HAVING been forced to retire from race-riding earlier this year due to ongoing shoulder problems, I have recently started a new business breaking, pre-training and prepping young horses for the sales. It is a side of the industry that I am well familiar with, as my father did likewise for a number of years.

Ironically, my father’s riding career was also cut short, at the young age of 26. He trained horses for a time but is now employed as a course inspector with the Turf Club.

Coming from a racing background, I was working with horses from an early age, helping Dad with the racehorses and breakers at home. I did a lot of hunting and point-to-pointing in my teens, starting out while still in school.

My first real experience with horses outside of home came when I went into John Gleeson’s at weekends. Later, I spent some time with Edward O’Grady, who was one of the leading trainers in the country.

I used to travel up and down with Kevin Power, who also rode out in the yard.

It was there that I first met Philip Fenton, a man that would go on to have a huge influence on my future career.

EDUCATION

My parents were very insistent on me completing my education, so I had to wait until after my Leaving Certificate before becoming a jockey full-time. I got a job with Philip (Fenton) when I was 17 and was with him for 10 years.

James ‘Corky’ Carroll was the stable amateur in the yard when I started and he was a great man to offer help and advice. In time, Philip began using me in bumpers and point-to-points, as well as utilising my 7lb claim against professional riders. It was a measure of the faith Philip put in me, that by the time I decided to turn professional, I had only a handful of rides left before losing my claim. I had ridden in graded races and partnered a Cheltenham Festival winner while still in the amateur ranks.

WINNER

My first winner of any description was a horse by the name of Euros Well, who was owned and trained by an aunt of mine. My first winner on the racecourse was Shoot The Breeze for Philip Fenton in an amateur riders’ hurdle at Down Royal. I kept the ride on that same horse next time out, despite the race being against professional jockeys in Tralee. I am grateful to both Philip and the horse’s owner Mick Daly, for supporting me in those early races.

DUNGUIB

In 2008, Dunguib won two bumpers and went into the winter months as a leading candidate for the following year’s Cheltenham bumper. Despite the undoubted pressures to jock up a professional rider, Philip and the horses owners Lily Lawlor and Daniel Hartnett kept faith with me and I went on to enjoy one of the biggest days of my career. Dunguib was an exceptionally talented racehorse and was on peak form that afternoon. Unfortunately he had legs of glass but for which I have no doubt he could have won a lot more at the top level. Coming down the hill at Cheltenham, I was using Rite Of Passage as a lead horse – the latter went on to win a Gold Cup at Ascot!

Dunguib was certainly one of the best horses I rode but I was fortunate to have some great days in the saddle. I won a Hennessy Gold Cup on Last Installment and the John Durkan Chase on Don Cossack. I was very lucky to ride for some very good trainers and some of the country’s leading owners. In my head, I had always intended to ride until my late 30s but injury intervened and forced me onto the sidelines at 31.

Up to that point, I had never even broken a bone, but after a heavy fall in Tramore one afternoon, I never fully recovered sufficiently to continue on the racecourse. Despite surgery and countless hours of physio work, I eventually had to accept the medical advice that my riding career was over.

My wife Donna had her own livery business at one time but had left that behind and returned to college. As the yard was idle, with only a handful of horses of our own, I decided to take in some horses to break for outside owners. I went up to the National Hunt store sales, got chatting to a few people and it just got going from there.

Over the last few days, I have been busy at the flat yearling sales, building new contacts and meeting potential clients. We have about 20 horses in at the moment, although the yard is undergoing further development, including a new two and a half-furlong sand gallop.

While it’s hard to replace the race-riding, we are very busy at the moment and I am getting plenty of enjoyment from that.

SEASONAL

I am well aware that breaking horses and pre-training can be seasonal. I have always been very interested in the bloodstock side of the industry, and having always pinhooked a few horses during my riding days, it is something I am hoping to get more involved in. So with that in mind, I spent some time shadowing men like Gerry Hogan, Tom Malone and Bobby O’Ryan at the recent sales.

I am thankful to each of them, for the help and advice they imparted as I went back to school for the few days! Hopefully I can put the knowledge I picked up to good use over the coming months as I attend the various sales.

Barry O’Connell was in conversation with John O’Riordan