Toni Quail I'm from Downpatrick, Co Down and I started riding ponies when I was four-years-old. I went up through Pony Club and then I went to the Horse Sport Ireland Youth Eventing High Performance program. In the process of doing that, I left school and needed a job riding out in the mornings before I did my own horses. I went to Brian Hamilton's in Downpatrick and and built up my interest in racing from there. I really enjoyed the galloping and jumping. After having experience of eventing, going cross country and the show jumping, I thought it helped me with the jumping and schooling of the racehorses. I represented Ireland at the FEI European Eventing Championships for Juniors and Young Riders. The first year I went with the juniors was 2016 in Montelibretti in Italy. Dressage wasn't my horse's strongest point ,but he was a very good jumper and he jumped double clear. The team just missed out on a medal as we were fourth which was great in my first championship. I went to the young riders' in 2018 to Fontainebleu in France. We were a young rider team, so we were up a level. I was first out in the cross country and, with the heat and everything, my horse got quite tired and fell in the water. I'd have to put a line through that, but it was brilliant to get picked to go. It was and still is competitive to try and get picked for those teams. Going across the water to represent your country is an achievement in itself. One of my top horses got injured and had to retire from the top level and I was kind of only left with a younger mare that I still have today. I just went riding out then and fell in love with it. I wanted to give it a go, for something different, as another string to your bow as they say. I asked my mum if I could do the Event Riders Challenge at Dundalk in March 2018. She said if I won, I could get my licence! Lucky enough, I did win on Bobeska for Kevin O'Donnell. Basically, that led to me taking out my licence. I was never going to be a Flat jockey because I always loved the jumps, but it was great to even get a ride around Dundalk and to say you've done it, even if it was a charity race. I couldn't believe it when it happened. I had such adrenaline because I never thought it would happen. He ran away with me most of the way! I was like, 'God, I hope they are all not this strong!'. Coming back in and seeing how happy the owners and my mum and dad were was amazing. It probably gave me the bug that I wanted to do more. I had my first point-to-point ride on Puff My Pistons at Tyrella in January 2019 and it was a special day because Tyrella is our local track. Our family has a great involvement in helping to get it ready in our local hunt. Daniel Fitzsimmons was kind enough to give me the ride on him and he got me started. It was a long year and nine months until I got my first point-to-point winner on One For The Yard for Ellen Doyle at Loughanmore in October 2020.I thought it was never going to happen. Big thanks to James and Ellen, they backed me and were able to give me that first winner. It actually just felt easy to him that day. I was trying for so long, and he just jumped from fence to fence and he quickened up after the last. I was going point-to-pointing with Brian and leading up for him. I could see that Wexford trainers were heavily represented in the first three home in a lot of the races. A friend of mine, Correna Bowe, lived down in Wexford and she suggested that I go down and ride out there. I just happened to talk to James (Doyle) one day and he said to come down and ride out to see how I got on. I thought if I wanted to try and make it, I better go down and learn. I was with James for a year and a half and then I went to Colin Bowe's. I was lucky to get in there and it was great to be riding out with the likes of Rob James and learning so much. I think it has really stood by me throughout my career. My first track winner on John Adams for Colin in a maiden hurdle at Sligo in August 2021 was a huge day. Unfortunately, it was during Covid-19 and no-one could really be there, and you really missed people coming back into the parade ring. That was another horse I'm very grateful for. He taught me loads. He was a bit quirky, but I got a good tune out of him. I got a fall in the yard in Colin's and I broke my ankle in December 2021 and I was off for the rest of the season, so started doing sales work. Correna had moved to Tipperary and was working for Sam Curling and she told me that Sam was looking for a lady rider. Colin gave me a great opportunity, but he had a lot of younger horses and there weren't many older horses for me to ride. I had nothing to lose and I thought I might as well try it. If it didn't work out, I could always go back to what I know. I have learned bits along the way that I have been able to bring with me. I started an association with Sam in 2022. I won the Champion Lady Rider title in 2024/25 with nine winners from 16 runners. Big credit to Sam who supplied all the winners. He had the horses on top form when I needed them and he really backed me which you need to win those lady rider championships. You do need a trainer that is going to back you right to the end. Big credit to him and the team at home. We had the awards night on Saturday night and I had my dinner, didn't drink, had a party and went to bed early. I went to Punchestown the next day (June 25) and rode a mare called Queenofthelodge. We went down to the first hurdle, and met it all wrong and landed on my head. I broke C1 and C2 in my neck, and T5, T6, T7 and T8 in my back. When I first got the fall, I kind of thought my back was broken. A friend of mine, Hannah Phillips, broke her back a couple of years ago and I knew the pain she had described. It was something similar. I didn't feel any other pain as such. If I had surgery, I would never have ridden again. My surgeon, Mr Murphy, was a genius. He said, 'You're going to get what Nick Skelton had'. He was very good at thinking of a way around not having surgery. I was very lucky to have such a good surgeon to think about my career going forward. He said he would try the halo for three months and surgery was never really off the cards until the three months was up with the halo on. We didn't really know where I stood until the halo came off. I had to get another CT scan and MRI scan then to see what way it was and to make sure all the bones were healed. Lucky enough, it had all healed perfectly. As the halo was so restrictive, I then had to downgrade to the neck brace for another three months and go from there. I have to credit my family and friends for helping me through both the good and bad days. It has been so good to get back riding. A lot of people asked me if I went travelling or if I did anything, but what I did was go to the Irish Injured Jockeys' Rehabilitation suite at RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education) in Kildare. The team - Gavin, Wayne and Alannah - I committed myself to them four days a week and from January onwards didn't miss a day. My injuries were so bad I thought I had to give my body the best chance to come back and be as strong as when I left off. RACE has been great, I was able to ride a horse in there and ride out there. It just got my confidence back. I did a schooling course with Derek O'Connor there a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't that I was nervous, it was more to get over that hurdle again and just to do it again. The rehab centre has been top-class. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have got back. I'm going back to Sam in September. I wanted to get myself as strong and fit throughout the summer. I have been riding out for Evanna McCutcheon in the summer and she has been a great asset to me in getting back. I was riding a bit for her before I got injured and she always said the horses would be there for me when I got back. She has stuck to her word which has been phenomenal. Sometimes when you are gone for so long, time moves on and you are stuck in time. I had to take my time with the extent of the injuries and I'm glad I did give it time albeit it was hard sitting on the sidelines with Sam having his best season to date. It has paid off as I'm back riding doing what I love. I can't wait to have the routine of Sam's yard back again. I'm really looking forward to it. From where I've come from in the last year, to get back is one goal that I have succeeded in. If I had the chance to win the ladies' title again, that would be a long-term goal. Short-term goals are getting back and getting more rides again, point-to-pointing and on the track. I can go and ride work for people and am definitely open to getting other rides. Obviously, I'm trying to build up connections with trainers again. I rode a winner for Gordon Elliott (General Hubble, Fairyhouse, November 24) and it would be great to back on one of his horses again. It is tough working in the Irish racing industry - the hard days will be hard, and injuries do come along, but you just have to keep focused on what you want and keep following your dreams. Don't give up, I suppose. That's what I did as I couldn't give up on this. You have to do what feels best for you and work hard. Toni was in conversation with Michael Graham. If you would like your racing story to be covered in this blog, please email vfinegan@bettercollective.com 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
