'Racing is my life' - Paddy Trainor celebrates Employee of the Year award

Celebrations after the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards may have gone into the late hours on Monday but for Paddy Trainor, it was business as usual at 7am the next day.

Trainor was named Employee of the Year and claimed the rider/groom award at the virtual ceremony, receiving a £10,000 prize for his dedication to the sport following 23 years with Johnston Racing.

"I left the celebrations last night and it was still going on this morning," Trainor said. "To have the whole team behind me, including Charlie [Johnston] there last night, it means so much to me and my family.

"Racing is my life and I love helping people, whether at the races or at home. It's what I want to do in the long run, even after I finish my career at Johnston Racing."

Growing up in Glasgow, Trainor found comfort in working with horses from a young age and fostered his love of racing as a teenager before joining the army.

He said: "As a young lad I had learning difficulties at school, but what helped me was being around ponies and horses. It sounds silly to some but it's true, it helped a lot with my dyslexia, so I always thought if I was going to do anything when I was older it would be with horses.

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"I went straight from school into basic training in the army and asked how long it would take until I could work with the horses. They told me I had no chance, it would take at least seven years to get into the horse regiment, so I went back to Glasgow, went to the careers' office and they pointed me to the British Racing School.

"I used to watch Royal Ascot and I always thought I would love to work with racehorses. Living in Glasgow there weren't many yards about, so after the British Racing School I went to Jonjo O'Neill's for a few months and then moved to Mark Johnston's yard and haven't looked back."

Trainor put his love of mentoring racing newcomers to good use after qualifying as a level 2 industry coach at the National Horseracing College, where his wife Sam works as the regional training coordinator.

"I didn't think I'd have the confidence to be a coach," Trainor said. "A lot of people say I love chatting, but I talk a lot to cover my nerves. Sam encouraged me to take the course and I love teaching people all the knowledge I've learned from the generation before me.

"A lot of the younger staff listen to me at the racecourse and at home. When there's a young groom on the yard and I'm breaking in the yearlings I'll try to take them aside and mentor them through the process.

"People want to be jockeys but it's not all about that. There's so many aspects to racing, and winning this award is a stepping stone to bring more people into the sport. I want people with learning difficulties to come out of the darkness into the light and go for it, because I've proved you can do it."

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