What spiked your interest in bloodstock and racing?

My interest in bloodstock started from growing up on a small stud farm, first in the UK then later moving to Ireland. I rode from a young age and always helped out in the yard, mucking in where I could. Even before I could walk, I was asleep in a wheelbarrow while evening stables were being done!

I think what really kicked off my interest in bloodstock was when my parents bred their first blacktype winner, Nations Alexander.

It was such a special feeling to have been a part of it and, as a small breeder, blacktype isn’t always that easy to come by so it was a great day for us. I tried to attend as many sales as I could with my parents growing up.

I loved the buzz, looking at as many horses as I could, and the debrief at the end of the day while we made our hit list. I also loved and still love foaling mares; I did two seasons of night watch for a stud in Waterford as well as staying up for our own as much as I could growing up and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

While I was studying for my marketing degree I went on placement in Tramore Racecourse and ended up staying there for three years, working between classes and over the summer while also staying up on night watch before eventually moving to Horse Racing Ireland’s [HRI] Marketing Department for a year and a half. For the past year I have been working in the Ownership Department.

Who has been the biggest influence in your career so far?

The biggest influence on my career so far is a tough one! My parents have always been so encouraging and my biggest supporters in everything I do. They always told me ‘work a job that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’ and it’s very true.

Their drive and motivation is something that I strive to achieve as I have yet to meet anyone who works as hard as they do.

I’ve been lucky enough to have also met some amazing people along my journey so far who have given me advice, a gentle push in the right direction, and introduced me to others who have opened a lot of doors for me to continue pursuing a career in the thoroughbred industry.

I think my time at Tramore Racecourse was really my jumping-off point. I would have been quite shy when I first started in Tramore but the team down there were so welcoming and encouraging and gave me the opportunity to get stuck into every part of running a racecourse which I loved and my confidence soon followed behind.

Are there any challenges you’ve had to overcome? And how did you overcome them?

I think the biggest challenge for me was not knowing people! When I was in school there would have only been a handful of people interested in horses and an even lower number interested in bloodstock and racing.

In college, it was even less, and combining that with being quite shy around new people it was definitely a challenge. I was lucky in the fact that I started to meet people through working in Tramore and HRI which has been a great help to overcome that.

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

Jump straight in! I held back for longer than I’d have liked and wish I could have grabbed more opportunities with both hands and ran with it a lot quicker. I’m happy with where I am right now and still have plenty of time to run with new opportunities to see where they lead me.

What goals have you set for yourself going forward?

My goals going forward would be to travel more and experience bloodstock and racing from as many different angles as I can. I would love to get down to Flemington and work on the Melbourne Cup meeting or to Dubai. I was lucky enough to go out to Meydan last year for the Goffs Sale and it is another world out there and I’d love to explore it more.