THIS is my 50th year working in the stable yard at Listowel. I first applied back in 1975, when I was in secondary school. There would have been a few jobs going for local lads to help out during the festival. Although I didn’t get it that year, I was successful a year later. I’ve been here ever since!

With only the two meetings at Listowel annually, it’s a part-time role and I’d always take holidays from my main job during the races. Now that I’ve retired, I don’t need to do that anymore. When I was in primary school and the first year or two of secondary, schools would have closed for the races. It was a three-day festival up until the mid-seventies when a fourth day was added.