John has a huge smile and has a ‘laid back’ air about him. A very Irish young man who, for his 18 years of age, like his colleagues at Wynbury, is keen to talk about his work.
I sense that John must have been quite a handful for his parents, as he seems to have had his own agenda from an early age. He hated school and seemed rarely to attend, His main goal was to follow in his brother, Robert’s footsteps, and become a jockey. Quite something to live up to as Robert has a proven ability and has been in contention for Champion Jockey in the past.
John attended RACE in Ireland, the Irish Racing School, for two weeks so that they could assess his potential. They accepted him but only on the condition that he finished his schooling. John could not wait. He left school at 14 and started to do little else but ride.
He secured a place at Kevin Ryan’s in the Hambleton district of Thirsk. In 2005 Kevin claimed 84 winners and made the breakthrough at Group 1 level. 2006 had an impressive 96 wins logged and by 2007 he had trained 100 British flat winners. John had had no riding lessons so Kevin put him straight up on a horse to see if he could ride. It seems he passed that test too and became an apprentice there for the next two years. However, he had to start at the hard end and spent the first few months mucking out and then progressed to riding out. He had a great teacher in Mark Birch who gave him tips and advice about riding or, if he was not responding, “a kick up the arse”. Birch is quite a character. Birch had a great partnership with Sea Pidgeon. “Birch’s long-rein style suited the hard pulling Sea Pidgeon and, from riding him out regularly at home, he gradually won him over, getting him to drop his head, spit out the bit and lob along at the back of the string. Birch got his reward. At the end of Sea Pidgeon’s first season hurdling with Peter Easterby, during which he defied huge weights in three handicaps, finished fourth to his new stable mate Night Nurse in the Champion Hurdle and won the Scottish equivalent he returned to flat racing for the first time in three years. The race was the Chester Cup, and so confident was Birch that he declared to anyone within earshot that if Sea Pidgeon were beaten he would bare his backside in front of Malton Town Hall! Thankfully, for all concerned, Sea Pidgeon gained a handsome victory.” (quote from mischiefblue.co.uk)
Sadly for John he kept growing and getting heavier and that effectively put an end to his wish to race on the flat. He talked things through with Kevin and with his brother and went to work for Howard Johnson riding yearlings. After 6 months he joined Alan Swinbank riding out and working full time. A conversation with the then Head Lass from Johnsons led to a meeting with Ferdy and a job which he started in October 2006. He got his amateur licence by the end of the season and hopes to gain his Conditional in a couple of weeks.
I watched him in his first race ride for Ferdy. It was at Carlisle riding Paul Murphy’s Meteoric Rise. I listened as Ferdy talked to John and Nathan Moscrop, also in the same race, as he asked them what that race had taught them. So many things to think about but mainly “keeping your head”, having a good knowledge of the course and always taking note of how experienced jockeys tackled the course. One month later he rode Cybora and back mid division but had a difficult time with Sharkey’s Dream at Ludlow where he acknowledged “not using his head” and felt he could have done much better. More race rides are planned so he knows it is essential to listen to mentors such as Ferdy, Niall, Tom Dreaper, Keith Mercer, and Graham Lee. It is positive that he likes the schooling side of the work, the building of relationships with the horses and has a special relationship with Hollingwell.
He, like the majority of his colleagues, has had some falls to remember. A couple when breaking in horses; one when a horse flipped over on the gallops and the most frightening one when a horse reared up and went over on top of him as they were going through a stream. He thought he was going to drown!