To gain a race ride for Willie Mullins would be a result for any professional jockey, let alone a British amateur.
Yet Fern O’Brien (pictured above) has been given that privileged opportunity and will be legged up on the Mullins-trained Ballygunner Castle in the bumper at Thurles this afternoon (4.48). The unraced five-year-old is one of 11 runners and one of three from the record-smashing Mullins stable.
Patrick Mullins invariably rides the yard’s bumper horses, and if he is not available Jodie Townend – sister to stable jockey Paul – but the conditions of today’s race preclude them.
Ahead of her spin on Ballygunner Castle, O’Brien, 18, says: “I’m absolutely buzzing. I started here in August because I wanted to see a different yard and this one has such lovely, quality horses. I was meant to come for two months, but loved it so much I’ve stayed on. It’s been a shock to the system because they do a number of things differently from what I’m used to.
“It’s a very relaxed approach, we finish at 4pm every day, and they don’t school very often. I look after five horses, including Fun Fun Fun, who won at Exeter on Sunday, and Il Etait Temps, who won the [Goffs] Irish Arkle Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival.”
Two of the very best - Paul Townend with Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs and Willie Mullins with Champion Hurdle hope State Man (photo by Lorraine O'Sullivan)
O’Brien, the daughter of Gloucestershire-based licensed trainer Fergal O’Brien and former point-to-point rider and now trainer Jelly Nolan, took part in a number of races under Rules before her first British point-to-point last season. She quickly made a mark, and has now won seven point-to-points from 17 rides, plus two from nine hunters' chases.
The weekend before last she returned to Britain to ride Espoir De Teillee for Newmarket trainer Ben Brookhouse at Garthorpe and duly won the ladies’ open race.
Of that ride, O’Brien says: “Ben rang and said he was going to run Espoir in a point-to-point and I said ‘right, I’ll be there’. I adore that horse [she won hunters’ chases at Kempton and Leicester on him last season]. He was my first winner under National Hunt rules.”
O'Brien winning on Espoir De Teillee (right) at Garthorpe recently (photo by Nico Morgan)
Expecting her next race ride to be on Espoir De Teillee in a hunter chase later this month, O’Brien left her racing bag in Britain, only to be looking through the entries for the planned meeting at Thurles last Thursday and, to her surprise, seeing she had been jocked up on Ballygunner Castle. A quick phone call home led to her mum carrying the bag over to Ireland, only for the meeting to be called off due to heavy rain. Jelly will be watching today's race on Racing TV.
O’Brien says: “I’ve only sat on Ballygunner Castle once, but he’s a lovely horse. I’ve schooled a fair bit since I’ve been here, including on Fun Fun Fun before we went over to Exeter. She’s just class.”
FOOTNOTE: O'Brien finished third on Ballygunner Castle, beaten half a length and two lengths, behind his two stablemates, winner Coco Masterpiece (Charlie Mullins) and runner-up Fishery Lane (Steven Cahill)