Harry Sexton

I turned 18 in February and will be getting my Leaving Cert results on Friday so hopefully it's good news.

I spent the last three years attending Ardscoil Na Trionoide in Athy. You're kind of dropped into a school where everyone knows each other so it was tough at first but once I settled in it was grand and it was a good school.

I have a few ideas about things I might like to do, pathways I might follow, but I'll see what Friday brings.

I was born in Ireland and spent about seven or eight years here before we moved to Australia and I spent the main part of my childhood growing up there.

We lived in the capital city, Canberra, and it was a great lifestyle. I suppose you can appreciate it a lot more when you're not there, because you don't have a lot here of what you have over there. It was a great experience and I'm very lucky to have an Australian passport now so I can come and go as I like.

When I was about sixteen my family decided to move back to Ireland. My grandparents own Kildare Farm Foods, Open Farm and Shop near Kildangan and my uncle David is involved in running that business. They've been a massive help and my uncle sponsors most of my riding gear.

My dad Adrian was a successful trainer here before emigrating and he was mainly involved with ponies and riding lessons in Australia. He had a big operation out there with a lot of horses and was dealing with lots of people so he was always kept busy

As a youngster, when I found out that Dad had been a trainer and was so heavily involved in racing, I began to watch racing. When I was riding my ponies around, I was trying to let my irons up and ride around like a jockey. It was always something I wanted to try, I never really knew if I was going to take it on as a serious career. I've had a kick start with a couple of winners this summer and hopefully I can keep things rolling.

My father has a new yard now in Kildangan and is developing the facilities there all the time. We're building new gallops and walkers and stables there at the moment and it's all coming together very nicely. Dad is keen to build up the stable and bring in more horses. We'll always give any sort of a horse a chance because we believe there's improvement in them. We have our own way of training and the horses are given plenty of time out in the fields to enjoy themselves.

I've had about thirty rides and had back-to-back winners at Tipperary and Sligo in July. Race-riding was a lot tougher than I expected and you have to learn to fight your corner. To get my first winner on Katherine at Tipperary was so important to all of us. Lots of days we went racing thinking we might go close and it didn't really go to plan, so it was great for it to finally go to plan and to get two in a row was brilliant.

It's a massive advantage to know all my father's horses so well, horses you've ridden out lots of times and you get to know their quirks. Riding some of the trickier horses is great, it toughens you up and you're sharper then for riding other people's horses. For some reason we have plenty of mares in the yard and we seem to do well with them.

I've had rides for a good few people but ride mainly for my father who has provided me with my two winners. He keeps putting me back up and thankfully it's paying off. We're getting horses running well, placing and winning, so that's a good feeling. I appreciate all the opportunities he's giving me and must give a special mention as well to Marc Salmon who owns a lot of horses in the yard and is a great supporter of the stable.

My first stint in a big racing yard was in Michael Halford's where I spent seven or eight months. It was good, it was tough but a great way to learn about the game and a great grounding. I'd never been involved in a proper professional racing setting before then.

I ride out for different people during the week and go into Peter Fahey's yard on a regular basis. It's a great yard to be associated with and I'm good friends with Eamonn Fitzgerald who is an apprentice based with Peter.

I've ridden over hurdles, in bumpers and in a couple of Flat races. I haven't ridden over fences yet, we don't really have any stand-out chasers in the yard at the moment, but I do plan on getting going over fences as well.

My younger brother Darragh is heavily involved in the yard, he's there every day and comes racing a lot to lead up the horses. He knows the horses really well and does a great job with them at home.

I'll stay amateur for the time being and try to acquire more experience. The plan is maybe to go along some course pathway and try to keep my riding going as well, try and get another few winners if possible.