Evanna McCutcheon is no stranger to the racing community, or an adventure. Growing up in north Tipperary with Tom Hogan as a neighbour and a father who rode as an amateur, it was always on the cards she was going to follow them in the same vein.

Her early career took her to Australia working for Gai Waterhouse and to the deep south of America as a work rider at Fair Grounds racetrack of New Orleans.

South Tipperary has been home for several years now – one that has become permanent. In the throes of building her very own yard, it’s quite possibly the biggest adventure she’s been on to date.

“We’re in our current premises since Hurricane Ophelia which was 2017,”says Evanna.

“The electricity and water were gone everywhere else but we had a generator here and the water was actually still working in this area so I thought I might as well, we’d been working on it all that summer.”

The premises is a 33 acre field at Mortlestown on the outskirts of Killenaule village. Not a bad spot – McCutcheon counts Coolmore and Willie Browne amongst her neighbours. It’s as quick for her to drive to Browne’s to work a horse, or swim a horse at Tynan’s swimming pool, as it is to ride out a lot at home.

Living facilities are still a work in progress, but the horses undoubtedly come first.

High standards

“We’ve tried to do everything to a high standard; heavy duty Oden walker with Easyfix surface, two furlong circular sand gallop of Wexford sand – I’m delighted with that, it’s been fantastic despite the terrible weather. We reseeded a grass gallop, four furlongs uphill and have lots of plans for more. We do everything we want to do at a high standard, so yes it’s taking time but I don’t want to regret doing anything,” she says.

The yard has certainly come a long way from when it first opened as little more than a large grass field.

“There were no roadways, no fencing. Things that would be considered small things were actually quite big victories. I watched day one and two of Cheltenham 2018 off the power of a generator and I watched day three and four off the power of ESB, which was quite exciting. Another exciting time was when the fencing got done – we were no longer doing free-range training!”

Horses come first

As for facilities for herself, McCutcheon has certainly drawn the short straw. Horse comfort is the priority, although if you pay her a visit you’ll see that she’s certainly made herself at home.

“My lovely mobile home is still doing the job, it’s serving me well.

“Hopefully we will be upgrading to better facilities in the very near future now that we have the planning permission. As with normal constraints for everyone we can’t do everything at once and the focus has been on doing the horses’ facilities first,” Evanna explains.

“I think a few locals think I’m quite nuts in the situation I’m in but as I said it’s a means to an end. It’s short for space, but I have been told if I was given a massive space I’d still fill it.”

The move hasn’t impacted the training of the horses orher trusty assistant trainer Arc the Jack Russell. “Arc’s so well known – if for some reason he’s not with me, I get asked where he is.

“I have a small bunch of horses at the moment, winter is traditionally my quieter time.

“The loss of Our Jerry just before Christmas, was a huge blow to us. He had a colic the night of Storm Elsa and despite being rushed to the hospital he didn’t respond to treatment. He’d had previous surgery for colic as a youngster so we were blessed to have him as long and appreciated every minute of it.”

Maarek is probably one of McCutcheon’s best known horses. The sprinter has given her some great days out, both as trainer and assistant trainer, with wins in Ascot, the Arc meeting in ParisLongchamp and throughout Ireland.

Still running in handicaps and about to reach his teens he’s still part of the team: “We’re leaving it to him to let us know when he’s finished.”

The rest of the string is made up of two-year-olds who are coming in off their break and there will be some yearlings arriving once they are broken in.

Happy horses

“Getting owners is always the struggle, but I invite anyone to come and see them. It’s been a little bit limiting with the facilities as they’re not completed yet, but I do train a lot from the field anyway – I think the horses are happiest doing that, they are out every day.”

Job opportunities

Although McCutcheon can do most of the daily riding out duties herself, when it comes to taking on staff she’s thinks there is a huge opportunity for the agricultural and equestrian sectors in terms of flexible working hours. Granted a trainer’s job is full time but there is a huge shortage of sable staff.

“People come into the industry sacrificing schooling for work and after a few years decide to leave and get ‘a proper job’.

“People do it for the love, I think a lot of those people would actually quite like to do it part-time, maybe while the kids are at school, but there’s no kind of incentive to do it, they get penalised financially if they do.

“You don’t do it for the money, you do it for the love of it, but you can’t do it if it’s going to end up costing you. There is a staff crisis out there at the moment and people need to be incentivised to get themselves into the industry.”