Diarmuid Moloney

I'm 24 and from Ardnacrusha in Co Clare. I'm based at home with my parents and twin sister. They wouldn't have had a great interest in racing before I started riding but they follow it closely now and are great supporters of mine.

I took out my conditional licence last summer and have five winners on the board already.I'm delighted with the way it's gone, you couldn't write away for it!

Three of those wins have been on Brandy Harbour who has been a star horse for me and the plan is to let him take his chance in a 50,000 Euro two-mile handicap chase at Punchestown next week.

As a young lad, I started off at a local equestrian centre in Clonlara and I used to spend all my free time and weekends there. That's where I learned how to ride, really. The interest in racing came from an uncle of mine who used to train a few horses and a cousin of mine used to ride them. I started helping them when they were breaking in their horses.

I then went to Joe Quinn in Sixmilebridge who had breeze-up horses at the time and, at the end of the breeze-up season, I went to Joe Ryan's yard which is when I really got into point-to-pointing.

I was there for about six or seven years, just learning my trade and how to train horses. I took out my amateur licence and bought a horse of my own which I was lucky enough to win a point-to-point on. I was amateur for about two years until Covid hit and I decided to go to Paul Nicholls in England.

That was a good eye-opener and it was great to see how the champion trainer brings horses on. It was great to be schooling horses with the likes of Harry Cobden, Bryony Frost and Lorcan Williams. There were so many staff there and it was quite a relaxed atmosphere.

The gallops are so far away from the yard that you have to take your time. There's a lot of roadwork which I found a little bit monotonous. It was grand but I like more fast-paced kind of work and I like every day to be different. I like working within a routine but I like that routine to have a bit of variety as well. At the moment I like going down to Boulta to school horses one or two days a week, or I could be in Dromahane or in the Curragh. In Ditcheat you were in the same place every day and it just didn't suit me. I was happy to come back to Ireland.

I had started working for Derek O'Connor even before I went to England, and also for Brian McMahon and John Staunton. Derek's yard is near Crusheen in north Clare and is just a couple of miles away from his brother Pauric's place. I've learned a lot from the O'Connors and how they train horses. Derek has been a great mentor and very influential in my career.

I'm in with Derek every day and that's my main job. Then I go on to Pauric's yard and to Brian McMahon who has given me plenty of support this season.

Ellmarie Holden is also someone that I've been fortunate enough to ride for this season and I had a winner for her at Gowran Park last month. Derek rides her point-to-pointers and I help him to break those horses before they go on to Ellmarie, so I get to know them well. I meet her at Boulta or the Curragh whenever she wants a bit of schooling done. The Holdens buy a lovely progressive type of horse that always trains on. Not all of them work out in point-to-points because not every horse is a three-mile chaser, but it's great to see them down the line being able to win a race when they're given a bit of time.

I'm very interested in the training side of the game and I like the point-to-pointing for how you can bring a young horse on, it's a great schooling ground for a horse. Way down the line I'll probably end up buying a few stores myself and try running them in point-to-points.

I was going to turn conditional in Britain when I was with Paul Nicholls but I ended up breaking my hand so I had to wait until that healed before getting my Irish licence last summer. Things were a bit slow to get going until Brandy Harbour, who's trained by Pauric and his wife Grainne, gave me my first winner when he won over hurdles at Limerick in November and I won on him again over fences at Thurles just before Christmas. He was impressive at Cork over Easter and all the better that it was on RTE with Ruby Walsh saying some nice things about me afterwards!

I got the run of the race and kept him wide because he doesn't like horses around him. I took my time on him and got two good jumps to get me into the business end of the race. I switched to the inside of Minx Tiara in the straight because when he passes a horse, he's funny, it's nearly like he laughs at them, he loves passing horses at the right time, so to get him to go up between and pass two horses, it really set him alight . When you get to know a horse so well, you can ride them with your head a lot more because you know their quirks.

I'm very lucky to have a horse like him so early in my career. You get noticed a lot more for having winners over fences, too, because they take a lot more riding. We're all looking forward to a good day out at Punchestown and it's great to be riding at a big festival like that in my first season.

He's a horse that takes a bit of knowing but I actually like to get into a horse's head. An older horse like him, they have enough galloping done and I think you need to train their mind more to keep them interested in the job. He's run a lot this year, so he's fit, and we just try to keep him sweet. He loves going to the beaches at Doonbeg or Kinvara and having a good time in the water.

Ken Whelan is my agent and I have no weight problems. I watch my diet and, with a bit of work, I can keep the weight down. I'm able to claim 7lb off bottom weight and can ride at 9st7lb no bother. It took me a fair bit of time to start riding as a professional and, at times, I was frustrated that things weren't happening faster for me but at least I have plenty of life experience at this stage and maybe it was all for luck. Hopefully things will continue to go well through the summer and I'll be trying to pick up as many outside rides as I can.