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'I miss the training, but Joseph's is a great place and I'm happy to be here'
Mark Boylan catches up with the former top jockey and trainer
If you thought a financially driven decision to depart the training ranks 12 months ago would spell the end of his love affair with racing, then you don't know Brendan Powell.
The heads over the horseboxes he tends to at 6.20am every day may not belong to him, but – in the year of his 60th birthday – the man who recorded more than 600 winners as a rider, and the guts of 650 as a trainer, is as enthusiastic as ever about the sport.
All of 30 years have passed since the Kildare native's Irish Champion Hurdle success aboard the Barry Hills-trained Nomadic Way. Now he returns to Leopardstown with fresh hopes of making new memories in his role as assistant trainer to Joseph O'Brien.
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Published on inInterviews
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Copy- 'You can see why people end up struggling - when you're trying to pay the electric bill, losing one ride can be massive'
- 'I've never paid six figures for a horse and never will - I learned pretty quickly you're only one phone call away from f*** all'
- 'I’ve trained some fabulous horses, worked with some excellent riders - maybe I have brought a little bit of talent to the table as well'
- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’
- 'He must have his breakfast earlier than Willie does' - Patrick Mullins goes behind enemy lines at Gordon Elliott's yard
- 'You can see why people end up struggling - when you're trying to pay the electric bill, losing one ride can be massive'
- 'I've never paid six figures for a horse and never will - I learned pretty quickly you're only one phone call away from f*** all'
- 'I’ve trained some fabulous horses, worked with some excellent riders - maybe I have brought a little bit of talent to the table as well'
- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’
- 'He must have his breakfast earlier than Willie does' - Patrick Mullins goes behind enemy lines at Gordon Elliott's yard