Robyn Donaghue Leahy: 'I thought it really sharpened me up as a rider as you want to look like the good lads and there are great lads in there.'

Four wins from four rides at Dundalk. That's what 25-year-old Robyn Donaghue Leahy achieved recently over three fixtures at the Co Louth venue, making the six hour round trip from her Waterford base all the more worthwhile.

The first of those came aboard the gambled-on Surpass and Shine, a plunge that the apprentice admits ‘to be honest we don't know where that came from, it was nothing to do with me anyway, but in fairness he justified it.'

It certainly came as a shock to the layers who went 33/1 first pop when the market opened and then traded from all rates down to a starting price of just 4/1 before duly obliging for his backers.

“He had run third in a five-furlong maiden up there as a two-year-old (in 2023) so we knew he could handle the surface and he was down to a career-low mark but he toughed it out well,” adds his rider.

Five days later she was back for just another single mount, this time aboard another Pat Flynn inmate Gallo Dell Cielo in the 1m4f handicap. The pair saluted the judge at odds of 100/30.

Two days later back at Dundalk for two rides it was business as usual for Leahy who spent several months working for Joseph O'Brien while attending nearby Kildalton Agricultural College doing Equine studies.

Again trained by her boss Pat Flynn, Jordan Breeze initiated the double when winning for the third time over 5f, his second success at the track, before old favourite Not Just Any Eagle won for the sixth time under his regular rider.

“Not Just Any Eagle is a super horse to me and is very, very tough,” says Leahy who was bagging a double for the second time in her career, the first also coming via Not Just Any Eagle when stable companion Tudor Manor had also obliged almost two years ago at Dundalk.

Leahy had to roust the 5/2 favourite Jordan's Breeze along after breaking from stall three to track the leaders and cornering well on the inside into the straight ran out the comfortable winner in the end.

“He needs to get into a good position as he's a funny horse in that he doesn't stay six but he needs to be up there over five.”

'when you go in there you have to do things right, there's no going in there wearing attractive wellies'

A spell riding out on Owning Hill in Piltown for trainer Joseph O'Brien during her college term played a big part in her development.

“I did a year there. I was in college in nearby Kildalton at the time and because of Covid we were only in for a week once a month and I was getting bored at home so I ended up going into Joseph's around April 2021. I did the whole summer there and then I rode out a lot in the morning before college.

“It really tidied up my riding because when you go in there you have to do things right, there's no going in there wearing attractive wellies. I thought it really sharpened me up as a rider as you want to look like the good lads and there are great lads in there.”

Casting her mind back to her childhood, Leahy recalls where it all began.

“When I was about eight years old my cousin Teresa McCarthy used to do riding lessons at home in Cobh in the Ballywilliam Riding Centre and still does but I just remember going down with my grandparents to pick her up afterwards and I remember been amazed at these massive animals.

“I was only small at the time, but I ended up getting lessons there for five or six years and got my first pony out of there and that was probably the grounding and making of me as I learnt everything there.

Leahy bagged seven winners in 2024 before that number dropped to three in 2025 but this year has achieved her best total of eight and counting.

“You need to be tough mentally as you know you're going to have quiet spells and you're going to give some bad rides but you just have to be able to take it and go out and try again the next day.

“My weight would be grand and I'm able to do eight stoneish so that wouldn't be my toughest part as I'm lucky enough with my weight. I have light bones which helps and have always been lucky enough in recent years and thankfully it has stayed that way.”

Two riders, both now retired, proved inspirational to the Cobh, Co Cork-born apprentice.

“We wouldn't have been from a horsey family but growing up I remember we'd be watching the national hunt racing on television and the likes of Ruby Walsh riding plenty of winners and then of course Rachel Blackmore who was another super rider.”

Siobhan Rutledge, the third female jockey to ride out her claim in Ireland along with Joanna Morgan and Cathy Gannon, is another Leahy looked up to.

“When I was humming and hawing about getting a license Siobhan was getting winners every second night up in Dundalk and she showed me that a girl can do it and that I should go about getting a licence. She made me think I want to actually go out and do that.

“When leaving school I was probably always going to work with horses but I remember I put down a sports and recreation course on a whim when filling out my CAO (Central Applications Office) form but I never had any intention of going doing it I would say. It was always going to be horses.”

Now working with Pat Flynn ‘six days a week morning and evening', Leahy has loved her time with the trainer who is based in Ballingra Stables on the Waterford side of Carrick-On-Suir.

Flynn is probably best known for saddling Montelado to win the concluding Champion bumper in 1992 before coming back to the Costwolds 12 months later to land the festival opener, the Supreme Novices' and become the only horse to win two consecutive races at Cheltenham.

“Pat has been great to me and I've learnt loads during my time there so hopefully I can repay him with a couple of more winners.”

The three-hour drive to Dundalk is a tough part of the job especially for those having to navigate through the M50 ring road around Dublin which has become a nightmare for commuters most days but especially on Fridays. Leahy's Dundalk raceday routine starts early.

“Normally I'd be in Pat's in the morning at 7.00am and try to stay there for as long as I can before I head to the races. If I don't go home for a shower I'd head straight to the races from there.

“We're far enough from everywhere that there's not much to fit in before racing and going to Pat's. It's two hours 45 minutes to three hours every Wednesday and Friday but it's worthwhile if you can ride a winner.”