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"They've got a good one on their hands here"
John Magnier's influence on Irish horse racing over the past four decades has been truly immense.
The man behind the Coolmore empire has shaped the entire industry. Not only have many elements of his operation in the breeding and training of racehorses been adopted by every other successful outfit, both here and abroad, but his political acumen and foresight have been key to the transformation of the industry into the version we see today.
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from Southill, Co Limerick and I always had a few ponies and a few cobs. My dad, Willie Casey, was a professional fighter and a European Super Bantamweight Champion (2010). I used to box away in the amateurs when I was younger. I won Limerick, Munster and Irish titles at boxing when I was 14. My brother Myles actually fought for Ireland in the European Championships in Bulgaria when he was 16. My father is a boxing coach, and I'd always try and get down to the boxing club and do a bit of training, but I haven't competed in about five years. I always wanted to be in sports - I played soccer as well and was useful, but I leaned more towards the horses when I was getting a bit older. My father has always been a big supporter of mine and as long as I was doing something, he was happy. I went through the Moyross Youth Academy Equine Programme. They came to my school when I was in Fifth Class. They were looking for people who had an interest in horses to see if they wanted to get into racing or work with horses. I took the opportunity as I always had an interest in horses. They would come once a week on a Wednesday and I'd get out of school to go to Quin, near Ennis, where they had cobs and ponies. They taught me the basics in terms of looking after a horse and how to ride in a saddle. It really built my interest. Wesley Joyce, who is from around the same area, went through that programme as well - he was a few years before me.
I was going out on work experience in school and told the lads in the programme that I wanted to learn how to ride racehorses, so the lads got on to Eric McNamara in Rathkeale which is only about half an hour from me. I was there every summer riding out and the lads out there were a big help to me too. When I was riding out in Eric's I really got the bug for it and I wanted to get my licence, so I went to RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education, Kildare) for a year. When RACE shut down, I had to come home and there was a job with Michael Mulvany, so I moved up to him. I was apprenticed to him for two years.
