Laura Hourigan

Like everyone in racing, you kind of start off with ponies. I did a bit of pony club and hunting and that. Dad (Michael Hourigan) always had a busy yard, so we rode out before we went to school. It was a great grounding, and I was lucky in the sense that I didn't have to go away anywhere. We always had plenty of horses and ponies at home to mess around with. I had my first ride when I was 16 in a ladies' bumper in Killarney. Dad always had plenty of Kerry owners and enjoyed having runners in Kerry. I kind of got bitten by the bug, I suppose. I had the majority of my rides for dad, and I was always working at home. I wouldn't have had the number of winners I had only for dad. I did have winners for others as well, though. My best day in the saddle came on Moonmeister in the Ladies Derby at the Curragh (2019). He was a 50/1 shot, but Tony Martin always has his horses fit and he got up by a neck. I had 29 winners on the track, including a hurdle winner, and one point-to-point winner.

Dad had loads of good horses including the likes of Hi Cloy (Grade 1 Melling Chase winner, Aintree, 2006) and Church Island (Grade 3 Bet365 Gold Cup Chase winner, Sandown, 2010). One of my old favourites was A New Story (Cork National winner 2005). He was no world-beater, but he was an old pet of mine. My sister Kay would have been involved with the horses on the big days and my brother Michael drove the lorry. I was at home tipping away at jobs. Kay was very hands on with the horses, she was very good. She looked after Beef Or Salmon (19-time winner including multiple Grade One successes) and Dorans Pride (29-time winner including multiple Grade-One victories), she ran the yard with dad. As somebody said to me, dad trained for the ordinary man. The yard was only a field when he got it and he built it. He has three gallops, a swimming pool, a spa, walkers, paddocks, two indoor schools and a solarium for the horses backs as well. He was probably a man before his time. I'd say the swimming pool must be in 30 years - I think Dorans Pride put that in! Dad would never have given money for horses, he didn't believe in it, and it paid off with the likes of Beef Or Salmon and Dorans Pride. He always got an owner for them and they paid their way and they won races.

I said I might as well give the training a go. The place is here at home and it would be awful to see it go to waste. If I had to rent this place now, you wouldn't last in racing. I had nothing to lose really. You may as well give it a crack because you have everything here. You can do 80 per cent at home whereas a lot of people might have to drive further afield to work their horses. I have great people around me as well, I could ring anyone and they would come and ride work for me. I have six horses at the minute. We just tip away and try to grow every year. It is about getting the right horses and placing them in the right races. We have plenty of stables here, there's no shortage of stables. Dad has them all built - 60 or 70 stables. Us trainers always have room for horses! I'm a believer that happy horses win races and, once they are happy and healthy, they will run for you. Dad always had his horses looking great and it has rubbed off on me. I do like to have them looking well. I'm very accommodating if anyone ever wants to come and see their horses any day of the week unless I'm racing. I'm always around if people want to see their horse ride out - I'd be big into taking videos of them out in the field or on the gallops and sending them on, because owners can be busy and don't get to see their horses.

My first winner, Pimstrel, in Galway in my first year training (2022) sticks in the memory. She was for Eoin O'Sullivan and Kieran Ryan. They had no problem having her with me. It was not like I was established or anything as I was only after starting. It was Eoin's first time as an owner. It was great to get her and get the win with her. My brother actually got her out of a claimer in Laytown. My brother Mark is in Kuala Lumpur and is a great help to me, he's my second set of eyes for races. He and my brother Paul source the horses, they are good at looking for a little niche in a horse.

The horses I have in the winter time like it up in Dundalk. I'm fairly hands on with the horses and I don't like going up there just for the drive! It is tough enough getting up there but, any time I go up there, I like to think I have a chance with any of my horses. The Flat horses that I have, they are what they are. You just try and improve them that extra little bit. Unterberg won twice at Dundalk in February. We'll give the horses a go on the grass as well and I've a few more to run as well. We will get them right and get their minds in a good place. Hopefully, we will have a good crack at the turf as well. Jockeys Wayne Hassett and Rory Mulligan have ridden plenty for me and are in two good yards. They have good racing brains. It was great for Wayne when he became Champion Apprentice last season and I helped him out a little bit I guess. I also have a National Hunt licence. I haven't had much luck with the National Hunt horses. The jump racing is so competitive, it is hard to get into unless you have a young horse and you sell it on if you win a bumper.

It is a bit of everything that drives me. You want to improve what you have. Good horses train themselves when you map out their races. With the lower-grade horses, you are looking for a niche with them. You are looking to run them at the right time. When Pat Martin retired, he said you have to have all your ducks in a row with the lower-grade horses. The '60' and '70' grade races are so competitive and most of the horses are within those grades. Sometimes you are sitting on your hands and waiting for the right moment to run your horse. That's the way I would look at it.

The Irish racing industry is good fun. You meet loads of people every time you go racing and every day is different. Everyone is very helpful and it is like a family really. The last few weeks have been great (with winners), it doesn't always work out like that but, once you keep your head down and keep plugging away, you'd like to think the rewards might come.

Laura was in conversation with Michael Graham.

If you would like your racing story covered in 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