Those who have worked closely with O’Brien say he has this innate ability to read a horse and Heffernan says that ability carries across to humans also.

“He knows me so long he probably understands my gestures or understands my body language. People who don’t know me may not get that. We just understand each other.

“I don’t actually know how he does it. If I do something wrong, I don’t have to tell Aidan, he’ll already know. That is probably the best way to explain it.

“For me he was always different. He didn’t drink or smoke and that was one of the things that stood out from an early stage. He was just completely focussed. He has been the same ever since. He just wants to win. It’s looking like Joseph and Donnacha have that gene as well. They have brilliant support from their mother Annemarie as well and they just want to win.”

Big weekend

Heffernan may have to miss two weeks of action from Monday onwards but in Ennistymon and Russian Emperor, he has two serious chances of more classic glory at Epsom today and in Peaceful, he has an even better opportunity in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly tomorrow.

“To be able to ride around Epsom on a good horse is magic,” he asserts. “It is the ultimate test of a horse. The mile-and-a-half canter to the start – some horses lose their race before it even begins and it makes other horses braver, the adrenaline kicks in and it just gets them going.

“It’s a brilliant feeling climbing up to the top of that hill, getting your position and looking around to see who is in front, who is beside you, who is behind, what pace you’re going. And then down into the straight, it’s running down into a funnel and you’ve got a huge stand on your right and usually a load of people on your left.

“I rode Russian Emperor at Leopardstown and he took a huge step forward from that run to win at Royal Ascot. Maybe he needs to step forward again but stall six is ideal and I’m really looking forward to him.

“I ride Ennistymon in the Oaks and she is the same, I rode her to win at Leopardstown and then she came forward to run very well at Ascot. I’m lucky for the owner Mrs Stockwell and hopefully I can ride her another winner today.”

“Peaceful is a very good filly, very uncomplicated. Hopefully she gets a clear run and travels well. I think she’ll put up a huge performance.”

On a weekend of weekends in racing, Seamie Heffernan at 47, has as good a book of rides as any jockey around.

In the right place at the right time.

Seamie Heffernan on...

Magical: She is a complete champion. It’s probably the easiest Group 1 winner I’ll ever ride. It just went so smooth and she won so easy. It’s an unbelievable feeling and very, very satisfying. She is definitely as good as ever so Enable is going to have to be as good as ever to beat her.

Career highlight: The 2016 Breeders’ Cup in Santa Anita when I rode Highland Reel. He broke fast from an outside draw and I lay up his neck, and I just let him do whatever he wanted to do. I’m pretty sure the sectional times he ran were 12s, 12s, 12s. Nothing could get to him. He is a horse that I rode a lot of work on and I had great time for him, he was one of my favourites.

Fitness: I say I haven’t been fit in 20 years. I’d say if I was fully fit all of my career, I wouldn’t be still riding. I’d probably just give 90% all the time. I wouldn’t say that I’m fit, but I would say that I’m fit enough.

Best he’s ridden with/against: When I was growing up, Mick Kinane was champion jockey and for me he was the complete professional. But I worked with Christy Roche in Jim Bolger’s as well. Christy could drive a horse for two miles and not get tired. I was and am lucky to work with some of the best.