Former champion apprentice now a freelance in flying Group form

For a freelance jockey to have won a brace of Group races by the middle of July is no mean feat, so Gary Carroll has every right to be satisfied with his lot following Group 3 success on Only Mine at Naas in May and, more recently, his all-the-way success on Queen Catrine in the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes at Fairyhouse on Sunday. The 26-year-old former champion apprentice from a family of jockeys talks about those wins, his season and the high points of his career.

Tony O'Hehir - Queen Catrine was a 14-1 shot to beat five rivals in the Brownstown Stakes on Sunday - did her win surprise you?
Gary Carroll - Ger [Lyons] ran two in the race, Ainippe, who won the race last year, and Queen Catrine. Their recent form going into the race wasn't inspiring but we knew both of them would have decent chances if they came back to form. We knew Queen Catrine got a mile well and she had a good draw so over an easy seven furlongs at Fairyhouse we decided to make plenty of use of her and it paid off.

TOH - You've ridden 14 winners this season and Queen Catrine was your second Group 3 success of 2016, so you must be quite happy with the way things are going?
GC - I won the Lacken Stakes on Only Mine for Joe Murphy at Naas in May. I get plenty of support from Joe and Ger puts me up when he can. I go to Ger's two mornings a week and I also ride work for Joe, Sheila Lavery and Adrian Keatley. I get rides from them and other trainers and, yes, I'm happy with the way the season is going.