IN sending out Folly Master to win at Thurles earlier this month, I became at least the fourth generation of my family to train a winner.

Obviously, my father and grandfather before me are well known in racing circles but even before that, there was something going on. If not on the racecourse, there were definitely point-to-point horses being trained at home.

My grandfather’s legendary chasers Arkle and Flyingbolt would have been mentioned and fondly remembered when I was a child. I grew up at the latter end of Carvills Hill’s career, at a time when Merry Gale and Harcon were the big names in the yard.

Even then though, everything referenced back to Arkle, Flyingbolt and Brown Lad. I did the usual auld stuff, getting going on ponies then show jumping, hunter trials and hunting. When you get to a certain age, ponies turn into horses, you catch the bug and that’s that.

I rode away in bumpers while I was still in school, then after that, I spent a winter point-to-pointing with Ted Walsh.

Actually, my first ever ride for Ted was a winner at Tattersalls. I still rode out at home every morning. In those years before the roads got mental, you’d be in Ted’s in about 30-35 minutes.

Amateur rider

After that, I got the chance to ride as an amateur for Robert and Sally Alner in England. I rode some good winners for them in point-to-points and even rode in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham.

I got an offer to work for the late Ferdy Murphy; riding as an amateur for a year before turning professional with him. I rode out my claim with Ferdy but also got some great opportunities from Malcolm Jefferson.

Ferdy had some lovely horses at the time, the likes of Kalahari King and Joes Edge. He seemed to be winning all the Nationals and staying chases in those days. Malcolm Jefferson, another man who is dead and gone, produced a handful of decent horses each year.

He was a marvellous trainer who managed to get great longevity out of horses - four-year-old bumper winners were still going strong at 14.

At 6ft 3inches and a touch, I was always too tall and heavy to be a jockey; Ferdy told me to turn professional, get a few years out of it and get out. I spent most of my life in the North of England in a sauna instead of seeing the countryside.

Packed in

I came back, rode in Ireland for a year, then after breaking my leg in a fall, I packed it in. My weight was almost gone before the break but after six months off, it was definitely gone!

Things were getting busy at home, with the likes of Notre Pere on the track and the ‘Sizing’ horses starting to come through. Myself and Dad get on great, so it was a natural progression to join him in the training.

Over the years, he was always the boss but I took a more active role in the selling and point-to-point side of the business.

I was in no great rush to take over the licence, being happy for the horses to run in Dad’s name as they always had.

It was only in the last few years that I took out a point-to-point handler’s licence, so we could differentiate between the two strands. If you are going to stand at a horse’s door to sell it, it needs to be under your own name.

History

Dad took over from his own father when my grandfather was very sick, so I was always conscious of history not repeating itself. I want Dad to be very much involved with the training, while at the same time, able to appreciate and enjoy it.

He has gone racing for me with runners on a few occasions recently while I was pointing. Ours is very much a family operation, with my mother and sisters also being important cogs in the wheel.

Folly Master, my first winner, is owned by the O’Farrell family; lovely people who have been with Dad for years.

I was delighted that my first win should be for them. Having Keith (Donoghue) in the saddle was brilliant, as we are great mates and speak every day. Hopefully he will ride many more winners for me in the years to come.

In days gone by, you had two types of owner; the one that wanted to run in point-to-points with a view to selling and the owner that wanted to race on the track.

The way the game has gone, a trainer doesn’t have to differentiate between the two or run separate operations any longer. If you box clever, the two jobs can go side by side.

Last week, we were delighted with the 130k sale of recent point-to-point runner-up Claim Du Brizais at the Cheltenham Festival Sale. Come the Land Rover and Derby Sales, we will go in again and restock.

However, before all that, we still have some nice young horses to run in point-to-points and a few for the racecourse.

Tom was in conversation with John O’Riordan