Jordan Kidd is coming towards the end of his ‘best year so far’ and there are plenty more exciting times ahead for the jockey on and off the track.

Kidd, who hails from Kentstown in Co Meath, felt going down the amateur route represented ‘a good place to start’ and so it has proved, as he landed his first point-to-point winner for Gavin Cromwell in January before picking up his first two successes under rules for John McConnell in recent months.

Both came in bumpers, with Kevin’s Pride responsible for breaking Kidd’s duck at Kilbeggan in August before he led home Ira Hayes at Wexford at the end of October.

“The ‘Double Green’ team of Simon Munir and Isaac Suede bought him (Kevin’s Pride), so it was pretty cool to win on a horse for one of John’s biggest owners,” he said.

“Wexford was good too, the horse didn’t run the way they thought he would but he won the other day again over hurdles (at Carlisle), so he’s not a bad horse either.

 

“It has probably been my best year so far. Moving to John’s was the best move I’ve ever made, he’s fair with all his riders and he has probably been the biggest influence on me, without realising it.

“He’s an easy man to approach, if you’re doing something wrong he’ll tell you to your face and he’ll tell you how to fix it.

“He had no right to let me ride the first lad I won on because of my experience but he still let me ride him. He’s fair like that.”

Kidd does not come from an equine background but fell in love with pony racing at a young age.

“I was in second class when I took my pony to a local race and a fella in my class was in the same race,” he said.

“I never knew him before then but he’s my best friend now. That’s how I got into the proper racing side of things.”

His younger brother, Dylan, has followed him into the weighing room – a place in which Jordan is one of the taller members.

At 6ft 2in, a career on the flat was never on the agenda but that hasn’t stopped him wanting to experience life in the stalls at some stage.

“My goals this year were to ride a winner on the track and ride in an amateur flat race,” he said.

“Growing up, I wanted to be a flat jockey but that was never going to be an option for me, but I want to ride in an amateur flat race out the stalls, that’s the next goal for me.

“My height does not give me too many problems. I’m quite a slim fella, I wake up every morning about 11 stone 2 without watching what I eat or dieting.

“I’m quite active, I go out shooting most Sundays, I’m always moving and never really sitting down.

“The weight is a benefit of being an amateur, too. I get to carry, whereas if I was a conditional, I would have to watch my weight more." 

Kidd retains a keen interest in bloodstock and will enrol on the Irish National Thoroughbred Breeding Management Course from January.

“I bought three foals two-and-a-half years ago and now we’ll see where we go with them,” he said. “Hopefully we sell them next year as three-year-olds.

“It’s a bit more boring than riding but it’s harder. I like watching them grow, going out and feeding them every day and watching them as part of a group of horses. I like it, it’s rewarding.

“I won’t be able to be a jockey or ride out forever, I’ll be getting old soon, so doing the course seemed like the next step for me.

“I think my riding will stop basically for six months, which is how long the course takes. 

“I might get a couple of rides out at the Curragh but my riding career will be slowing down.

“My advice to anyone out there thinking of taking out an amateur licence would be to give it a go. Why not give it a shot and see if you enjoy it?”

The George Mernagh Memorial Fund Qualified Rider Subsidy & Bursary offers financial support for jockeys in obtaining their licence. To find out more and to apply, click here.