Aidan McGarry

I'm from Naas originally and there was no background or connection with horses within the family as such. I suppose I would have got my first interest maybe from my dad just as a general follower of the sport. Back in those days, being in Naas, the schools would have closed for the week of Punchestown and you'd head out for the Festival every year. I suppose I just got the bug and the interest from the general area, and Punchestown would have been the first Festival I went to regularly as a kid.

I completed my degree in Equine Science in Limerick and the intention in going there was to eventually start working within the industry. I was lucky enough that Michelle Kelly in the Tote took me on during my college placement. Between getting on well with Michelle and the team there at the Tote, and getting to know things in Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) at the time, I was lucky enough to start off in a role within the racing department. Over the years I graduated from different positions.

I was Customer Relations Manager in HRI dealing with trainers, and getting trainers and the industry on board with a lot of the activities HRI would have been undertaking. Moving on, I took a couple of managerial roles from an ownership perspective under Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and then back in under the HRI banner. I have been very fortunate to work under the HRI banner most of my career in very different. I suppose that is the beauty of the industry, and an organisation like HRI, that there are lots of different opportunities to progress and work within different aspects of the industry.

My primary focus as Owner Relations Manager was on the racehorse owner, their raceday experience and to support all their interactions with HRI. I suppose it was the first of its kind within HRI. It was a new role and it just showed the kind of focus HRI had not just on growing the number of owners within the industry, but on ensuring those that those owners who are putting a lot of money into the industry had that one person that they could contact or reach out to within the organisation. For any owner, the racecourse experience is a massive part of the ownership experience. I think everyone understands that. I remember Richard Lyttle would have been the first to really put on a real focus on the owner in Downpatrick at the time. Richard was always the bar and then Pat Keogh in Leopardstown. I think from any barometer the owners' experience on a racecourse now is light years ahead of their experience 10 years ago. It is a credit to the racecourses and it is an acknowledgement of how important the owner is to the racecourse and the industry as a whole.

When I came into Navan as general manager in March 2021, it was right in the middle of Covid-19. There was no public at the racecourses and there were no owners. We didn't have people racing with us until September and even then it was only a small number of members or owners. It was a strange introduction to racecourse management coming in at that time and then there were so many restrictions when people did come back. We were working with Jennifer Pugh and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to make sure everything was done correctly. It was a strange introduction, but no two days are the same on a racecourse.

Navan racecourse, particularly from a jumps perspective, is absolutely phenomenal. If you speak to any of the trainers or jockeys, everyone thinks so highly of the actual track itself. It is such a proper test of a National Hunt horse. I couldn't be more fortunate to work with the group of lads that look after the track. They manage the track and treat it like a golf course. It is their golf course in terms of the amount of work they put into it. That is hopefully reflected next weekend with the type of horse that will run in its maiden hurdle or its beginners' chase.

Coming up next weekend is the Navan Racing Festival which is a big change for us in terms of bringing together two of our feature days. It is a big weekend for the racetrack and hopefully the town. We are not afraid to change things or try things to see what works. The entries for the Troytown are very positive - an Irish Grand National winner (I Am Maximus) tops the weights and generally what looks a really strong, competitive entry from a lot of the top trainers and a variety of trainers around the country. The whole purpose of the weekend is to have that right balance and mix. We have the Troytown in addition to other graded contests and other competitive handicaps at lower levels, maiden hurdles and beginners' chases. The beginners' chases can be almost graded class in all but name.

Barney O'Hare (Bar One Racing) has been an absolute star in terms of the support he has given the racecourse from a sponsorship perspective. He has put a big investment into the Bar One Racing betting shop here which is as good a betting shop experience as you would get anywhere on a racecourse or the high street. Equally, we have lots of local sponsors as well, for example John Lynch Carpets & Flooring, Lisadell Equine Hospital, and Kilberry Pub & Kitchen. We are very lucky with the sponsors we have and they are very engaged. We hope and think that the weekend will be a big success for us and for them as well. We are changing the different packages here from a hospitality and customer perspective. We are putting additional investment into the temporary facilities over the weekend just to really focus on that customer experience. We want people to feel that it was a great event to put in their diaries for next year already. This is year one of a project that we hope to grow and expand over the next few years.

Once we finish the Navan Racing Festival in November, we are into our Christmas party season and then on to William Hill Boyne Hurdle Day in February. I'm loving it and I'm very lucky with the team on the track and in the office and we also work with a committee here. Jimmy Owens is our chairman of the racecourse committee. It is a real local, passionate committee who have been part of the racecourse for years. They are an invaluable resource for me in terms of me being very much a blow-in from Kildare! A committee like that are a great resource for me to get a feel for what will work in Navan or what doesn't work in Navan.

Aidan was in conversation with Michael Graham

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.

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