Paddy Kiely on his first winner - 'My daughter was in school the next day and everyone on the bus was talking about it'

In horse racing, your first winner is always described as the sweetest. For Patrick Kiely, a dream many years in the making came true when Dromana Mist won the Wexford Racecourse Mares' Maiden Hurdle.

After a promising run in Cork, she headed to Wexford where confidence was growing that she could achieve a lifelong dream for Kiely, and she duly obliged under the careful steering of jockey Dylan Whelan.

Kiely spoke to Niall Tierney of Irish Racing about his journey and those who have stood beside him from the very beginning.

'It's pure happiness'

Ah look, it was amazing. It was genuinely a dream come true, I can't stress that enough. You never know if it's ever going to happen, but when it does there's just pure happiness and a real sense of pride as well.

She's only a baby, as I said. She was only bought 10 months ago and she's done a lot now in a short space of time. I brought her to Boulta over Christmas there.

She was only a three-year-old, just to give her a kind of a day out, and she was doing things a bit better than she should have been doing for what she'd done at that stage.

I genuinely think she'll win races going forward. She's not too bad at all.

You mentioned that this one you'll keep, but you've sold a couple of nice ones as well.

Yeah, that's what we do - we sell them. I've probably left a few winners behind me because of it, but there's no money in keeping them all. You have to keep things moving. Dinner Dance definitely looks like a nice prospect for the future. She's actually entered in Downpatrick on Friday. I hope she gets a clear run now. Hopefully she'll be a nice mare for Francis Mangan and Aubrey McMahon, who bought her.

You're a qualified bricklayer. How did the whole journey into training horses come about?

I was around horses all my life. I left school and went to work in different yards. I worked for Paul Kiely, Diarmuid Ryan, Paul Lenihan, Pat Flynn and Joseph O'Brien over the years, and I learned something everywhere I went.

Even later in life, I went down to Joseph's for a year and a half and it was a brilliant experience. You pick up small details and little habits that maybe you wouldn't think of yourself, and then you try to put your own twist on it.

Where are you training from now?

I'm training out of a place called Connors of Park. It was owned by Peg Connors and there's huge history in the place. Even my blacksmith, John Halpin, has been around here for decades.

There's a great tradition attached to it all, so it was brilliant to send out a winner from there. I'd only have three or four at the track at a time, but during the winter I'd have maybe a dozen between pointers, horses for the track, pre-training and breaking. It all helps keep things ticking over.

Talk to me about those who are helping out behind the scenes

I'm very lucky with the help I have. Dylan Whelan, Alice Power and Cian Costello are brilliant around the yard, and Cian's father will go and help me on raceday as well.

That kind of support is massive when you're trying to build something. I hear plenty of lads saying it's hard to get help, but thankfully I've great people around me. We all get on well and it never really feels like work. I'd nearly see them more as friends than staff.

The reaction to your Racing TV interview has been superb

Oh massive. My daughter was in school the next day and everyone on the bus was talking about the interview and the win. Things like that are brilliant.

My mother and father have been brilliant as well. The belief they have in me was crucial to the journey. My family have backed me the whole way through.

I have fantastic owners. They are all friends of mine, so they are living this dream with me. It makes it better when you're with people you trust and there's never any pressure on me. For me, this is a hobby and horses are a love of mine.

Who would have been your idols growing up?

My idol is Willie Mullins, but I always admired trainers like Charles Byrnes and Tony Martin - they are very shrewd and smart lads that could get a lot out of horses that maybe didn't look anything special at the start.

What's next for Dromana Mist?

I think she's done enough for now. She's had a busy 10 months and she won the ITBA bonus as well, so we'll probably give her eight weeks out at grass and then bring her back again.

She's not the biggest mare in the world, but she's a real block of a mare, very honest and a massive worker. She has a great attitude, and that brings you a long way.

What are the ambitions now?

I want to build the quality in the yard, I am going to try and do my best at the sales to see if I can find a bit of value. You just want a chance really.

Even having winners now, sometimes it still sinks in afterwards and you think, I actually did that. But that's the way I am and the way I'll always be. I just want to keep building away quietly.