Having been associated with Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals winners such as Menorah, Captain Chris, Wishful Thinking and Defi Du Seuil, during my time as asssistant trainer to Philip Hobbs, I am very much looking forward to following the fortunes of the horses I purchased under the Darren O’Dwyer Bloodstock banner over the next few weeks.

Since retiring from race-riding, I have worked for a few different trainers but always traded horses as a hobby. Over the last couple of years, I have enjoyed some good success, so much so, that it has now become more of a business.

My family have no direct involvement with racing, so I got into the sport in a rather unorthodox way. My mother kept digs for apprentices and staff of Aidan O’Brien when Annemarie and himself were still training out of Piltown.

It was through that connection that I first got a weekend job mucking out in the yard at 11 or 12. Surrounded by high-class horses such as Urubande and Life Of A Lord, it didn’t take long before I got the urge to learn how to ride myself.

After receiving lessons at a local equestrian school, I was subsequently allowed sit on one or two quite lots each morning. With Aidan spending most of his time in Ballydoyle from 1996, P.J. Colville and Colm Murphy were in charge at Piltown.

Joe Crowley used to come in and poach me to ride a few for him when I wasn’t on Aidan’s, so it wasn’t long before the two lads had me down on more lots!

Ballydoyle

In 1997, I left school aged 15 and moved down to Ballydoyle. Desert King was coming to the end of his three-year-old career, while King Of Kings was an exciting juvenile with his future still ahead.

Istabraq and Theatreworld were the leading National Hunt horses, while the likes of Galileo, Rock Of Gibraltar, Hawk Wing and High Chaparral would shortly emerge on the flat.

At 16, I took out my apprentice licence and had my first ride under rules when Chaparral Lady finished third at the Curragh in October 1998. Over the following two years, I had a handful of rides but as I was very tall, I knew in my heart that I wasn’t going to make it as a flat jockey.

Having taken the decision to leave Ballydoyle, in order to become a National Hunt rider, I moved down to Paul and James Nolan in Wexford. Despite having zero experience of jump racing, the two lads took a chance on me and basically got me going.

I have so much to be thankful to the Nolan family for and we remain close friends to the present day. John Cullen and Aidan ‘Scobie’ Fitzgerald, who rode out in the yard at that time, also helped me a great deal.

Regello became my first winner on the track when successful at Punchestown in December 2003, while I rode a further two on Tarn Ridge the following year. I also managed to record a solitary flat success, with Dash Of Grey winning at Tramore in June of 2004.

Britain

With opportunities drying up in Ireland, I spoke to Paddy Brennan about the prospect of giving it a go in Britain. He advised me to get in touch with Philip Hobbs; a trainer he felt would look after me.

The ‘guvnor’ as we call him, told me that I could come in and ride out but he wasn’t able to promise me any rides. It was a slow burner but I gradually got going, improving on my seasonal best each campaign.

In 2006/07, I rode five winners, bettered that by two in 2007/08 and finished with eight the next season. I always said to myself that if I got to age 25 and wasn’t where I wanted to be, I would give it up and try something else.

Looking back on it now, although I couldn’t see it at the time, I was probably doing better than most. However, having made the decision to retire from race-riding, I went and informed the guvnor.

Although surprised at my news, he understood my reasoning and asked if I would be interested in staying on in the role of pupil assistant. It was undoubtedly an opportunity too good to turn down, so I took up that position at the start of the 2009/10 season.

As pupil assistant, I got to see a whole different side to how a racing yard was run. I learned about entries and declarations, dealing with vets and injuries, going racing with runners and so forth. The guvnor put me forward for the Alex Scott Memorial Award which I was fortunate enough to win.

As part of the prize, I got to spend six months working with Eoin Harty in California. Alex Elliott, a former assistant at Philip Hobbs and now a respected bloodstock agent, was working there at the time, so it was nice to see a friendly face.

In 2013, I moved on from Philip Hobbs and took up a role with Donald McCain in the North of England. I spent a year and a half at McCains; another great learning curve.

Donald has a great eye for buying horses and the seeds for my future business were definitely sown during that time.

Returned home

I then returned home to Ireland and rode out in Ballydoyle for three and a half years, before going back to Philip Hobbs in 2018. Over the next two years, I did a bit more buying and selling, as well as pre-training and running a couple of point-to-pointers as a hobby.

I really enjoyed that last experience and actually sent out a couple of winners into the bargain. Coming out of Covid, I went to Tom George, where I am currently based as assistant trainer.

I began buying horses for owner Adam McCormack and that partnership enjoyed some early success. Arthur Mac won on his debut at Hereford, before going on to finish mid-division in the Aintree bumper.

With Adam putting his faith in me, I was soon buying for others as well and the winners have continued. I bought recent Sky Bet Chase winner Cooper’s Cross from Colin Bowe and he has a couple of entries at Cheltenham next week.

Notlongtillmay, who has won his last four starts for Laura Morgan, could also be Festival bound. Seeyouinmydreams, a store I bought in partnership with Andy Pierce of Blackhall Stud, won her point-to-point by 14 lengths before we sold her for £235k at Tattersalls in Newmarket.

Having won on her racecourse debut at Newbury earlier this month, she is one we are really looking forward to come Aintree. Having acquired vast experience, through working for leading trainers such as Aidan O’Brien, Paul and James Nolan, Philip Hobbs, Donald McCain and Tom George, I am really enjoying this opportunity to put that knowledge to the test in the sales ring.

The results have been promising thus far, so hopefully in the coming months and years, I can develop and grow the business further.

Darren O’Dwyer was in conversation with John O’Riordan