Padraig Roche

Thankfully things have got off to a nice start since I began training and if the horses aren’t winning they’ve been running well and you can’t ask for more than that.

I was very lucky that Dad’s(Christy) owners stuck with me and left the horses for me to train and it’s been a great way to start off.

I’d have about 20 horses in at the moment and it’s a grand number to start off with and hopefully I can build from that. When I started out first I got a few lads together from different places and set up a few syndicates and they are good craic.

Syndicates are a big part of Irish racing now and a very good way of getting involved for a reasonable cost and there’s a great bunch of lads involved in the yard now and they are enjoying it.

Training was something that I wanted to do for the last few years. I enjoyed riding and was lucky enough to ride plenty of nice winners and to ride plenty for JP McManus but my riding days are a long time over now!

Dad decided to take a backseat and it was something I was always looking forward to. I enjoy this side of it more than the riding.

It’s great to have Dad around for advice and Frank Berry is a major help too, he always was. Even when I was riding Frank was great to have around and those men have seen it all and done it all so it’s great to have them to ring. Now it is just about trying to keep the horses in a routine and keep them healthy and sound.

Jody McGarvey is brilliant, he is always around for us and Mark Walsh as well, to do the schooling and ride work and there’s plenty of good lads around the Curragh. It helps knowing the Curragh. I remember riding out Like A Butterfly for Dad before I went to school and she was definitely the horse that got me hooked.

I was very fortunate to be able to ride her before school and I’ll never ever forget the day she won at Cheltenham — it was something else. I wouldn’t mind one of her in the yard again now!

I remember when Paddy Burke was training the likes of Strong Platinum out of Dad’s yard but it was great to have any involvement in Like A Butterfly, especially when she was trained by Dad.

I’ve got great memories of Dad riding too. I remember going racing with him almost every day I could and I remember going to Aidan’s as a young lad and driving around Ballydoyle in the jeep when Dad would be riding work.

Looking back on his career you’d certainly appreciate now how good Dad was. He was an unreal rider and rode some amount of winners.

When Dad didn’t have quite the same numbers to train in the yard I went and spent a bit of time elsewhere. I suppose I was doing it with a view to learning and picking up ideas for when I would go training myself.

I did two summers in Ballydoyle myself before I started riding as an amateur. I spent a year in Randwick in Australia seeing how things were done down there and when I came back from there Conor O’Dwyer was just starting out as a trainer.

I had a few great years with Conor and we’d some nice winners together and I really enjoyed my time there. When I finished up in Conor’s I was starting to come towards the end of my riding and Kevin Prendergast was kind enough to give me a job for a few months and that was a great experience.

Kevin Prendergast is a great man. He is a legend around the Curragh and it was brilliant to be able to see him in action for a few months. He’s a lovely man to work for and even though it’s a few years since I worked there I, like everyone else, was cheering on Madhmoon at Leopardstown a few weeks ago. It’s fantastic to see Kevin with another lovely two-year-old on his hands. That’s Kevin for you, no matter how long it is since you’ve worked for him or chatted to him, you’d still be delighted to see him have a winner.

I’ve always looked up to John Kiely as well as Kevin and I suppose if I last as long as they have training I’ll be doing alright! I was lucky enough to ride a few winners for John and JP and he’s a great trainer.

I’ve got no real preference between jumping and the flat. Anything that I think will win I’ll train so it doesn’t really bother me… but despite a number of phone calls in the last few days I’m not turning to greyhounds!

I was at the Greyhound Derby Final at Shelbourne on Saturday night as a good friend of mine, Eamon Cleary, had Ballyanne Sim running the race and he won the Derby as a bit of a longshot. Eamon bred Annie Power and sold her to Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci. I know him a good few years so I went up for the final and we had great craic. It was some achievement for Eamon but I’ll be sticking to the horses!

I’ve got a few two-year-olds and a few others for the Flat and then some nice jumpers for the winter and once they can win a race I don’t mind what code they run under. I’ve got a few nice young horses there and I’m looking forward to the winter. Hopefully we can just train as many winners as we can and someday another Like A Butterfly might walk through the gate.