Making the grade
Trinity College graduate Archie Macauley is carving out a new career on the US jumps racing circuit, writes
EACH year thousands of Irish men and women leave Ireland for the US in the hope of a better future. Of this number, several hundred go on to work within the racing and sport horse industries.
In Florida alone, Irish natives make up for a large proportion of riders, grooms and trainers within the show-jumping community. Their presence is always felt in the winner’s enclosure during the Winter Equestrian Festival in West Palm Beach, after which many return to their bases further north for the summer.
All along the east coast, where there is a thriving racing industry, dozens of Irish-born jockeys vie for dominance both on the flat and over jumps. In addition there are hundreds more Irish working as grooms, trainers, stud owners and managers. Wherever you turn, you are guaranteed to see an Irish name.
It is a tough industry, no doubt, but Irish men and women are among the toughest in the business, and highly respected by their peers.
One Irishman who has recently joined their ranks is Wicklow native Archie Macauley.
A 2017 graduate of Trinity College, where he studied geography, the 23-year-old grew up surrounded by horses — so it is not surprising he has followed the same route.
His father, Rupert, hunts the West Wicklow Foxhounds, and his older brother, Hamish, works as a bloodstock agent out of the UK.
Archie first made the move from Ireland to Pennsylvania last summer to work with jumps trainer Leslie Young.
From there he moved between Canada and Florida with top Canadian flat trainer Roger Attfield. Archie is now back in Pennsylvania where he is enjoying a successful few weeks on the point-to-point circuit — just last week, he picked up his first ever win over jumps.
“I had won a few training flat races here but that was my first win over hurdles,” the amateur National Hunt jockey explains.
A winner of a bumper in Wexford in late 2016, he admits that opportunities in Ireland were scarce.
“The racing scene is not easy here either and you have to work hard to succeed,” he says.
Since relocating though, he is fortunate to have picked up a few good rides for Leslie Young and there were great celebrations when he claimed a Maiden Hurdle at the Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point on board the four-year-old mare Virginia Envy.
In late March, he also picked up a win on the flat at the Green Spring Valley Point-to-Point on board the Leslie Young-trained Andi’amu.
Leslie’s Irish-born husband, Paddy Young, a five-time US champion jump jockey, continues to recover from a serious fall he suffered at the Radnor Hunt meeting in Malvern, Pennsylvania last May.
Jump racing in the US is a far cry from its Irish or British counterparts.
It is confined to just 11 states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, home of the famous timber race, the Maryland Hunt Cup, which takes place on April 28.
Equally prestigious and also run over timber, the Virginia Hunt Cup takes place on May 5.
The American point-to-point season runs until early May, after which Archie will move back to Canada.
“I’ve had a great few weeks here but I am looking forward to spending the summer in Canada. I have a Canadian passport so will stay there until November and then move back to Florida,” he says.
For the summer he will be based at Woodbine as work rider for Roger Attfield. “There’s a lot of Irish in Canada too and Roger is good friends with another Irishman, Richard Hogan.”
A native of Carrick-on-Suir, Richard has been based in Canada for over 25 years and has built up a successful business as bloodstock agent for a number of well-known names in the industry.
Roger Attfield moves his horses to Florida for the winter months to avail of the better weather. They will be based at Payson Park, which is in close proximity to both the Gulfstream and Tampa racetracks.
“Florida is fabulous for the winter and great fun. Plus there are so many Irish here and the weather is fantastic,” adds Archie.
THE RACING SCENE HERE IS NOT EASY AND YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD TO SUCCEED