Stuart Crawford

My family were always interested in horses. With George Bryson being my grandfather, I would have gone to the Banbridge Sales, gone hunting ,gone to pony club, events and horse trials. I was always surrounded by horses and there was always that interest there. Hunting, cross country and eventing was the natural progression.

Winning the eventing gold medal in the young riders' championship in Germany in 1995 was a great week from start to finish. That was my first taste of representing Ireland on a team and it was a new experience for me. It was down in southern Germany near Munich. It was a really good, tight-knit unit and everyone got on well together. It had been such a long time since Ireland had won a gold medal of any description in eventing. We dined out on the back of it for a good few months afterwards!

I always had a bit of an interest in racing. It was all my younger brother Steven ever wanted to do. From a size point of view, he was probably blessed that way in being physically built to be a jockey. I wasn't, so realistically I thought I could never really make a career out of being a jockey. I got that bit of success in eventing and I just stuck down that path.

I would have gone and ridden out on a Saturday morning for Willie Patton probably from when I was about 15. I actually got my amateur license as soon as I turned 16. My dad had a horse point-to-pointing and the plan was for me to ride it. The closer I got to the time, the more cold feet he took, and then he didn't let me ride it. I never really had the opportunity to ride again after that as the eventing was getting busier and busier. I wasn't in a position to mix both.

If you are eventing, the season ends in September/October time. You have a period of time over the winter where you are looking for things to do. I would have ridden out a bit for Graeme Martin and given him a hand over the winter when he had a few point-to-pointers. Then I did a little bit of pre-training for Wilson Dennison and Brian Hamilton sent me a few horses. I did that for a winter or two then, a bit by chance, neighbours of mine, Sam and Linda Gault, had a horse Echebar who didn't make it to the Store sales and they asked me to break it. They kept it on and we ended up running it in a point-to-point and it won at Loughanmore in 2005.

I was still very busy at the eventing and only had that one horse. Over the next year or two, one became two and two became four. Gradually, we started to make a more noticeable shift into the thoroughbred side of things. My first track winner came through an eventing connection, Helen Bond who owned Oh Jackie. She and her late husband Alan owned the horse I rode that won the gold medal in the young riders'.

Oh Jackie was a bit of a special mare and a particularly good jumper. I remember going to the La Touche that time (in 2008) and I thought that realistically the mare had a good chance of a place. Never in my wildest dreams did winning it cross my mind. That one really sticks out as it was the first track winner and just the nature of that particular race. There's something about a long-distance chase over say a five-furlong sprint as there's an awful lot more build up. It took nine and a half minutes to run that race and it is a long, slow, build up of emotion. That is ultimately why those staying chases are so special to win.

I won the Ulster National in 2014 with Hidden Horizons for a bunch of fellas I'd be friendly with since I was a teenager - it was a race I wanted to tick off the list. I'd love to win it again but because we are generally not working with as many handicappers, the opportunity doesn't come around that often.

Among my biggest winners are Fine Rightly, who won a couple of Grade 3 chases and a Grade 2 bumper, and Legacy Gold who won a Listed bumper at Aintree and was unbeaten in bumpers at that stage. My big aim at the minute is to try and win a Grade One. We have been lucky enough to have a few horses that have been up to running in that company and been placed. We are on the lookout for the first winner to that level.

We operate now with 60 horses at home. My brothers and I pretty much work together - Steven and myself are at home all the time while Ben and Ross have two outside yards. Half of those horses are going to be unraced but you can't keep bringing in 30 new three-year-olds every year if you are not getting horses out at the other end. At the moment, we have probably kept a few more horses for a few different owners. That has probably been a slight change this season in that we have been able to hold on to a few of the ones that we have unearthed.

I very much keep an eye on what is available in Scotland and the north of England for my horses as 10 minutes would have you to Larne port. The balloting can be a problem in Ireland from time to time. So far, probably the bulk of the races we are running in are bumpers and maiden hurdles because we are working with a younger type of horse. Those are the most heavily-subscribed races usually and it makes sense then if there is a nice race in Ayr, or Perth in the summer time, or Newcastle or Carlisle.

The link-up with Simon Munir and Isaac Souede came through Anthony Bromley, the bloodstock agent. Since we first started going to the Sales to sell horses, he has been there scouting for new talent. We got to know him and sold a few horses through him. Then one or two of those horses have gone to the 'double green' (owners' colours) over the years. I suppose the last couple of seasons they decided they wanted to try and buy a few more Store horses to try and unearth the next Bristol De Mai that way, as opposed to going out and buying something that had won a point-to-point. They asked me if I would be interested in starting the horses off for them. Some of the horses will definitely be moving on elsewhere but its great look after a few of the better ones and take them on a bit myself.

There hasn't been much celebrating done after Lily Du Berlais' victory in the Grade 2 mares' bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival as we had a few runners at Carlisle on Monday. The celebrating will be in the pipeline and we'll maybe stretch that out for a few weeks!

Tactically, it was going to be quite simple because we had our minds made up that we were going to take our time with her. Swinging for home, I kind of thought we have a right chance here, we'll finish in the first six and cover our entry money! Then I was thinking, when there was still a furlong and a half to go, we might finish fourth or fifth. Then we head to the last furlong and I'm thinking the ones in front are not galloping away from us, it could be a closer finish than I was giving them credit for. Then 100 yards to go I'm thinking we've got a real chance here, It was very exciting.

It was a good buzz all round because it is a mare we picked out at the sales, we've produced her to win a bumper, sold her then managed to keep her to train, and my brother Ben rode her. It is just so rewarding to give the 'double green' a big win. Maybe the likes of Aintree will suit her. We'll definitely be considering both Aintree and Punchestown.