IT’S difficult to remember a more challenging period for connections beyond the top few stables to come across a flagship Grade 1 horse than is the case in Ireland right now.

Of the 15 Grade 1s run so far this season on these shores, it’s striking to note that all bar one have been plundered by Willie Mullins or Gordon Elliott.

Whatever about winning, even finding horses who have been in the shake-up at the highest level this term from stables outside the top is a struggle. Mullins and Elliott are responsible for a whopping 80% of all horses who have finished in the first three in Irish Grade 1s so far this season, with Gavin Cromwell (9%) and Henry de Bromhead (7%) filling the bulk of the remaining gap.

It’s quite stark that only two other trainers, Emmet Mullins (Corbetts Cross) and Martin Brassil (Fastorslow), have made the frame in top-level contests in 2023/24.

Against that backdrop, the achievement of J.J. Slevin to find himself with multiple top-level mounts from different stables is not one that should go underestimated.

The aforementioned sole Grade 1 winner not trained by Mullins or Elliott this season came when Slevin caused another upset on Gold Cup hope Fastorslow in the John Durkan Memorial Chase - seeing off an armada of five Mullins-trained challengers on his way to a memorable success for Martin Brassil.

A feature-race success on old ally Banbridge in the Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton last weekend means Slevin has another serious bullet to fire in the spring Grade 1s, this time for his cousin and strong supporter Joseph O’Brien. It hasn’t just been this season that the Kiltrea, Co Wexford native has made his mark at the highest level, however.

In fact, the past 13 months have come as a golden period for the dual Cheltenham Festival-winning rider, notching four of his five career Grade 1 victories during the same window. He fully appreciates the magnitude of unearthing National Hunt gems in the current climate.

“I’ve been lucky over the last couple of years with the people I ride for, which is the big thing,” says Slevin.

“Once you’re on better horses, you will ride more confidently. And, when the people around you are filling you with confidence, everything happens much more smoothly.”

Just how difficult does Slevin believe it is for jump jockeys in Ireland to land on Grade 1 mounts when not riding for the championship-topping stables?

“I’d feel it’s nearly impossible,” says the 31-year-old.

“There are two or three yards dominating, maybe even more so this season compared to other years when you see the graded races at the moment. They seem to win nearly every big race. Other yards hardly have runners in those races anymore, and that can be a bit of a disaster.

Dynamic shift

“Looking back to maybe 20 years ago, the chances of a smaller outfit coming across a proper horse seemed much higher. I think that change is down to the increase in stores being bought by point-to-point people to produce them for that game, as opposed to being bought by trainers for the track. The same horses are no longer reaching the racecourse as their first priority.

“Once upon a time, the trainer with their €30,000 or €40,000 to spend was buying a nice store and holding onto him. Trainers must be finding it much more competitive at the sales with the point-to-point angle nowadays, and that makes it hard on the track. It’s very tough for riders in that sense too.”

The son of trainer Shay has a thorough understanding of the sport, and that is in no small part due to the fact it effectively consumes his every thought.

Slevin’s idea of a break from racing? Riding more horses at his father’s yard, or getting the leg up to go hunting. His version of a Netflix evening in? Watching old racing documentaries on YouTube or close-up footage of how various top horsemen position themselves over a fence. The first thing he watches when coming home from a day at the track? Replays of every race on that day’s card. Simply put, Slevin is fully immersed in what he does.

“I think long and hard about the game,” says the rider whose most lucrative win came aboard General Principle in the 2018 Irish Grand National.

Covering the bases

“I’d always make a plan in my head before going anywhere, and then obviously try to implement it. I watch all the replays very closely, I see every race when I get home - the ones I ride in and the ones I don’t. I think you have to do that.

“I’m very hard on myself but I think you need to be to succeed. I work to get better every day. When you go to bed at night, you want to feel you’re a better rider than you were that morning. You have to keep doing that until the day you pack up.

“I love watching documentaries too. I find some really good old pieces on YouTube; there’s actually one I love on John Francome. I enjoy seeing how others like him do it. For example, there’s slow-motion footage of Derek O’Connor and John Thomas McNamara riding over a fence at side-on angles in point-to-points - I love watching that.

“I’ve gone back through old Cheltenham Festivals over the years and really like doing that. It’s something I’ve always done. Myself and my father have been watching through those videos from an early age. We’ve got a big collection of video tapes of races from the 1990s onwards, and when I was young we’d sit down and watch them together. I got a lot of enjoyment out of that and I think there’s definitely a benefit in watching how others have done it in the past too.”

Cheltenham has been a happy hunting ground for Slevin in years gone by, landing the 2017 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle on Champagne Classic and the 2019 Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle on Band Of Outlaws - officially Joseph O’Brien’s first Festival winner.

However, his trip to Prestbury Park in 2023 would have tested the patience of Job. Riding for Sean and Bernardine Mulryan, who he has linked up with since November 2022, Slevin was agonisingly beaten a neck when second on Fastorslow in the Ultima Handicap Chase on day one. The narrow defeat might have felt tough to swallow at the time, but it turned out to be even more of a hard-luck story after the Grand National where his conqueror Corach Rambler bolted up - illustrating just how well handicapped he was at Cheltenham off a mark of 146.

