I RODE my first winner, Boherna Lady, at Kilbeggan last Friday week. As I am a relative latecomer to racing it feels like I have been playing catch-up for most of my short career and having achieved this initial success, it finally feels like I have a chance of making it as a jockey.

Growing up in Swords, Co Dublin, I never had any exposure to horses or racing. There was no family interest in the sport and I never even went to Leopardstown or any of the other local meetings. However, from an early age I always loved horses and knew that I wanted to work with them if at all possible.