THE new intake of aspiring jockeys at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Kildare will have at least one Northern rider in Sarah O’Shea. From Newry, Sarah heads to RACE from an eventing background and has recently been competing in junior classes with her mother Susan’s Cruising gelding Youngstars Cheetah as she has more or less outgrown her 11-year-old piebald pony mare, CHE Esmeralda.

Sarah is no stranger to hard work as she has been based in Gilford with event horse producers, Steven and Trevor Smith whose yard is always a hive of activity and constantly full even if the inmates do change around at times.