Niall 'Bubba' Amond

I'm from Ballygowan just outside Carlow. My father and uncle worked in Milford Stud, it was a big commercial stud in the 60s, 70s and 80s. At its height, they had six stallions there. The interest is from there, obviously. I always had an interest in horses. My granny on my mother's side only lived a couple of hundred yards from Paddy Mullins. My brother Ian was an amateur jockey, so he was interested in riding. I was always too big. We were down there when we were 14 or 15 and you would have been delighted to be handed a brush to brush one over. We were creosoting fences and painting stables. Ian would have been put up riding a quiet one. Ian went to RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education) when he was 16 and I was in school along. Then it was summers with Pat Fahy in Leighlinbridge and Willie Mullins. I had a summer job in Willie's mucking out and brushing over and putting horses on the walker.

After school I had a couple of jobs and was never really full-time in racing. I was friends with Ruby Walsh and I then drove him full-time for 10 years. Ruby was flat-out at that stage with Paul Nicholls. Ruby could have gone to the airport on a Monday morning during the winter and was back on Wednesday for racing in Clonmel or Thurles on Thursday. It could be straight back to the airport, depending on flights, on Thursday night, so that he would be in England for Friday and Saturday. Then pick up on Saturday night for racing on Sunday in Ireland and then the cycle went on again on Monday morning. It hasn't been done with the same ferocity that Ruby did it over and back.

Ruby broke his arm a couple of weeks before Galway and Mrs Harrington was looking for a Travelling Head Lad because Robert Power's wife Hannah was finishing. I was put forward and I said to Ruby that I would go and do it for a couple of months or a couple of years. He said it was a brilliant idea. I started in Mrs Harrington's the Monday after Galway in 2010. The rest is history! My first Cheltenham winner for Mrs Harrington was Bostons Angel in the RSA in 2011. He will always be special because he won two Grade Ones in the run-up to Cheltenham. He was a tough horse, and he never won any of those three Grade Ones by more than three-parts of a length. You wanted him in a battle.

Sizing John was brilliant as was Supasundae. Alpha Centauri was a real standout, she was Mrs Harrington's first Classic in the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2018. She won four Group ones that year. That was the year after Sizing John winning the Irish Gold Cup, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Punchestown Gold Cup and the John Durkan. Imagine two completely different codes within a year - I can't think of another trainer doing that to that standard.

We left with the first four runners for Royal Ascot from Rosslare on Saturday afternoon, so we were in Lambourn at 2.30am on Sunday. They had an easy morning just with a trot and a bit of fresh air and a saddle on their back. It was the same on Monday, they were out for a bit of a walk around, they did a little bit of a hack on Monday morning to stretch their legs. We started at 6am on Tuesday because we had racing. We got everything done by 7.30am and we were on the road into Ascot for 9am. We stable with Nicky Henderson in Seven Barrows. Nicky and Mrs Harrington are great friends. She is over in Mr Henderson's and she is out in the mornings, she's as tough as nails. For anybody in the industry, she has to be a role model. To work for, she is as straight as they come. I can safely say in the 14 seasons that I am there, there has never been a falling out. Look at Eamonn Leigh (Headman), he is there since he was 16 and he is 68. Eamonn was there with Johnny Harrington. There is nothing Eamonn doesn't know about animals. If he doesn't know it, you've no chance! You are learning every day.

I never realised Villanova Queen was Colin Keane's first Royal Ascot winner (in the Kensington Palace Fillies' Handicap on Wednesday). It was absolutely fantastic. Niamh and Lauren were with me on Wednesday and we got some buzz. It was nearly comparable to Aintree and Cheltenham. People ask me which code do I like best and I tell the Flat lads I prefer the jumping and I tell the jumping lads the Flat, just to wind them up! To lead a winner in at Cheltenham is completely different - just because of the Irish crowd in Cheltenham, the vibe and the roar, especially if there is an Irish one that is fancied. There will always be someone who knows you and will namecheck you. The buzz you get off it being a travelling head lad, or a groom is unreal - it must be unbelievable for the jockeys.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if Sprewell could win the Irish Derby? Everything is on track for the Irish Derby. Hopefully Shane (Foley, jockey) will be back in time (from injury). He is doing everything to get back. Sprewell was staying on in fourth in the Derby at Epsom after being checked. I thought the horses around him didn't handle the track and rolled across on top of him and it got a bit tight. You need everything to be going right for you in Epsom.

I would advise anybody to get into the racing industry. I'm on the Irish Stable Staff Association and I think the biggest problem we have is recruitment, and perhaps there should be some sort of recruitment drive in schools. I know RACE advertise for jockeys. We are over in Ascot and I have three staff with me - they are getting paid top dollar, they are getting free accommodation and they are getting to go racing in Royal Ascot. We send horses to America, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. We will also be in Australia this year. Look at all the opportunities for young lads/lasses to travel. We have three hard-working lasses who went to Australia and they absolutely love it. It is an open passport for them once they work with animals.