LAST Saturday afternoon at Fairyhouse, I rode my first career double aboard Anotherlady and Rightdownthemiddle. The following day, Empire Of Dirt provided me with my biggest success to date, in the Grade B Handicap Chase at Naas. Those victories vindicated my decision to turn my attention to jump racing, having enjoyed a short stint as an apprentice on the flat.

My dad was a well-known amateur jockey but I only have very vague memories of him riding. He had retired and taken out a trainer’s licence by the time I was old enough to have an interest. With a racing stable right outside my front door it didn’t take long for me to become involved and by the age of nine or ten, I was riding out some of the quieter racehorses. A few years prior to that I had started with a pony, so I suppose I was an early learner. I followed my dad everywhere and was a regular at all the local hunts, point-to-points and race meetings.