RACE to run point-to-pointers to support young riders

The unplaced maiden at Dowth Hall on Sunday will see the launch of a new initiative by the Racing Academy and Centre of Education, when they saddle two of their own horses in a point-to-point.

Three of the horses that reside in RACE, Bella Milano, Finest Hour and Robin De Edge, have each received a hunter certificate, and having been tried and trusted schoolmasters in the academy at the Curragh, they will step up their roles as educators, with the permission of their owners, to provide recent RACE graduates with a first step into race riding.

Aine O’Connor, the Recruitment Officer with RACE, explained why they have decided to introduce this initiative.

“We have a lot of kids here that are too big to be flat jockeys and are going into yards in the hope of being amateurs and maybe turning conditional down the line. But it is very hard for trainers to give a lad a first ride in a point-to-point, unless they have a suitable horse in the yard,” she said.

“We came together and thought it would be a nice idea that if we have the horses here in the barn, it would be great if we could pull them together to give some lads, and girls hopefully, who have their amateur license, that chance of getting their first ride or two out of the way.

“Our horses are fit, they are being ridden every day anyway, we don’t have to change their feed, we don’t have to change much about their routine, bar up their work a little bit, so we thought why not do it. We just want to give these riders the chance, they are in yards and are working very hard.”

Reece O’Connor and Jack Ruddy will be the first two RACE graduates to benefit from the initiative when they ride on Sunday.

O’Connor, who is a 2017 RACE graduate, is currently living at the academy as a senior where he is doing a night programme for his Level 5 QQI Award whilst also working for Conor O’Dwyer. He will ride a former O’Dwyer horse in Robin De Edge on Sunday.

Meanwhile Jack Ruddy will have his second career ride in a point-to-point, when he teams up with Finest Hour. A graduate of the 2016 Trainee Jockey course, he is currently working for Gordon Elliott and had his only ride to date in points aboard Cee Jay McBride at Kinsale in June 2018.

Not only will the pair be provided with the horses on the day, but RACE instructors will be present on to assist the two young riders through the day.

“Our plan is that they will go to the race and we will meet them before the first. They will walk the track with one of our instructors, Barry Walsh, Niall Byrne, Paddy Flood, Paul Keating and Katie McManamon, to plan how to ride their horses and they will then go through all the weighing out routines and all that with them in the weigh-tent,” added O’Connor, who herself has already enjoyed success between the flags this season, when she guided Edwulf to success at Loughrea in the JP McManus colours.

“Our current trainees will go to the point-to-point too, so we will have two or three going racing every day to lead up. This will give them an insight into what it is like when you are working in a yard to go racing for the day. They will be getting all that knowledge before they even go and work in a yard which is quite good for their own education with us.

“After the race, the instructors will listen to the rider’s feedback and then they will also give them feedback on how they rode and they will watch the race back with them later too. It is more or less just continuing the training for them.

“The horses have all been with us for over a year, and some of them have been with us for two or three years even. None of them are superstars, they haven’t even been placed in a race, but we know them and they are nice safe rides, so we are hoping that lads will get around and have a good spin on them.

“Reece and Jack came and did one of the Derek O’Connor schooling days that we run here in RACE two weeks ago. So they got to school the horses that they are going to be riding and got to know them quite well. Derek was able to give them advice on what they need to be doing and what they shouldn’t be doing. 

“Point-to-Pointing is fantastic in the sense that you don’t have the as much pressure as you might on the track, especially on our horses.

“Their job is to educate these young riders, we are not running them for an owner or anything like that. The lads just need a little leg up and to get the experience.”


*Any point-to-point rider, with a current QR Licence, looking to take part in the next RACE Amateur Schooling Progression course with Derek O’Connor, can register by contacting training@racingacademy.ie*