My uncle was seven times Irish champion jumps jockey and my grandmother trained horses, so I suppose it was only natural that I would take a keen interest in the sport from an early age.

After the usual pony club and hunting as a child, I started off riding racing ponies for the Fahey’s from Monasterevin before progressing to point-to-points and later riding as an amateur on the track.

My uncle made it clear that he would support my ambitions to become a jockey provided I first went to college and gained a degree. As I respected and admired him, I listened to his advice - at that stage the only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to practice law!

Previously my grandfather, my father, uncle and sister were all in the business and I felt that I would prefer to do something else. I went to UCD where I studied History and Politics. Although I continued to ride throughout college, it slowly dawned on me that maybe I would not make a career out of riding.

I think it was a combination of feeling I was not quite good enough and the realisation that it was a very tough life.

Conyngham Cup

I started out at 17, riding a few horses in bumper races for Bobby. After a couple of months, he arranged a job with John Fowler. I rode my first winner on the track in the Conyngham Cup at Punchestown, a race that is generally regarded as the amateur’s Grand National. I only had to carry 9st 10lb on a horse called Ceolbridge Baby and she must have felt she was running loose.

I hung out of her neck for the entire of the three-mile race which she won readily. In total I rode 54 winners on the track and about 50 in point-to-points and had the distinction of losing my claim twice, as the Turf Club kept changing the number of winners required at the time!

Legal Career

Once it became obvious to me that I was not going to pursue a full-time career in the saddle, I returned to college to study law, before joining my father’s firm as a trainee.

I continued to ride as an amateur but most of my time was now taken up with legal issues. In recent years I have acquired a reputation for specialising in equestrian and sports law, although in my opinion this has been exaggerated to a degree.

My good friend, the late Anthony Powell, had a saying, ‘If you get a reputation for getting up early, you can lie in bed all day’. I believe that sums up my relationship with racing and sports-related law.

The seminal moment came at Roscommon one afternoon when Franny Woods went down the inside of Trevor Horgan in a chase. The latter tightened Franny up and received a five-day ban for his troubles.

Franny felt terrible about the incident and sought my advice after the race. I accompanied both riders into the appeal and when senior steward David Pim overturned the ban, citing inconclusive camera evidence, I suddenly found my services in demand. To this day I still don’t know if I have Franny, Trevor or David to thank for my reputation!

Over the years I have represented a number of Irish sports stars including Cian O’Connor and Andrew Bree, but I also do a lot of litigation, trust work and family law. I would say that about 60% of my business is with clients that have a racing background.

Since 1991 I have also been Secretary of the Irish Jockeys Association. The Association has really progressed over the years and I am particularly proud to be involved.

We are the representative voice of all the jockeys in this country and have been recognised by the various governing bodies within the sport. The Association has helped set up pension plans, finance the Injured Jockeys Fund and programmes which allow jockeys to up-skill and prepare for life outside racing.

I still ride out and am in Conor O’Dwyer’s yard three mornings a week. He has a great set up and wonderful staff. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with him and I can really see Conor taking off as a trainer.

Andrew Coonan was in conversation with John O’Riordan