Neil Mulholland

The young Irish trainer talks to Martha Terry about building his business from scratch and giving National Hunt’s old guard a run for their money

- Martha Terry

YOUNG Connor is spilling his dad’s Frosties all over the Racing Post. It’s 10am and Neil Mulholland is juggling his declarations, multiple phone calls and this H&H interview with his two year-old scrambling in his lap — and trying to shovel down his first bite to eat since surfacing at 6am.

Neil, 37, is part of National Hunt’s new guard of 30-somethings — think Dan Skelton, Charlie Longsdon and Harry Fry — many of whom are raising young families at the same time as vying with Nicholls, Tizzard, Henderson et al for their share of big-race wins. All racehorse trainers are busy, but this one more than most as he fields all the phone calls himself — no secretary — and has two small sons, besides 120 occupied stables.

“I’ll normally have had 80 calls by midday,”the interview says Neil, dressed in an anorak and black and blue bobble hat. “It’s hectic, and it’s hard to keep relaxed these days — but I am lucky to have great staff.”

My job on this sodden December morning is to attempt to keep up with Neil as he whirlwinds from gallops to stables to declarations to breakfast and back to the gallops — all before he drives the HGV to Wincanton at 11am.

He has an astounding ability to respond to a punter’s query, an owner’s dilemma and my questions simultaneously — offset to the tune of Connor’s toy train piping out a Christmas melody.

DESPITE this being his second career, the Northern Irishman is hardly new to the scene. He turned from jockey to trainer almost a decade ago, but last season was his best yet, having climbed up from 18 winners in 2008, to 124 (including Flat and in Ireland) in 2016/2017. This year has been more of a grind.