NEXT GEN | Evan Nugent

 

Name:  Evan Nugent

From: Ennis, Co. Clare

First Winner:  Now Is The Hour

 
How did you get started with horses?

I didn’t ride a horse until I was 16 years of age but I had always had a keen interest in them and followed all the racing on the television and I attended all the big race meetings such as Leopardstown at Christmas and the Cheltenham Festival.

When I first went to learn to ride racehorses, I had an allergic reaction and it turned out I was allergic to horses and so I had to go and get treated for that before I could continue.

I then started working for Maike Magnussen when she was based in Clare and it was with Maike that I learned how to ride. I then spent a summer with Gearoid O’Loughlin when he was based up in Meath and then from there I went to the Racing Academy in Kildare where I graduated from in 2022.

 Who are you primarily based with?

When I graduated from RACE, I went straight to work for Derek O’Connor so I spend my mornings with him and then in the evenings I am with Derek’s brother, Paurick O’Connor.

Derek is a legend in the point-to-point game he is great to work for as he really takes the time to teach you everything he can so I am very lucky to be based with him and it was great to ride my first winner for him on Now Is The Hour.

 How did the ride on Now Is The Hour come about?

Derek doesn’t keep many older horses and I had schooled him and worked him a few times but I just kept my head down and kept working and Derek was very good to give me the opportunity to get the ride on him and what a good one to get.

Does your family have a background in the sport?

A lot of my family would watch and follow racing but I am the only one that rides or is involved directly with racing.

My father, Edward Nugent would have kept a few horses years ago, he had a few point-to-pointers and some mares and foals which he bred between 1995 and 2010.

What would be your first racing memory?

My dad had a horse called Silver Portrait in training with Charlie Swan, I was very young but I remember going to watch him run in a chase in Fairyhouse, Denis Hogan rode him.

 
What was it about racing that was the attraction?

When I was growing up I always just loved horses in general especially watching them racing which is how I got bitten by the bug.

When I started riding out, I wanted to give racing a hundred percent and after a few years I went and got my license out and had my first ride at Quakerstown  (which would be my favourite track) on a horse called Finding Fame for Patrick Hasset in April 2022 where we finished second.

Patrick has been great for giving me opportunities and even gave me my first ride on the track in an amateur hurdle around Clonmel on a horse called Dromhale Vita. It was a great experience to ride inside the rails. It's a much quicker race so it was a different experience.

Were any of your family there on the day?

My parents were there on the day, my two brothers, my uncle and my cousins so I had plenty of support, we went for dinner after racing as a small celebration and I happily headed into work Monday morning.

 
Who would be your biggest influence in racing?

Derek would be a huge influence to me, I grew up just twenty minutes away from him and followed him plenty over the years and I always said as an amateur if you ever want to ride like someone, ride like Derek O’Connor.

 
Do you have any interests outside of racing?

I played hurling for years for Eire Og in Ennis and I would follow most sports, I’m a massive sports fan so it's great to be pursuing a career in a sport that I am so passionate about.

 Is there another young rider that you think people should watch out for?

There aren’t too many young riders around Clare, Eoin Mahon rides out with us and David Moloney has just taken out his conditional license and he is starting to get going, he is not too much older than me and I think he rides very well.

Any horses you are looking forward to watching for the rest of the season?

We had a lovely four-year-old by Westerner called No Flies On Him, he won in Avondhu and is owned by JP McManus so it will be exciting to see what he will do on the track.