Wexford Fri, 7th Aug, 2026  Esticky End It’s nice at the age of eight when they hit a bit of form,. I love the idea of training horses that can stay going season after season. He was running at two and has run every year from two to eight. I do like the concept of a horse winning at 10 or 11, horses that want to do it and enjoy doing it over a period of time. You’d wonder did he want to do it at times because he has refused to race several times. He planted at the start last year in Thurles and stayed in the stalls at Dundalk and Gowran. He got suspended for one of his days in Thurles. There have been plenty of times he’s been out of love with the game and we’ve just tried to coax him back into it.

Wexford Thu, 23rd Jul, 2026  Esticky End this means a lot as he is so difficult to train and it has been a long journey with him. He won once for us in Dundalk previously and this is our first every jumps winner today. I took out my jumps license for him as he played up in the stalls at Leopardstown one day and Gary Halpin (jockey) came in and said not to ask to ride the horse again! He was always tricky in the stalls but has relaxed over hurdles although it has taken him a long time. It has taken a lot of runs and Dylan got him going when he was hard to ride. I’d love to go back for another Flat race but the danger is, he might get another suspension. We ran him once over fences but, the next day, he refused over hurdles. He is that kind of horse and you never know what he is going to do. We’ve only three horses on the go, we ran two today and have another racing tomorrow, so we’ll have a quiet few days afterwards.

Down Royal Fri, 17th Jul, 2026  Numidia He pays his way. I don't know how many times I was getting rid of him! Not now, that's his sixth win. He was up 8lb and Mel took 7lb off - I couldn't believe it, he was sitting still and riding like a professional there. For a 'learner driver', he was staying cool. He battled on well. He does have a Dundalk rating, so we'll work off that. On the turf, we might be climbing a bit.

Bellewstown Thu, 2nd Jul, 2026  Numidia I didn't think he was up but, he longer it went on, I said 'jeez, maybe'. Mel said yes, he thought he was up. He was trapped on the rails there, one in front and one alongside him and, in all fairness to the young fella, he found his way out of it. He had to solve a few problems out there and he didn't panic. He's a brother of Joey, so he would be well taught anyway. I'm delighted for Mel. He does stay (two miles) and he's down to a nice mark there. Down Royal had gone too soft for him.