Tell me about Surviving Murmansk. It looks like he’s really come to life this year.

He got sun stroke about two years ago. He galloped the morning it happened, and it was a bit sunny. He was put on the walker as usual after his work but he collapsed. I thought he was done for. I’m a great believer in old cures, so after the vet had seen him and couldn’t do anything, I dissolved some Epsom Salts in water, and gave him that with a syringe. The next morning he was right again and we’ve nursed him along until now.

He was coming along a bit last year but we had to lay him off again, but we have him right now. When he ran last time in Kilbeggan, he got a dart from another horse and it drove him in on top of someone else. The jockey had to use his stick to get him out of trouble and ended up getting a four-day ban. It’s a while since I had a winner so it was great. I’ve had a lot of hard luck.

Have you been in racing for a long time?

All my life. There was a man by the name of Paddy Comerford, and he was a famous man for breaking in horses. I was eight when I started off with him. When I finished there I went to Martin McEnenry’s Rossenara Stud and rode out there. He was a lovely man. I went down to Mrs Marshall in ‘73 and I worked for her until late ‘77 before going back to my old boss. In the early ‘80s I worked for another lovely man called John Brophy. A horse came over on top of me in there and broke my leg backwards. There’s pins in it but I’m flying. They all told me I’d end up in a wheelchair but I walk an average of eight or nine miles a day.

I used to bring horses to the sales over in England, to Newmarket and Doncaster. I used to look forward to going over for weeks. I could write a book on the craic we had! The guards were a bit tough on the Irish over there at the time because of the troubles in the north of Ireland. In 2003, a car battery blew up in my face. I landed on the road and another car rolled over me. That’s not an eighth of what I’ve been through!

I had a pub in Kells, Co Kilkenny that caught on fire during the night. I had to jump out of a window when I woke up, and in ‘99 I was given a year to live after a bad bout of pancreatitis.

Sounds like you’ve been through a lot, what keeps you going?

I would give in to nothing. You have bad days and good days. Racing is a great thing to sort out your mind, and riding out is great too. I’m not right when I’m not riding out. I’ve sat up on Surviving Murmansk a few times as well. The first day I sat up on him I knew he was a good animal. He’s a gentle horse as well. I think the penny is only dropping with him now. It was unfortunate that he got the sun stroke, but things happen for a reason. No one knows what’s around the corner and you have to take what’s coming.

Where did you get Surviving Murmansk?

I bought him from Thistle Bloodstock. Tadhg O’Shea has sat on him before and told his previous owner he was a good horse. His sire (The Carbon Unit) never got a chance really.

He’s got 15 winners from 44 foals. He could have been a top National Hunt sire. I have a few of my own youngsters here myself as well. I have a nice Sioux Nation out of a mare that was bought from Dermot Weld, and she’s a half-sister to Surviving Murmansk.

How did the partnership with James Barcoe come about?

I used to have horses with Adrian O’Shea. I met Jimmy when he came up to buy a horse from Adrian’s. I knew the horse very well, and I saw the way Jimmy was looking at the horse. He knew what he was doing. I have friends in horses that know Jimmy and they’d give great praise of him. He’d stay working night and day and he has a great temperament. Jimmy is lovely, he’s sound out. I don’t know how he keeps going, he’s so hard working. His wife Yvonne Hennessy is a hard worker too, and very kind. Rachael Blackmore used to ride out at Jimmy’s. She rode a filly of mine and thought a lot of her. She was an oil painting, but unfortunately we had to retire her as she had a cracked shin bone that kept giving her trouble. She has a yearling colt now by Manatee. I’ll get him gelded and keep him for racing.

What was going through your head watching him at Tramore?

I’ve had so many disappointments, there wasn’t much going through it! I liked the way he was galloping, and his stride and jumping. I knew he wouldn’t be making a shot at it until he came down to the hollow, when he did he shot off. The horse has fair speed. I might put him back on the flat for a few runs. His dam is by Dark Angel, and I think a lot of that sire.

Do you give much thought to rehoming your horses once they’re finished?

I gave a horse to a riding school in England one time. She was just too quiet for racing. It’s great to give them a second chance. It’s horrible how they were treated at the abattoirs.