Mark McCrory

I'm from Maghery in Co Armagh and I don't come from an equine background. It was a friend that did show jumping, to a pony level, and I tagged along with him. Then his mum got me into riding lessons in the local area, and it took off from there then. The first time I sat on a racehorse was in Stephen McConville's yard. He was only 10 minutes down the road from me. I was 15 and I rode out at the weekends and whenever I was off school in the summer.

I got the bug from there as I just felt show jumping was a bit too slow. I approached Stevie to get experience with racehorses and loved it from the first day I sat on one. I got a few days off school to go racing with Stephen and that was a nice benefit at a young age. The likes of Kerrib Castle was there when I was riding out. Leggy Lad went to Cheltenham with Stephen (pulled up in National Hunt Chase in 2012). The first horse I actually sat on was Arc Of Stone, he won a couple of point-to-points.

I did the Foundation Degree in Equine Management at CAFRE (College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise) in Enniskillen. It was more so to have a broader level of knowledge of everything if race riding wasn't going to go my way. Once I went to CAFRE, I stayed down there and rode out for Stevie at weekends. My first point-to-point ride was on House Of Bourbon for CAFRE in Loughanmore in April 2014. I was hoping that there was going to be riding opportunities with Stephen, but he had a small number of horses, and his son Michael was riding at that stage. There wasn't a whole pile of opportunities, but it was Stephen who said to me that I should go on to be a jockey at that stage.

My first winner came on Lisnagreggan for Willie Gault at Tyrella back in March 2016. It was a nice feeling getting his head over the line and something that sort of always sticks in my head. You never forget your first winner. It just gave that craving of wanting more winners. My first track winner followed soon after on May Day in Down Royal on El Grande in the hunters' chase. It was nice to get the first track winner on home soil. At that stage, I saw Noel McParlan, Barry O'Neill and Mark O'Hare as the big riders, and the riders I looked up to. To win against two of them that day, was one of the biggest achievements I could have done. That horse was owned by Pat Conway, and I have a long association with Mrs Conway. Whenever I left CAFRE, I rode in a few bumpers for the Conways, I pre-trained for them back in the 2021/22 season and then trained for them. Mrs Conway had a horse called Jet Ranger. He ran in a few bumpers, but then we ran him in a point-to-point in Largy (April 2018) and he finished third for me.

Delvino won a Grade 3 novice chase at Naas in March 2022 and was actually my first track winner as a trainer. It was a nice achievement to have a horse like that put into my hands at that stage. I didn't think I was going to get a horse like that starting off. It was definitely a lot more special as a trainer than riding a winner. That was also for Pat Conway. Whenever I trained Delvino, I had actually sustained an injury hurling for Eoghan Ruadh in Dungannon and had to get my knee reconstructed. I took the time to train horses then and then I took the licence back out to ride, and I had a couple of horses of my own. I wasn't at the stage where I could do both. I left the trainer's licence behind and started riding again to get more experience around the tracks. I wanted to give the riding a proper go after the knee reconstruction.

I was in with Noel Kelly for a while, and rode a few horses for him, and I had two of my own horses there as well - Ghumama and Coastal World. Coastal World actually won over flights at Ballinrobe (August 2024) with Alex Harvey on him. I was stood down and wasn't able to ride. Then he finished fourth under me at Down Royal and Cartmel. I was keeping up the riding while I was in with Noel. I wasn't far off two years working for Noel Kelly. I see the end of the riding coming soon and I don't think there is going to be much more riding for me. I needed to get a head start on the future rather than sitting waiting. I still have options to ride, never say never, but it could be the end. I could still ride some of my own, but I'm at that stage where I got my knee reconstructed again in November and have been stood down - that's why I'm not riding at the minute. Same knee, second reconstruction. I ruptured my cruciate again back in October just before the semi-final of the football championship. That was for Clonmore in Armagh.

I'm training in Conway's yard in Magherafelt and have had four recent runners. Soldier Saint ran a blinder (in fourth at Tramore) and the winner (Zolpharine) was carrying 15lb less than him and, to finish 10 lengths behind him, I can't really say he ran badly. At the minute, I have three horses in training, including my own horse Ghumama, and then a few younger horses I'm pre-training for Mr Conway himself. We have a Wexford Sand gallop and we have a line of three hurdles and three fences up the middle of the gallop on grass. You are getting to school the horses on the ground it is going to be when they go to the racetrack. It is nice facilities - we have 11 woodchip paddocks and at the minute we are able to actually paddock the horses out in the fields. We have the beach beside us and Moira is only an hour away for galloping. We have plenty of facilities around us to get us where we need to be. The plan is to try and get a few more horses in, and to train for Mr Conway and outside owners. We have 20 stables in the top yard at the minute. I'd be saving five or six stables for Mr Conway's horses. I'd still have 10 - 12 stables free for outside owners. I could have a couple of point-to-pointers to start off the 2026/27 season with and we are open to point-to-point horses. Loughanmore would only be half an hour away from me.

My goal is to try and get the best out of each horse and for the horse to realise its full potential. Obviously, that involves trying to get winners. Off the back of that, the mindset is that I would get more customers and more contacts. I just didn't feel I got the full opportunities as a jockey, so my motivation in training is to get the first winner this time around and then get the second and keep pushing. I want the horses to do the talking for me rather than me doing the talking for them.

Mark was in conversation with Michael Graham.

If you would like your racing story covered on this blog please email [email protected]

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.

View Latest Articles by Michael Graham