4 days ago
Irish jockey lands first victory for grandfather in just her fourth race
It was a family affair at Fairyhouse on Thursday evening as Orla Tynan rode her first winner, with 33/1 shot Solomon Coop landing the House Restaurant Apprentice Handicap. The win was all the more special as Solomon Coop is trained by Orla's grandfather Matty Tynan.
The 18-year-old jockey, who was having just her fourth ride on a racecourse, guided the four-year-old to victory with a brilliant ride in the 1m2f contest as Solomon Coop hit the front passing the two furlong pole and went on to beat Si Senior by two-and-a-quarter lengths.
The delighted jockey, who is based with trainer Andy Slattery, told Racing TV afterwards: "It was great. It was my second time riding him, a step up in trip helped him definitely. He stayed on very well in the end.
"I was told to jump out and go forward and see how he's carrying me and he was happy away sitting there third, second, so I let him stride on and then turning in I just pull out a bit to the side and let him go then.
"We didn't know if he'd stay on the trip but it was definitely the right thing to do for him, he handled it well."
Her proud grandfather and winning trainer Matty added: "It's the proudest day of my life, it really is now, like Orla lives for horses, she loves them. I mean half six in the morning, no problem, up and out, that's all she wants is horses and we thought we'd try and help her.
"Coming here today we didn't think he was going to win or anything but we wanted to give Orla experience. It's like if you're practicing for hurling all your life, you have to play the match to get the experience, there's no point in practicing all the time, you have to get out there and do it and Orla did it very well."
