Laura Magee

I'm from Stillorgan, Co Dublin, only about a mile from Leopardstown Racecourse. My late dad and my late grandfather were both huge horse racing fans. On Saturdays my dad used to be told it was his turn to mind the kids and he would inevitably be working for RTE Radio, so the babysitting took place at the racecourse! It wasn't always Leopardstown, we went to the other tracks as well. Back then most of the racecourses had a creche, dad thought this was a free creche but little did he know my sister and I were escaping out of the creche. The racecourse was it for me at the beginning. From hanging out with dad there, I begged for riding lessons. It started with the ponies up to the local riding school which is now the M50 extension. Back then it really was county Dublin and for us it felt like the countryside. I lived for those weekends when I could go racing with dad, I loved it.

After my Leaving Cert, I studied Performance and Classical Dance which I loved. I've always danced and I still love it to this day. Just something was missing for me, though. I remember I was on holiday with some friends of mine and back then you'd go to an internet cafe to surf the web. I remember going on to search for equine courses. I came across Enniskillen Campus - CAFRE - and I applied. They asked me if I could go for an interview the following week and I had to tell them I was in an internet cafe in Greece! They said I better get back. I did and I spent the most glorious four years in Enniskillen. I started by doing a two-year Diploma in Equine Business and Management. I then topped it up with what is now the Bachelor Degree in Equine Science. I think Enniskillen is underestimated as an equine campus because, having now employed people from various equine courses, it is the most hands on, practical one to learn your skills and set you up for working.

We got the opportunity to do quite a few off-site visits and one of those was to Kildangan Stud in Kildare. It was phenomenal - the architecture, how the horses live, the scenery. I applied for a job there. What an amazing place to start off. You get an opportunity to do a little bit of everything from the foaling to the night watch of the mares. the stallion yard. It was an amazing grounding. You learn from experienced people, so you are still minded a little bit, but are given the freedom to do it yourself which was incredible especially for me having had no thoroughbred experience barring what I learned in Enniskillen. That opened my eyes to the whole thing. I was there just shy of three years. I then applied for another job I saw advertised - it was for a Client Relations Manager at Ballyhane Stud in Leighlinbridge in Co Carlow. I just wanted to learn and I wanted to go somewhere that I could do a little bit of everything. I was in Ballyhane over five years and really thrown in the deep end there. That's where I met my first mentor, Joe Foley. He was phenomenal in such a quiet way. I got to do everything from the vet lists to organising the coverings, selling stallion nominations, contracting and organising young stock for sales. I just ate it up. I was definitely winging it to the best of my ability every day!

Unfortunately, I broke my leg quite badly in a fall from my own horse. That physical side of traipsing around fields and stud farms wasn't going to be happening for at least a year. A very good buddy of mine, Shona Dreaper from Punchestown Racecourse, said they were coming up to the festival and would I go in for a few weeks and help out. Eight years later I was still there! I just really clicked with the team. Dick O'Sullivan (General Manager) was there at the time and honestly there is no better leader that I have come across, not just in racing but in general. He then handed over to Conor O'Neill, again a brilliant man who kept that kind of people first vibe going. I started off there in more a partnership and sponsorship role and I spent my last few years as head of hospitality which was a lovely lead in to the tourism and hospitality industry that I find myself in now. Punchestown like many racecourses and other businesses suffered badly during Covid-19. No festival in 2020 and it was behind closed doors in 2021 which wasn't great for revenue. A lot of the team were temporarily let go. I wasn't one of those but, as the year went on, I was made redundant from there. I remember thinking it was the worst thing that could happen to anyone to lose a job that you love so much. You just have to work through it, though. I wasn't destitute and I had a bit of time to figure out the next move. Very soon after, an advertisement appeared for Thoroughbred Country. I had three interviews for the role which were all on Zoom and I got there in the end to become CEO of Horse Country.

The first few months I was sitting down with people in Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland about developing visitor experiences here, something people can physically book and experience for themselves. You bring people into stable yards and they sell themselves. When people have been in the industry for a long period, we forget what it is like to go into a stable with a horse, especially if you have never touched a horse before. Or meeting a foal an hour after it has been born. People don't get the chance to do that. You don't need to know the first thing about horses. All you need to know is that you are going to have a lovely day out and that you are going to learn a little bit. For example, bringing your family on a weekend to Kildangan Stud or Coolmore Stud, and letting the kids see how that all works, meeting the foals, being outside in a buggy-friendly area. I guess we hope that might create lifelong fans. By developing some of these behind-the-scenes experiences, you can see how accessible this industry and sport is. When you rock up to the breakfast with Johnny and Orla Murtagh experience, they meet you at their front door of the house. You start in the kitchen, Orla is an amazing cook and makes a full Irish breakfast.

One of the reasons we are doing this is for the betterment of the industry. Kildare and Tipperary are the two counties that we are focusing on. We are really focusing in on what we are calling the tourist, we are all a tourist. We are looking domestically and internationally at the expos and saying that Ireland is the land of the horse and that is why you should be visiting. We are not just the coastlines, the castles and the cliffs. Ireland is a world-renowned leader in the equine industry and not just the thoroughbred horse. We would like to look at some experiences that cross over from the sport horse sector as well. There's huge potential for growth and I think we are just excited to have it launched now. We have 15 experiences ready to go, they are locked and loaded on the website (horsecountry.ie), and all the experiences are listed there together with prices and availability. We are busy getting our heads together to think of who else we might be able to develop something in partnership with. We would love to hear from any potential venues who would be interested in linking up with us.

We had two government ministers at our launch at the Punchestown Festival which we were so pleased about - Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine, Martin Heydon, and Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke. It really helped that both love horses. For the two of them to come together to say they wanted to represent Horse Country when they are on their international trade missions, that humbled me. We also have an unbelievably supportive board of directors, and I think really strong in terms of representing both the thoroughbred and tourism industries. I have got any amount of brainpower to lean on when it comes to learning about the tourism side of things. We also invited our experience providers and had an amazing turnout. Aidan and Anne-Marie O'Brien were there along with Johnny and Orla Murtagh, the Harrington family, Coolmore Stud and Kildangan Stud. We invited the top 20 travel agents in Ireland, and racing and social media representatives. What better way to do it than Gold Cup day at the Punchestown Festival in 24 degrees? You couldn't write that sort of week for Irish racing.

Our short-term goal is to get selling tickets. We do have a booking system in place that we have been trialling, so we have been selling online for a few months. For me, it is about increasing that month on month. We still have to get the word out there. In relation to medium-term, we are really targeting those bigger trade shows that we know the big travel buyers are going to. Long-term, we would like to look at new experiences for people, maybe new counties. We are focusing in on Kildare and Tipperary right now, but Ireland is the land of the horse. There isn't a town in Ireland that doesn't have some link with the thoroughbred or a family that has a story.

For the past four years, I have been part of the Women's Irish Network for Racing and I'm one of the mentors on a panel helping young ladies coming into the industry, or maybe already working in it but in a slightly different area than what they aspire to. For me, that is one of the most fulfilling parts of my career in being able to give back or guide a little. I wish that I could have had something like that years ago. It is a free to join network. They have an amazing committee of young and more experienced ladies. It is a wonderful network and we go on site visits - there is a big trip to Coolmore coming up in June. There are all ages involved and we also get to hang out. There is always food and sometimes there's a few drinks. Further details can be accessed on http://womensirishnetwork4racing.com/.

Laura was in conversation with Michael Graham.

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About Michael Graham

Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.

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