I'm a Downpatrick man through and through, in County Down, hence the colours of my silks. My nanny Polly was a Fitzsimons and her home place was in the middle of Downpatrick Racecourse right beside where Paddy Turley's house and yard are now. Horses have been in my blood for generations. My grandpa Willie Polly had Novello Allegro (12-time winner in his career) and he was among my first memories of horses. He passed away in 1992. In one of his memorial races at Downpatrick, a few years after he passed (May 2000), a young Jerry Hannon was given an opportunity to commentate on his race which helped to kick off his incredible career. He's the voice behind Irish racing now as well know. I rode ponies up until I was 11 or 12 years old, I broke my wrist and I never went back. It was an injury that probably interfered with other sports that I was mad about at the time.

From Business to Backing the Racing Community

Shortly after finishing my day’s work last Wednesday I received a WhatsApp message from a friend that included a short head-on video clip of a jockey falling from a horse and a question asking me what I thought of that?

Without having any context, I watched this isolated video clip several times and arrived at the opinion that the rider may have actually jumped off the horse for some reason, which I twigged was presumably the same conclusion my friend had come to and the reason for his question in the first place.