Festival frustration

There was even more heartache to come a day later when Slevin, the Mulryans and Brassil were beaten a head with An Epic Song by handicap blot Langer Dan in the Coral Cup.

For the rubbing of further salt in the wound, Slevin was found to have used his whip once over the permitted limit and was handed an eight-day ban - double the typical penalty for such an offence due to the grade of race. It meant he missed out on the Easter period of racing.

As a member of the Irish Jockeys Association committee, Slevin has been a part of discussions surrounding recent changes to whip rule penalties in Ireland.

“I think we’re doing really well in Ireland at the minute,” says the fifth busiest National Hunt jockey in the country, having already ridden for 90 different yards this term.

“We’re tweaking things with the Association and having discussions among ourselves. There are a lot of people working hard to get things right. When I see someone getting punished for going one strike over, I think it’s tough.

“Then in England those penalties begin to multiply. I spoke to Kielan Woods the other day at Kempton. He got 42 days of a suspension, and four offences were all for going one strike over the limit. That’s crazy. I think in Ireland we’re doing well and hopefully we can stay on the right path to recognise the hard work that is going into it. I think it’s a sensible approach and we’re still trying to tweak things.”

On his hopes of a happier return to Cheltenham this spring, Slevin adds: “It’d be great to go back this year and get one on the board. It’s so hard to have winners at Cheltenham and last year was tough to take. I just felt [Fastorslow] had done so much right and didn’t get the right result. It was a super run from him.

Mulryan support

“Sean and Bernardine are great people. Real racing people who are in this sport for the right reasons. They love their horses, they love going racing and having winners. They’re great people to work with. Paddy Aspell [racing manager] is a big help. He’s got a very strong depth of knowledge for the game, stretching back long periods. He’s a great horseman who is super to deal with.

“Martin is unbelievable in what he can do too. What makes him so incredible is what he produces from the relatively small number of horses he has in the yard. From roughly 25 horses, he might have three potential Grand National horses and a Gold Cup horse. He can prime them on the big day to run to their absolute best. They do their job, and do it again the next day.”

Slevin, who also rides regularly for the Stuart Crawford team and had his best ever domestic season last term with 44 winners, is gearing up for another big date with Fastorslow next month at the Dublin Racing Festival.

The latest round in an engaging series of battles with Galopin Des Champs could be on the horizon in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, with Fastorslow having gotten the better of the argument the last twice.

“It’s all class, what he has,” Slevin says of his dual Grade 1-winning mount.

“His pace is what you need in those big races. Without the ability to travel you can get on the backfoot, out of your position and probably not jumping as well as you want. When you’re coasting along, everything is much easier. He’s just a very good horse.

“Galopin was fairly breathtaking at Leopardstown in the Savills Chase over Christmas. He took off at the back of the last and never stopped to the line. You remember as a novice what he could do, and he won a Gold Cup - he is a monster on his day. If the two of them lined up and both were on their ‘A’ game with a clear run at it, it could be some race.”

Brilliant Banbridge

Various ratings experts deemed Banbridge’s recent Kempton success to be a clear career-best effort from the 2023 Manifesto Novices’ Chase hero. Is that view in line with how the man in the driving seat assessed the performance?

“To me it was, and I can see why they would have chalked it up as a career-best,” Slevin says.

“He has definitely improved on his homework. I don’t ride him much at home; Barry Keniry rides him a lot and does a good job with him because he’s a funny old horse at home. I sat up on him at the Curragh a fortnight ago and felt he worked really well. He’s a physically stronger and more mature horse this year.”

Bookmakers have cut the Ronnie Bartlett-owned eight-year-old into a top-priced 5/1 second favourite (from 10/1) for the Ryanair Chase. He looks a major player if getting his favoured decent ground.

Slevin says: “He’s entitled to be where he is in the picture. Allaho is still a big danger. I don’t need to talk much about what we all know Willie Mullins is able to do, and what he’s done time and time again.

“I have a lot of time for Appreciate It too. He obviously ran very well in the John Durkan [when runner-up to Fastorslow] and he probably just didn’t see it out in the Savills after travelling well to the second last. I think he’s going to land another big race too at some stage.”

Slevin has known O’Brien for longer than most in the sport. What does he believe is the history-making handler’s greatest asset as a trainer?

“He’s got a great temperament and deals with whatever comes his way extremely well,” says the rider who partnered his first career flat winner for O’Brien at Tramore last September.

“Whenever something goes wrong, it always seems like Joseph has got a back-up plan. That plan usually works too.”

Could Slevin ever envisage himself pursuing a training career later in life?

“I don’t know, but if I was to train, my dream would be to have five horses who I’d train and own myself,” he says.

“I’d run them in point-to-points, hunter chases and banks races. That’d be something I’d get a wicked kick out. The La Touche is the race I’m mad to win as a rider as well. I’m not sure Joseph will have something for it this year, but I might have to try twisting his arm to run Busselton!”

Slevin has worked his magic on several big occasions in the saddle, but his powers of persuasion could have to be just as strong to get his way with that request.

Might he have to make do with an Irish or Cheltenham Gold Cup through Fastorslow this season? Hardly the worst consolation for a rider enjoying the richest period of his career.