Jack O'Neill

I'm from Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary and no-one in my family has ever looked at a horse or touched one! One summer when I was 16, I was mucking out stables up on The Hill (Piltown, Co Kilkenny) for Joseph O'Brien and the Head Lad came up to me and asked if I had ever ridden out. I said I had and that I would give it a go. I got all the equipment and went up the gallop and got a love for it then. I told a fib as I had never even sat on a horse! They copped on straight away that I hadn't ridden out. I couldn't tack up and I put the saddle on backwards! I didn't have a clue.

From there, I rode out every day even on school days and weekends. I would ride one or two lots before school and I did it day in day out. They had a breaking and pre-training yard which was 10/15 minutes over the road, so I went over there to learn a bit more. Assistant Trainer Brendan Powell brought me over and was teaching me and teaching me. Then I went back over to the Hill every day. The lads and jockeys there were great to me and taught me a lot while I was there. It is a great place for any young jockey to go to. All Joseph's apprentices and jockeys have a great way of riding. You look at Dylan Browne McMonagle - he is strong and stylish and he is what every jockey would aspire to be like. I remember going in there on a Sunday and Joseph would ride out and would pull me up to the front of the string with him. He told me if I needed to put my heel down or up, or shorten my reins and grab them up a little bit more. It really did teach me the basics.

When I was with Joseph, I ended up going to RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education, Kildare) and I spent a year up there. I did a bit of work for Eddie and Patrick Harty. They were great to me as well as I learned a lot about riding work and the basics of breaking in two-year-olds and getting them going. I was with them during RACE and for a short period of six months afterwards. I had my first ride for the Harty's (Rare Millie, bumper at Gowran Park in March 23). I was the only person in the history of RACE to actually hold a licence and have a ride while still being on the course. I remember Paddy Flood (jockey coach) pulling me in and saying that they wanted me to get my licence as they thought I was ready. I was over the moon. I couldn't believe it as I was only in horses for around two/two and a half years or so. It just goes to show that hard work and dedication pays off. It is one of those things that you had to put everything into every day of the week and it pays out.

When I finished up with the Harty's while I was in RACE, I came back home to Tipperary on the weekends. Philip Fenton was kind of stuck for staff at that time and he rang me while I was in RACE to see if I was looking for a job. I wasn't getting many rides off Eddie and Patrick, and I got in contact with Philip then to say that if the job was still there, I would take it. I did and I was with him for several years. I really learned my trade there and he taught me a massive amount. He's a great mentor, through every walk of life, and nearly like a father figure to me. My first ride for Philip was on a horse called Jumble Light (Ballindenisk point-to-point, January 24) and he didn't have great form beforehand. He fell and pulled up in a couple of races and, the run before I rode him he finished last. I rode him for Philip and he was actually running a really nice race. He jumped great and was probably going to finish second or third and then, coming down to the second-last fence, he slipped up on a road crossing.

I was conditional with Philip in Ireland for about a year and I could kind of see myself with the way Irish racing was going that rides were getting tight unless you were in the big yards. Every young jockey wants to ride consistently. I got in contact with Brendan again and we had a good chat over the phone. He was assistant to Henrietta Knight and within two weeks I was on a ferry over there to work for Henrietta and Brendan as they were looking for a conditional and there would be rides for me. I was only there about two weeks and I had a winner on a horse called Motazzen at Fontwell in March. It made me believe that my decision in moving over here was correct. It was a tough decision to make. At the end of the day, you are packing up your whole life really to move to another country where you might not know anyone. It was a big jump, but it paid off. Henrietta's knowledge of horses is incredible. What she is renowned for is the way her horses jump and for loose schooling. She is very good to learn off. I felt my schooling came on 100 times going there. She really does teach you to sit quietly and let the horse figure it out. It definitely works.

While I was in Henrietta's, towards the end of the jumps season, I had a morning or two where we weren't busy. I was staying with Brendan's wife Rachel and she knew a jockey, Paul O'Neill, who works in Faye's. Paul and I got in contact and he was very good for advice. He rang me one day to see if I would come in to ride out, so I did. I was doing that once a week or once every two weeks for about a month. When I was back home in Ireland, I was sitting up with my family when the phone rang, and it was Paul, and he said they were looking for a conditional in Bramley's. I took the job straight away. It is a brilliant job. We have got AP McCoy riding out here every day and he is a great mentor and great for advice. If I can pick a thing or two off him, I won't be be doing too badly. I probably ask him about 100 questions every day! He would have an answer to every question that you ask him. His knowledge of form is second to none. After rides, he would often ring me and have a good chat. He would never sugarcoat anything with you. It is said in a way that you will remember, but not in a nasty way.

My weight is not too bad at all, I'd be 10st 4lb every day. I'm nearly 6ft, so the weight it good. I do keep an eye on it as the last thing I want is for it to catch me. There's lot of good lads over the years that had to return to Ireland because of their weight. In fairness to my agent, Ian Popham, he has done a good job. I've actually been jocked up on one or two horses for Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, but they have been non runners. Faye is keen to get me riding more to get my name out there, so I'm trying to build up my connections. I still plan to go into Henrietta's a morning or two a week when the season picks up again. We have got a nice bunch of horses in Faye's and a nice bunch of owners. Paul and the rest of the lads in the yard do a great job with the horses. With the routine we have, it gets the horses minds ready to race as well as their bodies. They are happy horses that look well. Faye has only been training a short while, but she is doing very well. Glengouly was a big winner for the yard. He won a 50 grand chase (Uttoxeter, May) not so long ago.

The way I look at it is, everyone in this game is ambitious to ride winners - that's the whole point. If you asked me if I could have 10 rides in a week or one winner, I would pick 10 rides. It is 10 times the experience. My main goal is to get more rides and ultimately I want to compete at the top level of this sport. You can be up in the clouds and down in the muck in racing, and I suppose it is all about trying to keep your head above water going forward.

Jack was in conversation with Michael Graham.

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About Michael Graham

Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.

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