Tom Kiely Marshall

I’m 19 and from Emly in Co Tipperary and I’m based with Joe Murphy in Fethard. I’m full-time with Joe and most of what I have learned about racing has come from him. He has a wealth of knowledge and is very adept at planning which races to go for with his horses.

We always had ponies at home and I would have done plenty of showjumping. When I was in third year in school, I started going into Joe’s yard on Saturday mornings to ride out one or two lots. That was my first experience of riding thoroughbreds and it was an unbelievable feeling, so that set me on my way.

I was planning to gain enough experience to go to RACE but when the pandemic hit I ended up doing an extra two or three months in Joe’s yard. I was doing a lot of riding out and I learned plenty and I got my licence six months earlier than would have been the case had I gone to RACE.

During my Transition Year at school, I was working in Joe’s yard and after doing seven weeks in fifth year, I decided to finish up and started working full-time. Had I stayed in school, I think I’d have got fairly good results but I wouldn’t have been involved in racing for long periods of time and I didn’t want that.

Fit For Function was a horse I rode a lot in the early days and he was my first winner when scoring at Dundalk in April 2021. He was an ideal horse for someone getting going. He was built like a little barrel and would take you up into gaps and horses would just bounce off him and get moved out of the way.

After I lost my 10lb claim, Kevin O’Ryan took me on and I’ve had my share of winners. I’ve yet to have a few winners in quick succession which is often something that can get your name out there more widely but there’s no easy route to being successful in racing and you have to bide your time. It was nice to get back amongst the winners on Teddy O’Neill at Naas recently and that was a ride that Kevin secured for me with a trainer, Donal Kinsella, that I hadn’t ridden for before. It was the second time that I had won that particular race as I had also been successful in it on Joe’s horse Insignia Of Rank.

If I can pick up a few rides a week on a regular basis, that is the first thing and if the winners come, then all the better. The more that you race-ride, the fitter you get almost without realising it and also the sharper you are in terms of technique and tactics.

Since halfway through Covid, I’ve been living on my own near Joe’s yard and I think that helps in terms of controlling my weight. You don’t have the temptations that would be there at home. I can eat well and still do light without having to properly waste, so I’m in a good position in that regard, and I have an appointment soon with HRI to have my bottom weight set which I hope will be nice and low.

A typical day at the moment would see me in Joe’s for 7.30 and there are three of us, including Joseph junior's wife Olive Gaule, that ride out. We do around seven lots which brings us to around 12.30. Later on there's evening stables and, in between, I’m always looking to ride work for people. I’d often go to meet someone at Willie Browne’s gallops. It’s a great place to work a horse with a turn of foot or to get a sharp blow into a horse. Before the days got shorter there lately, I rode out regularly for another local trainer called Vincent Carroll.

I make sure to walk the track when I’m racing. It would be silly not to and I saw Ryan Moore out walking the track at Roscommon during the summer. If I’m familiar with the track, I’ll just walk the home straight and I think it’s a good idea to do it after the first race, to see where the horses have raced and how deeply they are getting into the ground.

I didn’t do pony racing and there’s no doubt that in their first season the lads who have done pony racing have the upper hand over those of us who haven’t, but as you gain experience I think things level out.

I’ve a fairly good record at Dundalk and, with two meetings a week there until Christmas, I’ll be hoping to pick up plenty of rides there and get some momentum going. If the planned all-weather track at Tipperary comes to fruition, I’d be hoping that there will be opportunities for me there as well. We’ve had a few more days with two Flat meetings in Ireland this year and that opens a few doors as well. We probably have way too many Flat jockeys for one meeting a day but just enough for two meetings and again, it gives you more of a chance of picking up rides and getting sharper in terms of match practice. I feel I have improved plenty in the couple of years I’ve been race-riding and I’m looking forward to the winter and hopefully getting on a bit of a roll at Dundalk.

About Mark Nunan

Mark has followed racing since he was a teenager and worked for many years as a broadcaster with the Irish version of Racecall. He joined the Press Association in 2019 and is also a contributor to the Racing Post. A native of Kildare, he now lives in Sligo.

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