Nessa Joyce I'm from Co Meath, beside the now Emerald Park, and I'm from a dairy and beef farm, so horses weren't a part of my growing up. I've always loved horses from as long as I've known. Lots of neighbours had horses and there was always racing on television as my father loved racing. I probably got the interest and bug from that. A few neighbours let me sit up on a horse and I'll never forget that moment of being that close to a horse. I begged for riding lessons for a few years before my parents caved. I got lessons in the local riding school and worked for free to get the lessons. With a father who is a dairy farmer, he wouldn't be too keen on having an animal that doesn't make money! I dabbled in everything - did hunting and a bit of showing. When I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, the answer was 'something with horses'. There was always a passion there for it and I was lucky to translate that into a career. Building Knowledge at UCD and Tattersalls I ended up doing Agricultural Science in UCD, an absolutely amazing course, but the real reason I did it is because of the post-grad in Equine Studies in the old original Vet College in Ballsbridge. I did my four years in Agricultural Science and loved it. I made some amazing friends and connections there. I then worked for a year as a sales rep with an animal health company. Then when I had a bit of money, I went back to do the post-grad in Ballsbridge where I really got in-depth horse knowledge. I had a lot to learn and figure out with not being from a horse background. That course is now mainstream in Belfield in UCD. The next key moment was when I was looking for a job or the summer because I had one exam to resit as I was sick for it. I needed something to bring in a bit of money and keep me around. I bumped into an old friend in Ashbourne who was working in Tattersalls in Fairyhouse and told me that they were looking for an intern. I got that and I was supposed to be there for only a few months and ended up being there for a year. That was a big learning curve because they were working hard on establishing their September Yearling Sale. Adrian Maxwell was training in America, but came back to Ireland and started working with Tatts and we developed a friendship because I quietly helped him with the computer stuff and he would teach me some of the basics! We helped each other, so I owe a lot to Adrian. Six Years in Kentucky with Fasig-Tipton I always had the travel bug and Lexington, Kentucky is a natural place for that to happen. Adrian asked me to give him his CV as he knew lots of people over there. He actually lined up thee different summer jobs/internships for me! I went over and did an internship with Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, Kentucky. I absolutely loved that. It was just for a summer, met lots of people and learned a lot. I got an insight into the American way of customer service and of working. I had to go back home and find a job and Pat Brophy, who was the main lecturer in the Vet College at UCD, reached out and said that Dundrum Secretary School ran a PLC in Equine Studies and were looking for a co-ordinator to run it. I did that for a year and a-half. I ran the course and taught the subjects. It was great to hone your skills on presentation. That was very enjoyable, but randomly I went back to America for a friend's wedding and met up with my old boss and took a job working the sales while I was there. Then my old boss told me that someone had handed in their notice and did I want their job. I started in Fasig-Tipton as the Selected Sales Co-ordinator. All horses had to be inspected in advance of getting into the sales. They came from all over the country for the July Yearling Sale, Saratoga Yearling Sale, the two-year-old sale in Florida and the November Breeding Stock Sale which happens just before Keeneland starts. My job was to co-ordinate the inspectors going out to all the farms. I had up to six teams out at the same time in different parts of America. I now know all the states in America and know all the airport codes! That was massively interesting because of the preparation of all the pedigrees for these inspectors. Everything was manual, I now believe they use Tablets and everything can be sent very quickly. Everything had to be printed in advance in a certain format to allow the inspectors to look at it quickly with sire averages and medians, and to leave space for them to write their notes. Those notes had to come back and be inputted and a grade put on it. I was in Kentucky for six years. I could have stayed longer if I wanted to, but I think I wanted to do a bit more travel. I probably made more contacts there within the industry than I ever would have at home. I was kind of the designated European contact there. New Zealand Adventure and Returning Home I wasn't ready to come home, it was never really in the plan. I ended up in New Zealand, working as a Hunt Groom in the South Island. Hunted for six months and got to see the countryside and had an amazing time. To help pay the way, I worked the Karaka Yearling Sale in January. That was all going swimmingly until I broke my arm off a horse! I stayed for a bit longer just to get it healed right. I had to go home then and I landed home