FINGLAS-born Sean Graham (24), who rode his first winner last Saturday at Holnicote, told The Irish Field how he became involved with racing and point-to-pointing.

“I started showing an interest in horses when I was about 12 or 13 and my brother James, who’s a very accomplished jockey in America, took me to Arlington Park to keep me out of trouble. After spending three months cleaning tack, mucking out stables and cleaning stable walls – which my sister-in-law said would build character, and it did – I fell in love with the business.

“I moved to England in pursuit of a job and went through the British racing school. After four weeks I landed a job with Philip Hobbs and, come July, I’ll have been here six years! I found England quite intriguing when I first moved here as things were done very differently to at home and I wasn’t used to being on my own.

“However, things gradually got better as I was surrounded by good lads such as Micheál Nolan, Sean Houlihan, Conor Smith, James Best, Jonathan Moore, Tom Cheesman, Nick Lawton, Ciarán Gethings and Stefan Kirwan who have given me the confidence to even consider riding in a race. I owe a lot too to my girlfriend Abigail Lewis who gave me the ride on her horse Bay To Go. His stable name is Doughnut and as it was national doughnut day on Saturday I think it was a real omen.

“I’m currently the feedman at Mr Hobbs’s yard and am loving every minute of it. I couldn’t ask for a better boss or place to work.”