Mark Enright It’s great to be back after a long time out with injury and to return with two winners in my first three rides was just what the doctor ordered, heading into Galway, where I had such a great time last year by winning the Plate on Clarcam for Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown. Originally I was meant to be out for four weeks after breaking my shoulder when falling at the first on Measureofmydreams in the Irish National. Then an MRI scan showed a second fracture and it was another six weeks. Then things weren’t coming together and there was another few weeks. It was 13 weeks altogether. It felt like 13 years. When you’re out you’re completely forgotten about. Then you’ve the likes of Darragh O’Keeffe now absolutely flying, the likes of Hugh Morgan among the winners and lads are mad to put them up. When a claimer is going well, it’s very easy for a trainer to use them. And then you’ve the main lads going well all the time. When they’re all going well, it’s hard to knock them off the pedestal. I didn’t do a whole lot while I was out injured because there wasn’t a lot I could do. I didn’t miss one Limerick hurling match and I don’t intend on missing any now I'm back. It was unbelievable when they won the All-Ireland last year. They look the team to beat again after the Munster Final. They’re after getting beaten twice, which is a worry, but if they perform like that they did against Tipperary they’ll be hard to beat. I’m very hopeful though I’d say Kilkenny will give them plenty of it but Limerick, pushing the corner-forwards and leaving Aaron Gillane inside is working a treat. They have a very strong panel. Seamus Flanagan is from my club, Feohanagh/Castlemahon. He was playing last year but is finding it hard to get a game this year. That tells you a lot. It was all hurling and football, all GAA when I was growing up in Castlemahon, which is just outside Newcastlewest. I grew up on half an acre, just the house and a bit of a back garden and there was no hint of horses. A neighbour of mine had a couple of ponies down the road. I took an interest in them one day. Then a friend in school used to ride out at the weekend for Billy Lee’s father, Mickey Lee, who sadly died last year. So I started to go there and the hurling was soon packed in. We haven’t looked back since. Going back to the injury, the best part of it was that I got to spend plenty of time with my daughter Sophie, who was two in March. She’s flying around the place! That was good for me because you can get bored very quickly and given the problems I have had in the past with depression, that was something I had to watch. But whereas I hadn’t a clue what was happening back then, I know myself now and I know what it is so I can call someone if I feel I need to, someone like Dr Adrian McGoldrick, who has been so helpful. One of the big disappointments about the injury was that I had planned on riding a bit more on the flat. I had gotten in touch with the agent Dave Keena, and I was going to go into John Oxx and Ger Lyons but it’s too late to do that now and I’m in Gordon Elliott’s most days. I’ve had a few rides on the flat and it’s something I’d love to do more of but it’s very hard to break into. Winning the Galway Plate was magical. It’s a day I’ll never forget. I’m after watching it back a little bit since I started back riding out just to get myself going. Everything went right on the day. Even Drumcliff falling at the first fence down the back allowed me to fill my lad up. Everything fell into place. There’d be days when everything would go right and there’d be days when everything would go wrong and that was a day when everything went right. Riding a winner the same day for Jessie Harrington was class too. It was just a mighty week and I had a winner for Henry de Bromhead on the Sunday but I’d say I’ll struggle to top that this year somehow. For about two weeks after, I’d five rides going racing every day. I don’t know do lads expect miracles but no winner came and I don’t know did lads think I was a flash in the pan or whatever. It’s so competitive. When you’re red hot, everyone wants you but when you’ve had a quiet week and you are freelance, its back to square one. I think I have had close to 15 winners in Galway altogether. I’d say I’ve ridden more winners there than any other track. I’ve had savage luck around there. The first time I rode there I walked it with Robbie McNamara, as he’d been used to riding the Dermot Weld hotpots around there. He told me not to squeeze a horse going down the hill, as you’d no chance getting to the top of it if you did. I’ve never forgotten that so it’s what I try to do and it seems to work. I’ve nothing at all lined up for next week yet but I’ll be hoping a few lightweights come my way. It all depends on the ballots but I suppose apart from the Plate and the Hurdle it’s just your everyday racing really. I’ll just be hopeful there’ll be a few 9-10s going. Last year I rode for Gordon, Jessie, Henry and Willie Mullins in the same week. I don’t know if too many lads could say that but that was because I could do the weight. You never know what will happen. I had no confirmed rides at the start of the Festival last year either, just what you picked up on the morning of the declarations, so we’ll go anyway and we’ll see what happens. It’s a place I enjoy riding, I enjoy the challenge of it and have done well there so hopefully I get the chance again this year.