in Ireland with no real plan, and with not a great arm, just in time for the recession at the end of 2007. I got a part-time job in Fairyhouse Racecourse. They just needed someone short-term to answer the phones. That went on for longer than it should have. Then a job came up in Leopardstown in hospitality and I got it. From hospitality, I moved into operations working closely with Tom Burke who was the manager at the time. He was wonderful to work with. After three years, Caroline Gray (Racecourse Manager in Fairyhouse) went out on maternity leave. Peter Roe moved from Tipperary to cover Caroline's maternity leave and I was asked to go down to Tipperary to cover Peter. I jumped at that opportunity as Acting Racecourse Manager and did that for a year. I loved it as I was exposed to every part of racing there. Peter was a great help along with Paddy Graffin who was the Clerk of the Course in Tipperary and a wonderful mentor and a great man to work with. Then things changed in Leopardstown as Tom Burke retired and Pat Keogh was put in as CEO. Rising Through Irish Racecourse Management There was a role then for Racing and Operations Manager in Leopardstown and I went on to that from Tipperary. The Racing and Operations Manager in Leopardstown was a new role and it was necessary to solidify the racing and track aspect of it. There was also a start of a redevelopment and there was a lot of different phases to it. You get thrown in the deep end and you have to go with it. My customer service days in America really stood to me. I really enjoyed it. For the major race days like Christmas, Irish Champion Stakes and Dublin Racing Festival, you do emergency planning with all the different agencies because you literally have a large major event with a lot of people in your care on the premises. My parents were getting elderly and I was spending a lot of time in Meath travelling to and from Leopardstown. If anyone has done that journey, they know it can be a challenge with traffic! I just thought I needed to maybe do a bit of a switch. I spotted the job for the European Breeders Fund (EBF) in the Irish Field. I came away from the interview thinking 'I want that job'. It was perfect because it blended all my experience. To be honest, it was my dream job and it still is after just over 10 years. John O'Connor of Ballylinch Stud was the Chairman of the Irish EBF, so I got to know John really well. He is so well versed in every aspect of the industry, so knowledgeable. He was great as a chairman because he had a great overview of what was going on. How the European Breeders’ Fund Works The Irish European Breeders Fund actually started over 42 years ago in 1983 at the same time that a similar scheme started in England and then in France. It was done because there was an issue with prize money, especially over in the UK, for two-year-olds. The two-year-old maidens are a shop window for the progeny of stallions, especially new stallions. They had looked at the Breeders' Cup concept and saw what was going on over there and said we can do something similar, so they said to the different farms would they be willing to join a scheme whereby you pay a fee into it which is equivalent to a nomination for whatever stallion you are standing at the time. Ironically, the first stallion to sign up to the scheme was Shergar. I got that from minutes on the old meetings. Once the bigger names signed up, others followed. It took off very quickly and got established very quickly. It is based on the simple formula of each farm paying in the equivalent of a nomination based on what stallion they are standing, and the following year that money is used to sponsor races. When we say sponsor races, it is money added into the prize money that's already there, so you are able to elevate a race by adding extra prize money. More and more farms were joining and the stallion business was improving every year. We are actually at the moment at a record level of contribution. In 2025, we have given €3.1 million of prize money. When I started, we were working with about €1.5 million, so it has increased dramatically over the last number of years. We don't just do Flat racing, it is National Hunt as well. There's approximately 500 races that EBF put money into. The caveat with these races is that once we put money into it, a condition gets added to the race that only horses by stallions that are paid up to the scheme can enter. Thankfully, 99 per cent of the population of horses are in that scheme. Obviously, we then have horses that people buy from abroad. These horses can also get into the scheme on an individual basis. For anything that is bought from abroad, a fee can be paid at a certain stage to allow the horse to race in two-year-old maidens both in Ireland and England. Once everything is paid, those horses can race in any of the countries that host EBF races. Then a sales catalogue will show that they are EBF nominated. That sticks with them for life. Our main goal is to put money into prize money, so that is what we do. Nessa was in conversation with Michael Graham If you would like your racing story covered in this blog please email vfinegan@bettercollective.com 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. View Latest Articles by Michael Graham
