I WAS racing since I was born, I suppose. Dad obviously rode and later trained; while Mam is a daughter of Toss Taaffe. My brother Niall (Slippers) was a jump jockey, who won the Grand National, so I suppose I had no other choice really.

At the same time, I was kind of late really getting into it, as I mixed the racing with football for a while. Slippers had a pony when he was younger but obviously there is a bit of a gap between us, so the pony went away for a bit before I got him back.

I would have done Pony Club and all that jazz but really all I wanted was to go faster and do cross-country. Looking back now, although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I got a great grounding while learning the basics at Pony Club.

Then one Sunday morning it came to a head; I had to decide whether to play football or go hunting. I’ve never looked back or regretted that decision at any time since.

I was in school in Naas all my life, and all I ever had in my head was to go racing. I did two years pony racing from 15 to 16, then got my apprentice licence. I was in fifth year at the time, so still had two years left. The teachers were very good in fairness. A few of them would have been interested in the racing and taught Slippers when he was there, so they accommodated me whenever possible.

Although I hated homework, I managed to put the head down and worked hard enough to pass my Leaving Certificate. I was living at home, riding out for Dad when I started full-time in racing. As Dad trained for J.P. (McManus), I would have ridden a few jumpers work for Frank (Berry), as well as riding work for Fozzy Stack and Charles O’Brien.

Fran Berry, who was still riding at the time, got me into Jessica Harrington’s yard. She would later go on to offer me a job as stable apprentice down the line.

That’s the great thing about the Curragh; there are always trainers looking for lads to ride work, you end up building up plenty of contacts in that way.

First winner

My first winner was also somewhat of a family thing; Willie McCreery is in the family, being a second cousin of my Mam. It was nice to get that for him and Amanda.

From there, I got going as an apprentice. I didn’t fly but I tipped away steadily; I was light, so I got loads of rides and picked up a few winners along the way. I rode three winners that first season in 2013, then 14 the following year.

My best season numerically was in 2019, when I rode 25 winners. After a treble at Dundalk, I was challenging Shane Crosse for the apprentices’ championship but I just didn’t have the same firepower in the closing weeks.

Things got tougher once my claim was reduced to 5lb, then tougher still when I got down to 3lb. At that point, trainers start to wonder if the weight difference reflects the difference in terms of experience and ability between you and a seasoned professional.

Jessica Harrington continued to use me but I found I just wasn’t getting the same opportunities from outside yards. I fractured my heel when a horse reared up on me at Gowran Park near the end of the 2021 season. After missing the rest of that year, I just struggled to get going again. Jockeys can be forgotten about very easily when they aren’t riding winners, or even just riding regularly.

Australia

I had the chance to go over to Shane Jackson in Australia the first year of Covid but the outbreak put the kybosh on that. I’m also a bit of a homebird and thought I’d miss Ireland, so even after everything got back to normal I never took it any further. When things started slowing down here, I realised I missed the racing and riding winners. Shane, who is a good friend of Slippers, is assistant trainer to Lindsey Smith.

I originally came out for three months in 2023 but am still here over a year and a half later. There are more Irish in Australia than I realised, even just working in racing. Aside from Shane, I would also have known Tom Ryan through my brother. I knew of John Allen and Declan Bates but hadn’t met either before coming out. I bump into them at the races all the time now and both are always very helpful.

Ronan Short, who I knew through Donagh O’Connor, is another Irish jockey based out here. It’s like a home away from home really. The Australians have also been very welcoming.

Rides

Lindsey has been very good to me. I came over on a Thursday and the following Saturday, I had two rides for the stable. I was probably still on Irish time but I did get the chance to show how I rode and what I was like in a finish.

From there things just started to snowball; I got a few more rides and from there, the winners followed. I recently rode my 50th winner since coming down to Australia. To be honest, I wasn’t really keeping count, so it was a nice surprise when it popped up. It’s just great to be busy and riding winners.

I’d hope to stay over here longer term once the visa can be sorted out. I know that I’d never get the same opportunities at home that are open to me in Australia. Down the line, when I finish up riding, I’d definitely like to do something within racing.

Tom was in conversation with John O’Riordan.