Jordan Canavan

I'm from just outside Belfast in Antrim and always grew up with horses. My father rode for a long time, and my grandfather rode as well and trained. The moment I looked out the bedroom window, there was always a yard full of horses. When my grandfather retired from training, my dad, JJ, took over. He trained a few point-to-pointers on his own just to keep himself busy. I started riding the racehorses out at home when I was about nine or 10 and then started pony racing when I was 11. I went down to the late Edward O'Grady's for a summer when I was about 14.

My time with Edward O'Grady really stood to me. He gave me a lot of discipline in the yard. He was very strict, but he was fair. There was no messing about, you got in and got your job done. He was a great mentor for that summer. He is sadly missed in the industry now. He was an exceptional trainer and a great man to learn off. He taught me a lot in my riding regarding balance and the way my hands should be.

I had my licence just before I finished school at 16, and went down to Jim Culloty's and spent nearly a year there. I just saw that he was looking for a rider. I only really went down for a learning curve and if I got a ride, that would have been a massive bonus. That was the year (2014) Lord Windermere won the Gold Cup under Davy Russell and Spring Heeled won the Kim Muir for Robbie McNamara. I got to sit on Lord Windermere a few times and actually schooled him over fences once. I rode Spring Heeled a few times and schooled him over hurdles one morning. Just to be able to get the opportunity to sit on those types of horses at such a young age was unbelievable. I didn't get any rides, but it was a learning experience riding out with the likes of Davy and Robbie.

I had my very first ride for Ross O'Sullivan in Naas on a horse called Mr Jaggers in a maiden hurdle at Naas in 2015, and I rode him while I was there and picked up a few other rides as well. On my very first day with Ross, he actually said to me that if I did two years with him, he would try and get me a good job over in England. Jamie Codd is married to Ross' sister and I got very friendly with Jamie. Ross and Jamie organised for me to go over to Neil Mulholland at the end of the two years. I went over to Neil and was there about three months without a licence because it took so long to get a course date in the racing school over there to get it changed over. It was a long, old process. My first ride for him was second in Fontwell. It was quite unlucky, but there was a future champion jockey that beat me in the finish in Harry Cobden. I was there for about six or seven months, and then I went to Jonjo O'Neill's for a year. My very first ride for Jonjo was a winner in Chepstow (2017) on a horse called Clubs Are Trumps in a handicap chase for JP McManus. I can still remember it to this day, it was an unbelievable feeling. To put on the McManus silks was an absolute privilege. To be able to ride a winner in them is, still to this day, my greatest moment in racing. I got plenty of rides off Jonjo and then young Jonjo took out his conditional licence, and I thought blood was thicker than water so I knew he was going to get the shout over everyone else. At that stage of the season, all the conditional jobs had been sewn up.

I decided to come home. I was flying back and forth a few times that summer for Stephen Mahon as my brother was working there at the time. He asked my brother if I would be interested in coming home and working for him. I took a bit of time to think about it and chatted to my brother about it. I came home and got a good few rides off Stephen. I was with him for about six months. I got a bad fall in Sligo and that ruled me out for about four months. When I came back from injury, I fancied a change of scenery and went down to Robert Tyner's in Cork and couldn't have got off to a better start as my first ride was a winner in Clonmel (2018) on a horse called Dontdooddson in a handicap hurdle. Throughout that season, i got loads of rides off him and had two winners for him and a couple of placed horses. I was with Robert for two years and then did half a season with him for a day or so a week as I had gone freelance then.

Unless you are riding every day of the week as a freelance, your bank account is going to look fairly empty. I was going into Eugene O'Sullivan's a day or two a week and I just decided that sticking to one yard and getting a proper wage every week would be better. I think I got 60 or 70 rides off Eugene that season as a conditional and rode three or four winners for him. I was struggling a lot with my weight, though, and had it in the back of my mind that I was going to go back amateur. I didn't really think Eugene's would have been the right spot as obviously you had Maxine O'Sullivan there and Alan O'Sullivan was coming through, a very talented rider in his own right. The late Michael O'Sullivan was there as well. Michael and I got very close when I was in Eugene's. Looking at the point-to-point results every week, I saw that Sam Curling had loads of runners and horses. He was looking for someone, so I went there and was two and a-half years with Sam riding as an amateur in bumpers and point-to-points. I rode over the banks at the Punchestown Festival for him. Sam is very shrewd and an exceptional trainer. He learned from the best - he was with Nicky Henderson for a long time and he was also in Ballydoyle for a long time. He rode out St Nicholas Abbey (multiple Group One winner) every day of the week there. He's exceptional with fillies and mares. What he did with La Feline was exceptional as she was three times Champion Mare point-to-pointing.

I got offered to go to America and I kind of hummed and hawed. I brushed it under the carpet as I was kind of afraid of going. Leslie Young then rang me this time last year and I just said 'it is now or never'. I didn't want to look back in 10 years time and regret not going. She had been on to Declan Queally and Brian Lenihan and the two of them had recommended me to her. When she initially rang me, she said I would get loads of rides. I went there with no expectations in the hope that I might get a couple of winners. It was only for three months. When I got there, I rode a double on my first day and had a couple of placed horses the following week. Then I rode another double the week after that. I was in Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes from Philadelphia. It was mostly timber racing in Maryland. The first double I had was on the Flat and then the rest of the winners were all over jumps. I won three races on a horse called WrestlingwithRae and one of those was the Grand National Timber Stakes at Butler, Maryland, in April last year. I was also third on Too Friendly in the Commonwealth Cup Stakes Hurdle which was a Grade 1 at Great Meadow in May last year. I had to come home because of the visa. I ended up doing the full three months down to the day. Personally, I think my riding has improved from that experience. When you are riding over timber you don't go down with a big long rein. I used to get a lot of falls when I went point-to-pointing because I just didn't have enough hold of a horse's head.

I came back at the end of May and moved to Tramore. As the crow flies, John Flavin is only about a mile away from where I'm living. I knew that he was good at giving lads opportunities. I rang him up and started with him. To be fair to him, he stuck to his word and he has given me plenty of rides which I am absolutely grateful for. I can't thank him enough. I'm there six or seven days a week. When I won on Aclass in a beginners' chase at Tramore in November, I was an amateur. John just mentioned to me about turning back as conditional. I rode a horse for him in Cork called Ladyeze Man and I did 9-10 on him and I did it easy enough. I rode him again the same day I rode Aclass at Limerick over Christmas and I did 9-9 on him handy enough. I'm able to claim 7lb off 10 stone now which is a big help and it is the best my weight has ever been since I was about 16. The paperwork for turning conditional has gone through.

My goal is mainly to stay injury free and ride as much as I can. As the saying goes, you can throw enough darts at the dart board so surely you are going to hit a bullseye. The more you ride, hopefully the winners start coming. It is about getting a few contacts and a few more outside rides. John is an absolute gentleman and he was a jockey himself, so he would never hold a lad back from getting outside rides. He's all for it. In the yard, it is like you don't work for him, you work with him. He's the first one in and the last one out. We do the mucking out between the two of us. Having a boss like that makes you want to work more and do more for them.

Jordan 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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