Colin McBratney

I'm from Crossgar Co Down, local to Downpatrick and Down Royal. My father and my brother always had point-to-pointers and I rode in point-to-points, maybe 30 to 40 point-to-point winners and a few on the racetrack. They were mostly for ourselves and I rode a couple of bumpers for Ian Ferguson and rode a bit for Willie Rock. Mr & Mrs W E Rooney were good to me and I rode for them for a season in point-to-points with good success. I rode out for Mr Rooney as well.

I had a farming background, we milked cows. I never really had much interest in the farming department. My brother David continued the farming and trained a few point-to-pointers as well. My brother concentrated on the farm and I took over the licence. I always liked the training side of things and met a few people and got a few horses. It was a buying and selling operation - I sold a horse to Howard Johnson after he won his point-to-point. We have progressed from there.

I'm self-taught really, I never went to trainers' yards. My father was a show man, so I always knew a bit about conformation and tendons. I rode point-to-points for Tommy Steele and he probably taught me a lot about the veterinary side of things. I've always trained on family land in Crossgar. I'm training 20 years.

We've had some great days with horses, we had runners in Cheltenham before Ballyholland came along, but Ballyholland was the day everybody dreams about (in the Galway Plate 2009). He was a big horse and he had run in point-to-points on heavy ground, and then he had to have a wind operation. The rain came in Galway and we thought it had gone too soft for him, but it was just summer soft. I suppose worrying about the ground was maybe an excuse if he didn't run well! We had never even thought about the Galway Plate until he won the trial the way he did in Down Royal.

Everything came into sync with him all the way to Galway and the bit of work he did before Galway was unreal. Bursting blood vessels was his problem, only for that he would have won a lot more races. We said (that day) if he didn't burst a blood vessel, he had to take a lot of beating. When you watch the video back, from four out he was the only horse in the race travelling. He turned out to be a bit of a Galway specialist, he loved Galway and won the Colm Quinn BMW Steeplechase there a couple of years after that (2011). It was actually quite emotional when he passed the post. Owner Cathal McGovern and myself have known each other for donkeys years since we were 15 years of age. Cathal is a very active man in Ballyholland Harps GAC and the horse was named after that club.

Carsonstown Boy came along then. It was the first horse in training for the man that owned him (Jim Monaghan). He always went to Cheltenham as a spectator. He was a car dealer from Downpatrick and just wanted to have a horse for a bit of fun. He won his point-to-point and we said why not have a crack at it (Foxhunters at Cheltenham 2014). Noel McParlan rode him and gave him a fantastic ride, but Tammys Hill nailed him over the last. It was amazing, two horses trained within 30 miles of each other (Liam Lennon trained Tammys Hill). He went back again and was fourth the next year. He wasn't the same horse going back next year but still ran well.

Marito was heartbreaking for us, he was probably our best horse ever. He was different gravy. He was a very keen, very free horse. We went to Cheltenham (Foxhunters 2016) and Noel just got caught a little bit wide on him and he was just pipped by supposedly the champion hunter chaser of all time On The Fringe. He was second to him again in Punchestown in the Champion Hunters' Steeplechase, and was also runner-up in the Champion Hunters' Chase in Stratford. I wouldn't have got him only he got injured in Willie's (Mullins). Harold Kirk got me him and he had a lot of time off. He was a good horse before he came to me, I didn't make him a good horse.

I'd say one of the best days of my life with owners was when Mrs Savage's horse Quiet Account won the John Corbet Cup (for the Champion Novices' Hunters' Chase) in Stratford the same day Marito ran there. It was a very special moment to get a winner for her. Another great day in racing was when Mark O'Hare rode six winners in Taylorstown (point-to-point in 2007) and he rode three of them for me. Mrs Savage owned one of them too.

In the winter, we have 30 in and in the summer have 15 in. We try to get syndicates put together. The way racing is in Ireland, it is very difficult to compete. In an ideal world I would love 10 good horses ,but you would be very lucky to get them because you can't afford to buy them. We've bought a couple of nice young horses at the May Sales and I've some nice horses to go forward with. I have very loyal, good owners and nice horses, and I just hope they can be competitive. I'm trying to get into buying and selling a bit as well. We have a few point-to-pointers and are selling them on.