Conor Owens rode his first winner on Blossom De Mai © Photo Healy Racing
I’m from Rathvilly in Co Carlow and am a relative latecomer to raceriding. It was brilliant to get the first winner under my belt on Blossom De Mai at Tramore on Tuesday and the aim is to keep improving and see how far I can progress.
I worked at Jim Bolger’s Beechy Park Stud which is local to me and did a lot of groundwork with yearling colts and broodmares and I suppose I learned the basics of horsemanship there. After a spell in Australia, I decided to give riding a go at the age of 23. I went to a local equestrian centre for my first lesson which was how to ride and trot and canter. By day two I was jumping and managed not to fall off. Ken Doyle, who runs the centre, said I’ll bring you down to the woods and get you a fall and see if you still want to do it! So on day three he brought me out into the open countryside and we were jumping drains and poles and I still managed to stay in the saddle, so he said you might have a future doing this! I’m the right size to be a jockey and I have good balance.
Willie Mullins was looking for exercise riders at the time and took me on. Zenon, who was a decent dual-purpose horse, was the horse I rode first lot on my first morning there. He was grand in the warm-up but when we started cantering on the gallops he ran away with me and passed pretty much the whole string! It wasn’t a great start but we got through it and I was fine in the remaining lots that morning. Patrick and David Casey would often do the board there and they gave me good, sensible rides after that and I gradually improved enough to be able to handle the more difficult rides.
I learned loads at Willie’s as you would with the quality of riders that he has there. I ended up in the role of being one of the barn managers and you’re looking after some absolutely top-class horses there.
Once I got the hang of riding I’ve always had the belief that I could be a jockey and I’ve worked hard to improve. When I was in Willie’s I gave up most of my lunchtimes to go and ride out with Barry Fitzgerald and also in the evenings with Liam Treacy in Bagenalstown. You can learn more and pick up things riding different, and sometimes tricky, horses. Liam encouraged me to get my amateur licence which I did.
Through a friend of mine, Anna McGrath, I heard that Philip Rothwell was looking for a 7lb claimer who could do light weights. Philip asked Jack Foley about me and Jack said I would be well able to do the job. I actually had a good think about leaving Willie’s because there was a really nice young horse that I was working with there, and you do get attached to these horses, but I made the move and Philip has given me loads of rides in the 13 months or so that I’ve been with him. He’s in Tinahely so it’s not far from Rathvilly where I’m living at home.
My family would have gone racing regularly and I went with them to the likes of Punchestown and Fairyhouse. My first bet was a fiver on a McManus horse at Fairyhouse. I backed it because the jockey was wearing the green and gold, which are the colours of the local club in Rathvilly, and it came home in front! My parents come and watch me whenever they can.They couldn’t make it to Tramore the other day but they were delighted for me to get the first one. Rachel Blackmore was actually the first person to congratulate me on the way in which was nice as she knew me from Willie’s.
I didn’t get the chance to do much schooling in Willie’s because there are plenty of riders there for that, but I’m making up for that now in Philip’s. The likes of James O’Sullivan and Paddy O’Hanlon are there on a regular basis, and Simon Torrens comes in once a week. James, in particular, was a big help to me when I was starting off schooling horses and the advice from all these lads is hugely beneficial. It’s great that the yard has been doing so well this year and there’s a small team of staff there that is tight-knit and get on well with each other and are getting the rewards for all the work they put in.
I’m looking forward to my first ride over fences. Philip would have a lot of smaller, hurdling types in the yard, so I haven’t had the chance to ride in chases yet but I can’t wait for it. I don’t have much opportunity at the moment, with the short days, to school horses in other yards but earlier in the year I went into Dick Donohoe’s and Jimmy Barcoe’s and they were good enough to give me a few spins and support me.
In the longer term, I have an ambition to be an airline pilot. I’m hoping to do well enough as a jockey that I can keep putting a few bob aside to continue towards the goal of being a pilot down the line. I wouldn’t be one for a typical nine-to-five job anyway. I have 15 hours of flying lessons done and I’m loving it. Philip probably thinks that myself and Paddy O’Hanlon, who has his pilot’s licence, are talking about horses when we’re coming in from the gallops but that’s not true, it's all about flying!
I played a lot of football at underage level. I was a striker and was in various FAI squads. I spent time with some of the top underage teams in Dublin, like St Kevin’s, St Joseph’s and Peamount United and had trials in England. I had a few hard luck stories but they’re pretty common and it wasn’t to be. I went back playing a few weeks ago but with things picking up as a jockey it’s hard to combine the two things.
Once you start off to do something, I’m a firm believer that you should strive to progress as much as you can and get to the limits of your ability in that field. That’s what I will continue to try and do as a jockey.
Conor was in conversation with Mark Nunan
