By Tom Peacock
With a career defined by two of the longer working arrangements between jockey and trainer in this cutthroat sport, a first morning on the roster at Ballydoyle this week will have felt very different for Wayne Lordan.
The announcement by David Wachman last August that he would retire at the end of the season had left the 34-year-old briefly at a crossroads, then later Tommy Stack decided to hand over the reins to his son, Fozzy. Luckily, Aidan O'Brien had come calling.
“It came a month or two after all that,” Lordan explained. “I've been with the Stacks a long time, the plan was to stay riding for them and maybe try to go somewhere else in the mornings, as I used to be with David, but as it happened things turned out differently and there's a new chapter for me as well.”
He continued: “I'm after having some fantastic years with the Stacks, 16 with them, and I've been with David for 11. I suppose with the change to Ballydoyle I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be something new.
“I've met [O'Brien] on numerous occasions and I have ridden for him, and I have ridden work for him, and I know everyone apart from actually being in Ballydoyle, that's going to be the new bridge. I've been in once or twice, really just having a look around, but with regards riding out, I've not been there before.”
As a multiple Group 1 winner who has finished as high as third in the Irish championship, it seems a shade unusual for a man of Lordan's calibre not to be moving to a stable as a number one. Ballydoyle, of course, is no ordinary stable and his arrival can be viewed similarly to one of Real Madrid's galactico signings. He will not be likely to challenge Ryan Moore's Cristiano Ronaldo for supremacy, but should join Seamie Heffernan in offering solid support behind.
“They have the best horses in the world and if you ever have the opportunity to go there, you have to take it with two hands,” he said. “Hopefully it'll work out in some way––they'll have plenty of horses to run, it's just about getting the opportunities, that's all you'll be looking for. There are a lot of good jockeys in there but you have to put yourself in a position, if one of those good rides come along, you're there.”
He remains on the best of terms with Stack and Wachman and has also continued his association with trainer Thomond O'Mara, who spotted Lordan on the pony racing circuit and led him to his job with Stack, the decorated former jump jockey.
“The Stacks are a very close family and luckily enough we got on really well. Any day I've gone to the breakfast table, they'd all be in there, if anything was to be discussed it would be with the whole family. I suppose they've brought me a long way.
“We had many good days with Myboycharlie (Ire) (Danetime {Ire}), Alexander Tango (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), but for me Lolly For Dolly (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) winning the Windsor Forest S. at Royal Ascot was one I really enjoyed. I think it was Tommy's first Royal Ascot winner as well, and those horses for Ascot don't come around too often. I got a good kick out of that.”
He hopes to continue his partnership with Fozzy Stack when time permits, although the fledgling trainer has appointed Chris Hayes as his number one.
Wachman, John Magnier's son-in-law, remains involved in the bloodstock department of the Coolmore-Ballydoyle axis so should be in even more regular contact.
Lordan had not been too surprised about his former employer's choice to bow out after 20 years.
“It was in the background but you'd be always hoping it wasn't going to happen,” he said. “I believe it mustn't have been an easy decision for him but it was probably the best decision.
“Not only was he my boss, but we're good friends. Life goes on, sometimes you have to make changes, some people get affected by it, more people don't. There's not much you can do about it, once you're happy at the end of the day, that's the most important thing.”
Dependability has characterised Lordan, in and out of the saddle. He was capable of being silky when Moore's injury allowed him back aboard Wachman's Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) in the 2015 Nassau and Matron S. Likewise he can drive one home in a finish, as demonstrated by his maiden Group 1 with 100-1 chance Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) in the 2010 Nunthorpe S., or threading Gordon Lord Byron (Ire) (Byron {GB}) through the eye of a needle in the G2 British Champions Sprint S. One achievement missing so far is a Classic victory, and chances should come from Ballydoyle's hoard.
O'Brien, to whom hobbies away from racing are seemingly anathema, will find a kindred spirit. Lordan hunted with his father as a boy in Cork and a few days with the Tipperary in his off-season are a rare extra-curricular pleasure.
“When you're brought up with horses at home, you're always outside doing something with them. Whatever I enjoy, it's around horses, it seems.”
Even those days could be precious soon, as Lordan's wife Carey Anne is expecting their first child in the summer. “2017 is going to be exciting anyway,” he chuckled.
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