What spiked your interest in the horse racing industry?

Growing up I had little interest in horses, so I’ve probably got to where I am now by accident. As a teenager, I started following National Hunt racing as my brother Colm was riding out for Willie Mullins. Unlike my brother, I never had any desire to work with horses until I got a call offering a job in Australia.

I had just been to the Cheltenham Festival so you could say I got the bug and I was delighted with the opportunity.

My first job in the industry was in Arrowfield Stud in Scone, which is one of Australia’s biggest stud farms. I was fairly green, but I instantly knew this was an industry that I wanted to make a career in. I then went to work at Coolmore Australia where I was advised to apply for the Irish National Stud.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get in, however I was offered a place in the English National Stud in Newmarket. After completion, I went to Newsells Park Stud, this was probably where my interest in bloodstock and sales spiked as Newsells is renowned for breeding and selling at the very top end of the market.

As much as I enjoyed working there, after two years I felt that it was time to go gain more experience, so my partner Anna and I did a year of travelling from sale to sale across the world, working for farms such as Haunui, Segenhoe, Hazelwood Bloodstock, Claibourne Farm and Mount Coote. It was a fantastic experience but the goal at the end of the year was to move home to Ireland and buy our first broodmare.

Who has been the biggest influence in your career?

There have been various people everywhere who have influenced me. I would have to mention a few horsemen that taught me a lot early on in my career, Denis GriffIn in Arrowfield and Gerry Meehan in Newsells Park. There are many others in the industry that I admire and strive to follow their example. It’s great to see so many young breeders, bloodstock agents and pinhookers doing so well especially here in Ireland.

Are there any challenges you’ve had to overcome?

As a small breeder I have experienced both the highs and lows of the business. When things don’t go to plan it can be costly both financially and mentally. Starting out is difficult but keeping everything going is the challenge. Surrounding yourself with the best vets, farriers and horsemen and women certainly helps when you need expertise or advice. Luckily where I am based in Fermoy, we have them all.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell yourself starting out in the industry?

This industry offers opportunities to work in other countries. Go and travel, work in leading stud farms and do the sales circuits all over the world. You will gain life experience, meet like-minded people, while also learning different ways of doing things that you can take home with you.

Give everyone you meet the same time, respect and kindness that you would want to receive. It’s a big world but a small industry, you will come across the same faces whether you are in Kentucky, the Gold Coast or the covering shed in Castlehyde!

What goals have you set for yourself going forward?

My short-term goals are to have four healthy mares and foals by the end of the season.

We have two nice yearlings to sell this year by Footstepsinthesand and Sioux Nation, the aim is to get them into good trainers to give them every opportunity to succeed on the racetrack.

A long term goal would be to one day buy some land. Rigsdale Stud is very much just a name at the moment, you could call us a mobile stud! Our horses spend as much time in the horsebox as in a field.

We rent in Fermoy during the season and sales preparation times and keep the mares on Anna’s family farm in the off season. It works for us now, but we would love to have something more permanent to call our own.

If that doesn’t already sound impossible, my biggest goal of all is to breed a Group 1 or Royal Ascot winner – the dream is still alive!