UP and coming apprentices Andrew Slattery, Ben Coen and Gavin Ryan have been going head to head on the racecourse this season but, back in their classroom in Killenaule, the trio have been putting themselves under pressure of a different kind in recent weeks by juggling their blossoming riding careers with sitting the all-important Leaving Certificate.

They are probably in the unique position of being in the same class, the first time this has happened in a school with a strong tradition of producing talented hurlers rather than jockeys. “We nearly always have a player on the top team,” said Gavin.

Never ones to flinch away from a challenge, they knuckled down to their exams and are simply hoping for a positive outcome. Ben reflected: “I think I’ve done enough to pass but I won’t do it again!”

Ben and Andrew, son of Cooldine trainer Andy Slattery, are first cousins who live close to one another. They knew Gavin through different sports growing up but didn’t really become friends until they found themselves in the same class after they did their Junior Certficate, by which time they all held apprentice licences.

Ben is the eldest and tallest of the three and he has had the most rides and winners so far. “He’s probably the better rider,” said his lightweight cousin Andrew. “And he’s shown the most potential so far. Ben started to get going pony racing in 2016 and Jack Kennedy was the top rider every year until he finished.”

Andrew’s father admits his son was a late starter to the game, commenting: “He took no interest in horses until he was 14. Ben, whose mother is a sister of mine, has been here since he was a child and he started pony racing. Then Andrew got the idea to try it one day, just by looking at him.”

Gavin, meanwhile who lives just 10 minutes away from the Slattery yard, was also doing well on the circuit, so there was plenty to talk about away from the books.

All three agree that their pony racing experiences gave them a valuable edge on their introduction to the world of flat racing.

The exams are reported to have gone well, particularly for Andrew whose best subject is probably English, while maths is Gavin’s best. Apprenticed to Jim Bolger, he summed up the mood in the camp with the comment: “We’re not looking for wonderful points but just want to get through it to keep our mammies happy.”

Studying

What then of their fathers? “All our fathers tend to be more relaxed about it!” said Ben. So, how did they manage to cope when it came to studying every evening in the build-up to their Leaving Certificate exams?

Andrew admitted: “We never really started. We were too busy studying form!”

For Ben and Andrew, the tuition they received every morning from Andrew’s father and uncles Willie and Brian after riding out was far more relevant.

Andrew Slattery \ Healy Racing.

This was the post-race analysis of their racecourse rides, followed by advice on how to avoid getting into trouble during a race and ways to get around it.

Ben has already clocked up five doubles, while Gavin has had a double at Dundalk and Andrew a treble, a brace at the Curragh on Guineas weekend and a fourth in a premier handicap for John Oxx, so it’s hardly surprising that they sometimes feel as if they’re living worlds apart from their school classmates.

The trio are all in agreement. They have already experienced so much of life outside the box compared with their Leaving Certificate contemporaries.

"Some people in our school were in tears over the Leaving," said Gavin, while Andrew put it into contest with the comment: “We’re in a position where we’re competing against grown ups and, hungry ones at that.

“I’ve no interest in going out every night or lying in bed the following morning, like a lot of the people in my class. I’m more interested in my career and I’ve made too much of a sacrifice to get this far. I’m enjoying it, as long as I’m going okay.”

Slattery’s final Leaving Certificate exam was on June 17th, while Gavin and Ben’s last paper was on Thursday, June 20th. Ben spoke for all three when saying: “Hopefully we’ll make a living out of being jockeys but, once you enjoy it, that’s the main thing.”

“It’s a tough job but the rewards are good,” said Andrew: “You have to make the most of the spotlight when you get in it.”

Reaping the rewards

The talented teenagers, who will have to wait until August for their results, are certainly reaping their rewards in the saddle. Ben has two winners to date for Dermot Weld, while Andrew has had three, plus five winners for Fozzy Stack in the last two years. “I’d never sat on a horse for him before that and John Oxx has given me a lot of rides.”

As he reflected: “Once you get your name in the paper, riding for those people, that’s half the battle.”

Ben Coen \ Healy Racing

Gavin has been riding for a lot of different trainers but his boss gave him his moment in the sun last year when Dawn Hoofer was successful in the apprentices’ Derby at the Curragh on Derby weekend.

Ryan followed a time-honoured route that has reaped dividends for so many others by becoming apprenticed to Bolger, taking out his licence in 2017 and commented: “He’s a real good mentor. He’s a hard task master but he’s not too often wrong and I get on well with him.”

All three are happy with the way things are going at the moment and have no desire to venture further afield.

Andrew remarked: “That’s kind of a last resort. The three of us are starting to ride for the right people, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Ben just wants to ride as many winners as he can and build up his contacts and all three want to keep improving.

With their studies now out of the way, they will be celebrating in a different way to their classmates.

Gavin said: “We’ll just be getting back to work and going at it full-time without school getting in the way!”

The experience has been a learning curve too for Andrew’s father Andy, who admits he never did an exam in his life.

He left school at 15 to go straight to Edward O’Grady’s and was on the same apprentice course as Kevin Manning, someone his son is now riding against.

The trainer, who has another local apprentice Paddy Hartnett in the pipeline, said in hindsight: “I was under pressure starting off with Andrew and Ben trying to give them rides but now all my owners are looking for them to ride for them. It’s easier to sell them now!”