THE RTÉ cameras were following jockey Conor Maxwell around at Leopardstown on Thursday evening.

Conor explained: “It’s for Big Week On The Farm, which will be on each evening from Monday, September 2nd to Thursday, September 5th. It will be based on my father-in-law Ivan Curran’s farm in Stamullen and they thought it would be a bit of fun to show the life of a jockey as well.”

Conor does a bit of breaking and pre-training although he is busier than ever with racing this year as he is now dual-purpose. “I started out as a flat apprentice but it was always the plan to go jumping and my weight was creeping up.

“About 18 months ago I injured a few vertebrae and that coincided with me starting the breaking and pre-training. I seemed to come back from that injury fitter and lighter than before.

“Last year I had a few rides on the flat and then I found I was wanted every Friday night in Dundalk last winter. Now I’m riding out for Gavin Cromwell, Fozzy Stack and Dermot McLoughlin, along with as many dual-purpose yards as possible. I must thank my agent Ruaidhrí Tierney for doing such a great job for me.”

Conor was riding at 8st 10lb in Leopardstown. “I’m not killing myself to do it - I have done 8st 8lb with a few days’ notice. I’m still riding over jumps and I find that flat racing sharpens you up and helps you to make decisions more quickly in a race.”