Hanlon to join Henderson's yard as a conditional jockey

Paddy Hanlon will move to the Seven Barrows stables in Lambourn at the start of October to become a conditional jockey for Nicky Henderson, he revealed to Rishi Persad on the Luck On Sunday on Racing TV today.

18-year-old Hanlon has 21 winners to his name already and planned the move to keep busy during the winter.

“I was looking to go to somewhere in the UK for winter because we wouldn’t have many horses for the winter so I said I’d take a chance to go somewhere, and that’s a great stable to get into.

“Throughout the summer I’d been saying to my da that I’d prefer to go to the UK than stay home in Ireland because there’s less racing in Ireland compared to over there. It will be a big experience if nothing else,” he said.

It was a chance meeting with Jessica Harrington that led to the opportunity.

“We were in Leopardstown and met to Jessie Harrington and it just came up that I was looking to go to the UK and she said that Nicky Henderson was looking for a stable conditional. We gave a call, and it’s just great to get it.

“It’s fantastic to get involved in the yard, he’s a Hall of Fame trainer, one of the best for a long time now,” said Hanlon.

Hanlon’s father, trainer Shark, travelled over to Seven Barrows last week with Paddy to meet Henderson at his yard and he was hugely impressed by what he saw.

“I think I enjoyed the meeting more than Paddy did,” said Shark.

“I sat in beside Nicky in the jeep and we had a great oul chat. He brought me around and his gallops are amazing, his yard is amazing.

“It’s easy knowing why he is such a good trainer, his gallops are amazing. Himself and his wife made us very welcome and he’s delighted that Paddy is going to go over to him. He’s only 18 so he has to learn and I think it’s a great opportunity to get into a yard like that,” added the proud father.