Zoe McMullan

I was born in Coleraine, Co Derry and have lived in Ballymoney, Co Antrim for 10-12 years. I do say I'm from Ballymoney now. It is bizarre how I got into horses because none of my family are into them. They don't come from an equine or farming background, they are town people. We went on holiday to Ayr when I was three and at the caravan park there was a 50p pony ride that I wanted to go on. That's what got me the bug and I was non-stop talking about horses after that. My mum and dad enquired when we got home about getting riding lessons, but you couldn't get them until you were five-years-old. To do me for the meantime, mum and dad bought me a rocking horse! Then when I was five, I got riding lessons at a place called Island Equestrian Centre in Coleraine. It was every Thursday evening at 5.30pm for an hour. I loved it and I just loved being around horses. From my first lesson, I wanted to learn how to put a head collar on and how to tack up even though I was tiny. I really have to thank the riding instructors there - Elaine Barnes and Jeannie McCollum. I was there until I was 16.

Mum and dad held off getting me a pony as they thought it was maybe just a phase I was going through. I think I was 12 when I got my first pony, Eva, and now they are glad they made that decision to get me where I am today. I was progressing with my riding and took her out to shows, show jumping, cross country, and galloping around the fields. My dad and my brothers always watched horse racing on TV and I always said I wanted to be a jockey. I always had that in my head when I had my own pony. There was nowhere really close to home for my dad to take me. My dad was a taxi driver, so he was always busy on a Saturday. The closest yard would have been Ian Ferguson's in Ballymena. It was a hard thing to get involved in, but I did always want to do it.

I finished school at 16 and I went to CAFRE (College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise) in Enniskillen. That's where I first started riding racehorses in my first year. The racing instructor, Martina Dempsey, got me into Dick Brabazon's yard on the Curragh. I finished the course as I did my assignments and sent them in. I then went down to Dick Brabazon's full-time because I loved it so much. I was doing everything there - riding out and mucking out. Dick has a pre-training yard and the licence as well. The racehorses were in, but you also had the young stock in. Obviously, I had never worked with young racehorses before, so I learned so much with Dick. The first horse I rode a piece of work on was Korbous. He is still in Dick Brabazon's today and is a bit of a legend in there. I was there for two seasons while I was 17 and 18. I was supposed to take my apprenticeship out while I was down there, but things had changed and I started getting a little bit homesick so I came up home.

It did sort of happen for the best because that is when I went into Wilson Dennison's point-to-point yard. I did two seasons there. While I was there, I rode Banbridge. I didn't know anything about flapping or pony racing, I had never heard of it. It was when I was working in Dennison's that someone had mentioned to me that I could do that. That person knew Ronnie Wilson, so he gave him a shout. Ronnie needed a rider that season, so I started riding for him then. I was just ecstatic to be getting the opportunity to race ride flapping. If you want to be a jockey and you go that route, it gives you the race-riding experience before you go to the track. When you do go to the track you have a bit more advantage. I had a handful of winners flapping and a lot of places - I had seconditis for a while! At that time there weren't many lady jockeys. I was champion lady rider in 2018. The winners were over in Donegal as I think it was mainly on in Raphoe at the time. Having that bit of success really drove me on.

I always loved jump racing, I always had it in my head that I wanted to be a jump jockey. The Flat didn't really interest me. I loved the jumping, so that is when I took my point-to-point licence out. Two of my point-to-point rides were for Robert Kerr and that came about because after work in Dennison's, when I went home, there was a man called George Young up the road and he had point-to-pointers in and I gave him a hand to exercise them. His friend was Robert Kerr and we worked the horses on the beach together. Robert was very good, he had an older horse called Chariot Warrior, he was as safe as a house. He let me have two spins on him. Both times he pulled up, but it was still a great buzz to be going round there and jumping the fences. My third ride was for Graham McKeever on a horse called Norebo (Loughanmore, October 2021). We jumped off at the back and over the first fence he just took me to the front. He had his ears pricked the whole way jumping from outside the wings. Coming around the home bend I though we were going to be placed and he got a wee bit tired. Coming to the last, he didn't get the landing gear out for me. We were both okay, though.

I had Connemara ponies as well. George Young, who sadly passed away in September, got me started with them. I would buy them, break them, and sell them on, and it sort of took off. With Covid-19, everybody went mad for ponies and I was really busy with it. I still have a couple to this day. I'm not as busy now, I've cut the numbers down a bit. After a year or two, I was a wee bit quieter in the mornings and Jamie Sloan, who was training out of Ian Ferguson's yard, had a post up that he needed a rider to give him a hand in the mornings. I messaged him to say I could give him a hand as I was driving at that time. I started riding out in there for him and I sort of got the bug again. There was a man, Gerard Faulkner, who had flappers in training at George Young's and he had been at me and at me for the year or two that I had the point-to-point licence to see if I would come back to the flapping and ride for him. I wanted to keep doing the point-to-pointing but, when I realised that it wasn't working for me as I was too light, I went back flapping again.

Oh the 26th November last year, we were schooling at Jamie's and I had a fall and broke my leg quite badly - fibula and tibia. I had the cage on, but I still would have gone racing with Jamie. George Kingston was at Down Royal and needed a hand, so I pitched in. He said to give him a shout when I was back riding. I started going down to George in Drogheda a couple of days a week to ride work. We had sales horses in at Jamie's, so I was still going in to help with them. Jamie didn't take out the licence again this season. That's when I made the move down to George's. He had a good chat with me one day, he's a very knowledgeable man. He said I was mad to be trying to go the jumps route as with my weight there could be opportunities on the Flat. Most of the horses here are Flat horses and I took out the Flat licence.

Kartayaz - what a horse! Coming up to the race in Dundalk (December 10th), I was just hoping he would come out of the stalls for me. He was in good form at home and the last day I rode him, he stood in the stalls for a second or two on me. He bounced out of the stalls and the plan was either to be up there or just in behind the leaders. Whenever we were coming round the first bend, I thought they were going a good clip and that I would just tuck in and travel away behind them, so that's what I did. Along the back straight, he travelled lovely for me and I was thinking 'this is going well!'. Coming to the three furlong pole, Seamie (Heffernan) on the horse in front of me (Not So Profitable) was coming back and I thought I would have to go out around him. I didn't really want to use the ground going out round him. When I did go around him, I had a lovely line and came into the home straight and felt like he was going to win it. I got stuck into him and a lovely gap opened for him. The two horses on either side of me just really encouraged him and he kept digging his heels in and battling and battling for the line for me. He was absolutely brilliant and he couldn't have fought any harder for me. I was screaming at him passing the furlong pole 'Come on Kartayaz! Come on boy!'. I'm sure Wesley (Joyce on runner-up Boyne Valley) was thinking I was a crazy woman. The feeling passing the post for the first time is indescribable, it is unreal. It is a buzz I've never had before. I'd like to thank George and the owners for giving me opportunities, and also Ciaran Matthew who works for George. George and I do the riding out and Ciaran does the mucking out, and is one of my biggest supporters. He cancelled a big appointment to go to Dundalk when Kartayaz won.

The goal, 110 per cent, is to try and kick on. I can ride out in other places and George is very good, he would be flexible with me. Dundalk is only 20 minutes up the road so if there are people going there to ride work and need a light jockey, I would be available. I can claim off bottom-weight even with the 10lb claim and my Christmas dinner! I'm also open to outside rides. It is all about trying to get more rides and build up experience. I have the dual licence, but I'm mostly focusing on the Flat.

Zoe 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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