AS owner/trainer of six-time winner Colla Pier, I have enjoyed some great days over the last four years. Due to a lot of problems I picked the mare up for nothing, yet she has now won over €111,000 in prize money and been placed in both listed and Grade 3 class, as well as finishing fourth in a Grade 1.

I grew up going racing at Bellewstown which is closest to us here at home.

My brother Robbie (Dunne) and I also rode ponies bareback at our local equestrian centre. I think he developed the racing bug from an early age and I was just the little brother who got brought along! Robbie always wanted to be a jockey and he went to RACE when he was old enough. Every weekend he came home and rode out at a local yard and I went up with him.

As my Leaving Cert approached, I still had no idea what I wanted to do in life, so after speaking with my career guidance teacher, I applied for a Business Studies & Equine Science course. In order to gain more experience, I worked at the sales during that summer. Stephen Mahon saw how hard I was prepared to graft so he offered me a job with him. I took a year out and worked for Stephen, before starting in college 12 months later.

During those years, I continued to ride out for Stephen at weekends but also for Charlie Swan and Jim Dreaper. The latter encouraged me to take out an amateur licence as he had a few for me to ride. Over the next couple of seasons I had over 150 rides in point-to-points for various trainers, riding a few winners along the way. I worked with James Barrett for a time when he was training, enjoying plenty of success with good horses such as Call The Police and Pierse Hurdle winner, Barker.

AMERICA

In 2010, we had a really bad winter in Ireland and an opportunity to work in the US came about. I was based with Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliott – a lady from whom I learned so much. Her precision and attention to detail was incredible and I came away much wiser for the experience. I spent four months in America, during which time I got more into race-riding, actually turning professional while out there. Indeed, on my last day in the country, I rode a double before my visa expired and I had to return home.

The intention was to go back over but unfortunately I suffered a very bad fall while schooling a horse and was forced to retire from the saddle. It always irked me that I hadn’t been able to go out on my own terms, hence the reason I am making a comeback next month. I will ride Xinbama in an amateur race at Bellewstown.

After my injury I went to work for my close friend Damien English, who had just started up training. Almost immediately I fell in love with a temperamental filly named Colla Pier. She had been given every chance but just wasn’t showing much on the track and one day Damien hinted that she might be for sale – music to my ears! Eventually a deal was done and I took her home, much to my father and brothers’ disapproval.

After a while I said I would bring her back to the track but Robbie suggested that point-to-points would offer a better route. Over time she started to come back to her best at home and one morning she beat a decent horse of Dermot McLoughlin’s in a gallop at Lee Valley. Robbie Dunne pulled up with a big smile telling me that she would be a certainty on the flat; I quipped that maybe we should just run in a point-to-point!

BIG GAMBLE

As I didn’t have a trainer’s licence at the time, I sent the filly to Paddy Mooney. After a couple of runs over hurdles, we lined her up for a gamble back on the flat at Fairyhouse. Such was my confidence in her ability, I worked a number of different jobs (barman, collecting and selling golf balls, valet with Dave Fox) in the run up to the race, in order to have the funds to have a decent punt. The morning of the race myself and a few close friends backed her at 25/1 in a number of different shops – subsequently collecting over €60,000.

To their credit, Damien English and John O Lyons (Colla Pier’s breeder and former owner) were the first two men to congratulate me after the race. The filly stayed with Paddy (Mooney) for some time after, winning twice more. I cannot say enough about both Paddy and his son Martin, who are such great people and who did so much with Colla Pier.

Last year, after I filled a few orders for clients at the sales, I found myself with six horses in my care, so took the decision to apply for a trainer’s licence. As a result, Colla Pier was switched into my care and has been a star for me since. She gave me my first winner as a licensed trainer when successful at Plumpton last September and subsequently won on the flat at Dundalk and, most recently, over fences at Down Royal. She has also been placed in a Grade 3 novice chase, to add to her similar placing over hurdles for Paddy (Mooney).

MORE OWNERS

Her success has inspired more owners to get involved in the yard and I now have 10 horses in training. We have room for 19, so hopefully our numbers will continue to increase in the coming months. I plan to bring Colla Pier to Saratoga for a big filly and mares’ hurdle in August. The travel costs are quite high so I am currently looking for sponsorship.

I am very fortunate to have some wonderful people around to help and support me. My parents Walter and Jenny have always given me their full backing, while my uncle Anthony (Dunne) is head man and I would be lost without him. Robbie also helps whenever he is home and his advice is invaluable. Jamie Buckley has been with us from the very start and is terrific. She often goes beyond the call of duty, working long hours in the yard. I am very fortunate to have someone with her work ethic on board. Our recent arrival from RACE, Keith Donohoe, has settled in well and works very hard.

In any part of the country good neighbours are worth their weight in gold and I am lucky to have men like Dermot McLoughlin, Robbie Hennessy, Keith Clarke and Paddy Mooney all within a mile of our yard at Garristown Co Meath.

We all get on really well and are genuinely delighted when one of us has a winner. I couldn’t think of a better place from which to train.

David Dunne was in conversation with John O’Riordan