FOURTEEN years after the first, Darkened became my 100th winner under rules at Dundalk last week.

I never thought I would get it. It wasn’t something that I ever aimed for. Training has always been a sideline for me, with the main job running the family steel business alongside my brothers.

However, in recent years, I have done well enough with the horses to attract a better-quality animal. That, in turn, has led to new owners and further success.

My dad always had a horse or two about the place. He had one very good mare, Winnie The Witch, who even won at Cheltenham. We had a cattle and sheep farm but the horses would come back to us if they were injured or just on a break.

I would have been riding ponies since I was six years old. I knew at a very early stage that I wasn’t going to be a jockey. Since no age, I had been breaking and selling cobs and ponies. In my teens, I’d go down to Dublin to trade horses at the Smithfield Market or head to the Appleby Fair in Ballinasloe. At one time, I would have had as many as 19 or 20 horses at home.

Trading

By the time I was 25 or 26, I sold out the cattle and sheep. I had been at the farming for a few years but discovered that I made more money trading the ponies and cobs. By then, I was working full-time in the steel business, so the horses were more of a hobby.

I kept a few horses for pony racing. A few wee local lads that came in to ride out did quite well with them. I started to get rid of the cobs and ponies, getting a few point-to-pointers instead.

My dad, who passed away 20 years ago, had often said I should get out a trainers’ licence. I sent out my first point-to-point winner, Native Guide, at Loughbrickland in October 2005. He was a very cheaply bought horse who ended up winning three for us.

A few months after, I had my first runner on the track when Rusty Zaffaran ran in a Hunters’ Chase at Downpatrick. I only had a handful of horses run under rules over the next few seasons.

Proper horse

I had started to get the swing of things by the time Mighty Whitey came along. The first proper horse I bought at the sales, he was very lucky for us. He won his bumper first time out at Sligo.

As well as being my first winner on the racecourse, he was also a first for Derek Fox. A very good wee jockey who gave me plenty of help, I was delighted to see Derek go on to win two Grand Nationals after. From the start, I would have run horses in Britain. We are only an hour from the boat and a further two hours across.

In February 2011, Jammia was my first overseas winner in a novice hurdle at Carlisle. With a bit more paperwork and hassle now, we don’t travel the horses as often but still go over the odd time.

Charlie’s Vic was one of the first really good horses we had. She won a Grade 3 Mares’ Novice Chase at Limerick in 2013. On the day I bought her, I headed down to the sales with just two objectives; don’t buy a mare and don’t buy a chesnut. Of course I ended up buying a chesnut mare! There was just something about her that kept drawing me back. She was just a gorgeous horse.

On the back of her success, we really managed to get the training going, attracting plenty new owners.

To be honest, I never wanted to be getting as big as we are now. I am very lucky to have a great team behind me. My young boy Jamie looks after it all. Wee Oran McGill, who has been with me since he was 15 or 16, calls most of the shots. He has been very good to me.

Mark McCrory rides out for us and a few wee girls come in. My daughter Mia looks after the feeding and leads the horses up when she isn’t in school. Mia led up Darkened on Friday night. My wife Shauna is also called upon to do lead up duties from time to time!

Real star

Cave Court has been a real star for us. He has won six races. Every time he goes up in the weights over hurdles, we go back over fences. He is qualified for a 100k race at the Punchestown Festival, so that would be the long-term plan. He might have a run before that.

We had 13 winners on the track last season and a further four or five in point-to-points. If we could have that number every year, I would be very happy.

At the minute, we have 25 horses in training. I wouldn’t want it to get any bigger. We have some nice young horses coming through. The aim would be to produce and sell point-to-pointers who go on to do well under rules.

You need to be leaving something for the next man if they are to keep coming back to buy off you.

As a result of our success on the track, we have also been able to attract owners who are prepared to spend money at the sales. While I have no ambitions of increasing in number, I’d love to improve the overall quality of horse in the yard.

Noel was in conversation with John O’Riordan.