The new kid on the block... Cian Collins
KERRY jockeys are a bit like city buses these days in that no sooner does one pull away when another one soon arrives. But such is the age profile of this current crop, they could just as easily form their own boyband.
The newest kid on the block is 18 year old Cian Collins who is the son of Jackie and Alan from Ballyard. Cian’s dad is no stranger to the sport having been part-owner of the famous mare Total Enjoyment in 2004; a horse that was bred by Cian’s uncle, Noel.
Cian grew up in a part of Tralee a stone’s throw from where Tom Cooper’s yard is. He probably never stood a chance of pursuing any other career given his background in the sport and when your neighbour over the road happens to be a Gold Cup winning jockey, it’s little wonder Cian finds himself riding out every morning at Gordon Elliott’s Cullentra House Stables in County Meath.
“I would have first started riding out for Tom Cooper and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a jump jockey,” said Cian. “When I was 12 or 13 I did a lot of pony racing and then moved up to the Curragh where I got my jockey’s licence. I spent a year and a half riding out for Dessie Hughes and it was a great experience. Dessie was still alive at the time and his yard is a great place to start for young jockeys,” he added.
It was Dessie’s daughter Sandra who gave Cian his first winner aboard Poetic Lord at Wexford in April 2015 in what was only Cian’s third ride and the young claimer hasn’t looked back since. Cian lived with Bryan Cooper and Robbie McNamara when first leaving home, housemates he describes as making the transition from student to race rider an easy one. Cian has so far ridden 11 winners, 3 of them at Limerick, the latest being 3/1 favourite Moores Road for local trainer Michael Hourigan. But what exactly does a day consist of for a young rider working his way through the ranks at one of Ireland’s leading stables?
“I’m really enjoying it. It’s very busy in Gordon’s and there’s plenty of good horses here as well. It’s a great yard and you learn plenty. My day starts around 7:30am and you could ride out maybe 5 or 6 horses. Then you come back in the evening and bed the horses down and brush the yard. It’s a hands on place. Gordon is very fair to work for and he tells you when you’re right and he tells you when you’re wrong. It’s also good to have the link with home and Bryan [Cooper] is good to me.”
Cian has so far had a stack of rides for a multitude of different trainers in his three seasons and while he rides mostly for Gordon Elliot these days, one trainer who has reliably helped Cian gain his fair share of experience is his neighbour and former mentor, Tom Cooper.
To date, Cian has ridden 28 times for Cooper. “Ya, I’ve ridden a good few times for him now and it would be great to one day ride a winner for him,” Cian said.
He continued: “I’m always looking to learn and try to improve my riding style and it helps when you’ve got so many quality horses in the yard.
I was also lucky to have ridden out the likes of Don Cossack. The win at Christmas on Moores Road is probably my favourite win to date. But there’s a race in Cheltenham for conditional jockeys and it would be brilliant and a dream to get a ride around there.”