ARCHIE Meade’s win at the Listowel Festival recently was very special as he is a horse I have been involved with throughout his career. When you add in the fact that I both trained and rode the victor, at what is essentially our local track, it made for a very memorable occasion.

I left home in Malbay, Co Clare, when I was just 16 and went to work for leading National Hunt trainer, Arthur Moore. Although my background had been in show jumping, Jimmy Quinn from Ennis who is well known in that sphere, suggested I try my hand as a jockey as he felt I spent more time going forward than holding back! Jimmy, who built many of the show-jumping circuits in my part of the world, knew Mary Moore and kindly organised for me to go and work for Arthur.