Sarah Breen: Riding in same race as dad was 'surreal'
The father-daughter duo were both in action at Tramore
/Sarah-Breen-and-dad-Pat.jpg?ext=.jpg)
Sarah Breen with father Patrick at Tramore
Every dad and daughter relationship is special, but few can boast what Sarah and Patrick Breen have achieved, writes James Reid.
The pair raced against one another in The Majestic Hotel Flat Race at Tramore last week, becoming part of a rare club of parent-child combinations to compete in the same race.
Patrick ultimately took family bragging rights, as he finished third on Lord Lackendarra while Sarah came home sixth on Goodmancon, but there was nothing but pride - and some good-natured rivalry - in the parade ring as they reflected on a rare feat.
“It was fairly cool when we pulled up," Sarah said. "I knew turning up the straight that I wasn’t going to beat him this time.
He was fairly happy, and I was as happy as I could be seeing as he finished in front of me!
“It was fairly surreal pulling into the parade ring together.
“I didn’t see it any different until we weighed out. We ride out together every day, so I didn’t take any notice of him until we were both in the same colours, then it dawned on me that we were racing against each other in an actual race.
“We are fairly competitive at home, so it was a bit annoying now that he finished in front of me, but I’ll definitely get him the next day. He’s been soaking it up - I didn’t hear the end of it on the way home!”
The achievement is all the more remarkable given Patrick had been out of the saddle for 23 years until he made his return at Wexford in July, having last competed before that at Gowran Park in 2002.
It was all part of a plan to live out a dream of riding alongside his 18-year-old daughter, which meant plenty of hard yards behind the scenes.
“That was always dad’s goal, he wanted to ride against me, so it was always the plan to ride against each other when he took out the license,” added Sarah.
“I didn’t really think it was going to happen, I thought it was an unrealistic goal but when we found a race in Tramore we thought it would be ideal because both horses had course form and it’s our local track. We said it would be best to go there.
"He had to do a lot of work to get back riding. He put in a lot of work at home as well as getting the horses ready. Getting both horses ready for the same race is not that easy.”
/Sarah-Breen.jpg)
Patrick became a trainer following the end of his career in the saddle, meaning Sarah was never far away from horses growing up.
It is her dad who she credits for encouraging her into the sport, which she picked over a budding gaelic football career having represented Waterford at underage county level.
Though she still togs out for local side Clashmore, she has big dreams as an amateur jockey.
“Dad has always been the backbone of racing at home,” she said. “I would have been point-to-pointing since I was about two weeks old, dad always had point-to-pointers at home.
“We have a schooling lane as well, so we would have a lot of jockeys coming riding. Seeing that growing up made me want to become a jockey. Dad supported me and pushed me to be as good as I could be and to get my license.
“The goal is to be an amateur jockey. I always wanted to be a jockey, growing up being surrounded by it. We come from a racing family, on both sides of my family we had horses involved.”