CONOR Tierney, a 21-year-old from Rathnew in Co Wicklow, recently rode the winner of the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup for the second time in his short career as an amateur rider.

Tierney moved to the US in March 2023 with just a handful of racerides to his name but no winners. Point-to-point handler Harley Dunne put him in touch with a US trainer who was looking for a rider and, little over a month later, Tierney won the Maryland Hunt Cup in Baltimore on the outsider Withourmoreado for leading owner Irving Naylor.

Two weeks ago Tierney won the four-mile race again, this time on another outsider, Road To Oz, trained by Mark Beecher from Waterford.

Speaking to The Irish Field this week, Tierney said: “Mark called me in December and said he hoped to gave three runners in the race and asked if I would be available to ride one of them. I didn’t get back to him until February and that’s when Mark said I would be on Road To Oz.

“The race couldn’t have gone any better for me. I followed the leader all the way before going to the front over the last fence. It’s a unique race with timber fences but my horse was foot-perfect everywhere.”

Confined to amateur riders, the Maryland Hunt Cup has a prize fund of $100,000. The 1965 Aintree Grand National winner Jay Trump was a two-time victor of the Maryland Hunt Cup. Ben Nevis won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1977 and ’78 before winning at Aintree in 1980.

Tierney is based in Pennsylvania, an hour from the city of Philadelphia. “Maryland is just a 90-minute drive and there are a good few tracks in the area. Then there’s racing in Virginia, which is three or four hours away, and sometimes we fly down to South Carolina.”

There are only three weekends left in the spring season and Tierney plans to return home in June. “I would be interested in riding in Ireland again. It’s hard to get opportunities.”

He feels his riding has improved a lot this year. “Last February Aidan Coleman came over here for three weeks and gave me a lot of advice. My employer Harry Beswick has also helped me, going through race replays with me. My riding has come on a lot and I would like to thank them especially for their help.”