Image © Healy Racing
Name: William Hamilton
Age: 22
From: Broughshane, County Antrim
How did you get involved with horses?
I learned to ride when I was about three-years-old. We always had horses and ponies around home and my mother Audrey used to ride out to local trainers in her youth. My late uncle Andy Hamilton used to train point-to-pointers too.
I used to ride ponies and did a lot of hunter-chasing, mounted games and I hunted with the Mid-Antrim Hunt. I did a lot of pony club growing-up too. There were times when I didn’t enjoy the horses and I quit for small periods, but always ended up coming back to it. Luckily I did, because, here I am!
I own a couple of my own pointers and also keep a couple to break/pre-train for others. My older sister Courtney would teach private one-to-one lessons so we have probably around 16 horse/ponies at home at the minute.
What was the first racehorse you ever sat on?
I can’t remember the name, but it was most likely one of Ian Ferguson’s when I was really young.
What’s your background in racing?
When I left school, I went straight to riding-out for Stuart Crawford. Stuart was great, he taught me a lot and gave me a great foundation.
After Stuart’s I rode out a bit for Graham McKeever, John Bryson and Harry Smyth. I felt that I wasn’t really going anywhere, so I left horses and worked in a factory for a few weeks, that’s when I decided that I definitely wanted to work in horseracing and I was going to give it a good shot.
I then ended up doing a spell down south with Liam and Sally Roche in Thurles. Liam would do a lot of breaking for Luke Comer and he really taught me lots on that side of things. It was a bit different as it was all flat horses that they trained, but I learned lots and that’s where I got the interest for breaking horses, which is why I break a few now for myself.
When I first took out my license, I did a season with Colin McKeever. He was the one who gave me a few rides at the start to get me going. The closest I got for him was when I finished second on a horse called Forkhill. I had a few spins on horses that were lucky to get around, but they were good for gaining experience on.
I worked for Nicky Richards in England for ten months. I had a few rides over there, I had a couple of rides for Nicky on the track and a trainer called Andy Hamilton gave me a few rides. He let me ride a horse called Toucan Sam in a few points and I was placed on him, and then finished second in a Hunter Chase at Perth. It was very good of him to let me ride the horse, it was the best horse that I rode over in England and probably the closest I’ve been to winning until Sunday.
Where do you work full-time?
I work full-time for Gerald Quinn and Philip McBurney at Caherty Stables which are local to me. I also ride out a few for Harry Smyth, along with my own breakers. I’m kept fairly busy.
I started in Ger’s when I came back from England in May last year. I had actually the intention of going back to England to work for Victor Thompson after the summer, but Ger and Philip wanted me to stay and it’s a great place to work.
How did the ride on Votre Saint come about?
I would have schooled a bit for Paul Bailie, who is Colin McBratney’s nephew, and he always said that he would give me rides. He was going to let me ride the horses at Portrush, but Graham Devitt had been schooling them and I was out with a broken hand, so he was booked to ride them at Tyrella, which was called off. Paul let Graham ride them at Portrush, but unfortunately Graham got a fall off Votre Saint and was stood down with concussion. Luckily, I had my gear with me so got the spare ride on his other horse You Left Yet. After that he left me on them.
Were you expecting Votre Saint to run well?
Obviously, it was a match race and Paul had told me to go out and treat it like a schooling day, and as long as we got around safe, we’d pick up prize-money. I intended on sitting behind Joey Dunne, but his horse had a good look at the first fence, so I thought that I better go on in front. Ian Donoghue is quite an established trainer and his horses are in form, so I didn’t think we had a chance. When I kicked for home, I could hear Joey slapping his horse and hitting a few fences behind me, that was when I realised that I was going to win.
Can you describe the feeling of riding your first point-to-point winner?
It’s the best feeling in the world. You can’t really put it into words!
Were your family there on the day?
Yes, they were there. I travelled down to Tattersalls with my girlfriend Anna, and it was only when I was on my way down that I was speaking to my mum and dad, and they said that they were coming down too. I thought that they were going to be wasting their time, but luckily they did go racing!
Do you know what the plan is for Votre Saint now?
She will probably run in a winners’ race in a couple of weeks. It will be a tougher race, but hopefully, if the ground stays good, she’ll have a chance.
Was it always the plan to take out your license?
Not really, I was happy enough to just ride out. It was only when I went down south after trying the factory work, that I decided that racing was what I wanted to do, so I took out my amateur license.
Who is your biggest influence in racing?
The person everyone wants to be is AP McCoy. I’ve read his books and grew up watching him on telly.
Is there anyone you turn to for advice?
Ger is quite good. If I ever have a problem, I’d turn to Ger. He is very good at telling me what I’m doing wrong and telling me what I need to improve on to get better. He is good craic in the yard, but keeps everyone right. He is very good at instilling confidence in me and praising me when I’m doing things right rather than being negative about the things you are doing wrong all the time.
When we are schooling, Noel McParlan is also very helpful with advice.
Have you any interests or hobbies outside of racing?
I quite like Darts. There is a Darts Player called Josh Rock from Broughshane, where I’m from, so I like to follow him and the darts.
What are your ambitions for the rest of the season?
I have a couple of my own horses to run, and I’ll hopefully run them and with a bit of luck they might go close. I’ll hopefully get a few spare rides from Gerald. I’ll chase as many rides as I can get and obviously just get my name out there a bit more. I find it's much harder to get rides in Ireland than in England.
Do you want to add anything else?
I’m extremely grateful to Paul for letting me ride Votre Saint, and I want to thank him for giving me the opportunities.
I just want to thank everyone else who has played a part in improving me. Stuart Crawford was a massive help in getting the foundations built, before I went to him, pony club was all I knew. He really improved my riding technique.
Liam and Sally Roche gave me a big insight into the breaking side of things and the nitty gritty stuff like feeding and nutrition.
Colin McKeever was a big help to me at the start, giving me a few rides and he let me keep a horse with him, so thanks to him for pushing me on at the start.
Thanks to Philip and Ger too. They are very supportive and are doing their best to help me along the way, and they are very good for letting me out of work to go schooling for others or going racing.
As a bonus for talented new point-to-point riders who feature in p2p.ie series of NextGen articles, Dungar Quality Oats will sponsor a special draw where one of the riders will win a cash prize of €500. All NextGen featured jockeys who have ridden their first point-to-point winner will be automatically entered into this draw. The draw will be conducted and prize winner announced at the end of the point-to-point season.
