NEXT month, I embark on an exciting new chapter in my career when taking over as stud farm manager at Stanley Lodge in Cashel. As a relative latecomer to the racing industry, I have had an intensive education since deciding on a complete career change in the spring of 2014.

Despite my father doing his level best, I couldn’t be swayed towards ponies or hunting when I was a child – we often followed the hunt on foot but I preferred to keep my feet on the ground rather than in the stirrups!

Dad hunted with the North Tipperary Foxhounds and took me to ride ponies with friends when I was six or seven but I just didn’t catch the bug at that time.

We lived in the country but didn’t have a farm so I had no great exposure to animals during those early years. In my teens, I enjoyed going to the odd point-to-point with but it was more as a social occasion than having a particularly strong interest in the horses or racing itself.

After completing my Leaving Certificate, I went to DCU to study a business course. However, after just one semester I knew it wasn’t really for me, so I dropped out.

The spring of 2014 saw some particularly bad weather in Ireland. I was looking for a job and I think my parents were sick of looking at me around the house! James and Charlotte Hanly own Ballyhimikin Stud which is close to where we live.

I was asked to come up and give a hand, mainly cutting timber and moving trees that had fallen during the storm.

Gradually over time, I moved on to mucking out and helping to bed down stables. As the mares were starting to foal over the next few months, I stayed on and found that I had caught the bug!

Later that summer, I did my first yearling prep season with Ballyhimikin and it really just snowballed from there. That summer, I reapplied through the CAO and went back to college to study Agricultural Science/Equine Science at UCD. Throughout the four-year degree programme, I returned home to work at weekends and holidays at Ballyhimikin Stud. Aside from the Hanlys, Frisk and Helen Jones, the stud managers were very good to me.

Kentucky

In 2017, my third year in college, I got the opportunity to travel to America to undertake a work placement with Gerry Dilger at Dromoland Farm in Kentucky. Gerry, the stud manager Peter Conway and my barn foreman Dennis Fenton taught me a lot, particularly with regard to yearling prep. I enjoyed my time at Dromoland Farm, so much so, that I returned for six months in 2018 after graduating from college.

Irish National Stud

Having come back to Ireland just before Christmas (2018), I started the Irish National Stud Course in January 2019.

The six months I spent at the INS gave me a complete overall education in terms of not only handling foals and yearlings but stallions and mares as well.

Even before I had completed that course, I had secured a short-term job working for Paul and Marie McCartan at Ballyphilip Stud. Paul (McCartan) had been on to Frisk (Jones) asking if he could recommend someone to help with yearling prep and the later very kindly mentioned me. Initially, I went to Ballyphilip Stud in July 2019 to help with the yearling prep but got on great down there and ended up staying for over two years.

Pinhook

I learned so much from just shadowing Paul (McCartan) and farm manager Denis Lawlor during the time I spent at Ballyphilip Stud. Paul and Marie pinhook foals every year and I was able to shadow them at sales in Goffs and Newmarket which was brilliant experience and that allowed to take a more active role in shortlisting and selecting foals as time went on.

The foals would arrive into the stud in late November and Paul would often buy a couple of fillies or in-foal mares at the sales, with an eye on the upcoming breeding season. January through to May saw us busy with mares and foaling, and there were always weanlings and yearlings to keep a close eye on.

June offered a slight lull, giving us the chance to tidy up around the stud and attend to some jobs which had been put aside. Soon afterwards, the yearlings are brought back in for prep and the cycle begins again.

Earlier this year, Marie (McCartan) nominated me for the Newcomer Award at the Godolphin Irish Stud And Stable Staff Awards.

It was a great honour just to be part of the whole initiative but extra special to reach the final three in my category. Godolphin deserve great credit for putting on the awards as it offers a nice opportunity for the lads and girls working on the ground.

We sold the last of the yearlings from Ballyphilip Stud at Tattersalls Book 3 last week, so another successful season has come and gone.

On a personal level, I am sad to be leaving the stud, as everyone there has been such a huge part of my life over the last two years. At the same time, I am very much looking forward to taking this new journey with Stanley Lodge.

Nick Cope was in conversation with John O’Riordan.