Lorcan Wyer

I was born in Clondalkin and like a lot of young people I was knocking about on ponies, begging and borrowing to have a sit on a pony somewhere. Then my mum and dad moved up to Athgoe which is near Newcastle, Co Dublin. That was how the connection with Frank Oakes came about because Frank wanted a few stables and we had three or four boxes out the back.

I was always interested in riding ponies or horses. It was always something I was drawn towards, but I didn't know where I would end up really. When i sat on a racehorse for the first time with Frank, I suppose a light went on and it excited me. I had my first ride for Frank at Laytown. It was in the old days where we used to race down towards Drogheda turned round at the bottom and came back up. I remember thinking somebody was moving the winning post further away because my knees went and my lungs gave up. I wasn't as fit as I hoped I was. I was so tired but it was just a wonderful experience - the speed and the sounds. It was magical.

Conor O'Dwyer was with Frank roughly the same time. Conor is the same man now as he was then, a gentleman to his fingertips. Frank and everybody else recognised that Conor was next level, he was just different class. Conor was higher up the pecking order than me. I went on to MJP O'Brien, a wonderful trainer and a tough man at times. He expected very high standards but again he was very good to me. I rode my first winner for Michael on Champion Prince in Navan (in 1984). He was a delicate horse but Michael managed him very well and I had maybe three winners on him.

Then I ended up moving to Homer Scott. I was asked to call down and see Homer and he felt he had a nice bunch of horses that year and how right he was. We had such good luck together with horses like Omerta. I was still riding as an amateur. I had a double on Grand National day 1986 (Canute Express won the novice hurdle) for Homer and Jobroke won an amateur handicap hurdle for Peter Easterby owned by Colonel Dick Warden, a lovely man to ride for. A double on Grand National day for an amateur was pretty special. That came on the back of Omerta winning the four mile National Hunt Chase (in 1986). An opportunity arose for me to go to England and ride for the Easterby family. They offered me the job when Jonjo (O'Neill) retired and I went over to Yorkshire. I think Colonel Warden more than anybody was instrumental in that move.

I was there for quite a number of years. The Easterbys were brilliant to ride for. As the years went by the number of Flat horses went up and the number of National Hunt horses went down. We didn't have a huge number of jumping horses but we had some great days. I only rode Barton for one season and he was seven from seven which included winning the Sun Alliance Hurdle (at Cheltenham in 1999). He won at Aintree but sustained an injury that day, so that was the end of that seven from seven. That year I would say he was the best I had ever ridden. When you were riding him at home, he gave you the most wonderful feeling. I'd say Dato Star was a very special horse and really well managed by Malcolm Jefferson. He was a little delicate but, when the ground was on the slow side, he was a beast really. He won two Fighting Fifths (at Newcastle) and a Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

Finishing second in the Grand National on Blue Charm (in 1999) was a great day. I got round a couple of times in the National but more often than not I didn't. It was a strange day, it was a spare ride and I was well in the back nine of my career at that stage. When I saw him in the parade ring, the eyes were popping out of his head! He was white with sweat much like myself! There were two or three lads leading him up and he was fairly lit up. I cantered down to give him a look at the first and the brakes weren't great! The fences were big, they still take jumping now, but they were different then. I read it so wrong, he was a wonderful little horse. He was like a bunny rabbit. He just gave me a super spin and I thought for a millisecond jumping the last that I might win the National until Paul Carberry turned on the afterburners on Bobbyjo and beat me easily in the end.

A little horse called Thornton Gate was sprint-bred but took to jumping quite well and just going down the back (at Aintree in 1996) he stepped and you're on the ground thinking 'I'm grand, not a bother' until another horse came behind and stood on the side of my face. Next stop Walton Hospital where they did a bit of reconstruction. I think I got back riding in three or four months. The operation was the guts of nine hours and I was in so much pain and I couldn't sleep. I begged the nurse to give me something to knock me out. I was just drifting off and I felt this hand on my forehead and it was the priest. I woke with a jump as I thought he was giving me the last rites! Turns out he was only going around giving everyone a blessing. After that, I checked out of hospital and the missus wouldn't pick me up, so I got a taxi back to Yorkshire and she went bonkers when I arrived!

I finished up with 599 winners. It is miniscule compared to today's numbers, but I had a lovely career. We stopped for two months during the summer. The season stopped at Market Rasen and I remember (jockey) Chris Grant would be 9st 12lb leaving Market Rasen and by the time he got to the first McDonald's he'd be 12 stone! He was so dedicated all his life, but at the end of the season he'd let himself go.

I applied for a job with the Turf Club the year that Barton was on the go. I had applied for the position of assistant flat handicapper/stewards' secretary. I got down to the final few and I remember I rang Mr Cahir O'Sullivan, who was CEO at the time and Keeper of the Match Book, from Musselburgh racecourse and said to him in the unlikely event that I would be successful I just wasn't in a position to stop riding at that time. He thanked me for making contact and encouraged me to go again. I did various roles - clerk of the scales, starting and stewards' secretary. I was clerk of the course for nine courses and I'm down to seven now. I did nine for about eight years and it was difficult to maintain that so I do seven now. I really enjoy the role and a good day for all of us is when all horses and riders go home safely.

We (friends and son-in-law Adam) were lured to a Christmas dinner in Kilcullen last yeaer and, despite all our protestations, we all signed up to a charity challenge. We did a fair bit of training and set off from Mizen Head (Ireland's most southerly point) last month. It was a magical thing to do. We set off at about 2.30pm and we kept pedalling for just under 580 kilometres to Malin Head (most northerly point on the island) in 24 hours. We had seven pre-arranged stops for 10 minutes each. We are so glad we were able to do it. I think we are very close to €40,000 being raised for the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation which provides nursing care for sick children six years old and younger. We are trying to buy nursing hours for those who are less fortunate than us. It looks like this could be something we try and do each year, but we will be on our guard for the next Christmas party!

If you would like to make a donation to Lorcan's Charity Cycle please CLICK HERE