Jim’s life has revolved around horse racing, right from his early years all the way through to his new role! “As a toddler, I would ride my rocking horse while the races were on, and I would cry if Lester Piggott lost a race—apparently! Growing up in an Irish family, I was immersed in the culture of watching races and placing bets. By the age of ten, I could write and calculate any bet, and I even managed to place my first wager in the shop by the age of twelve!”.
Inspired by the movie Phar Lap during his youth, Jim decided he wanted to train his own racehorse one day. To pursue this dream, he went to Epsom to work for Roger Curtis on weekends and during holidays and later attended university to study equine science. His early career involved the successful management of two UK racecourses, Huntingdon and Sedgefield, before serving as Racing Director at Arena Racing Company (ARC) between 2006 and 2015. In this role he oversaw the operational running of more than 500 fixtures a year and his accomplishments included the innovation of the All-Weather Championships, the introduction of the new Tapeta racing surface at Newcastle and Wolverhampton racecourses and launch of sectional timing at all ARC tracks.
Jim went on to train racehorses across the US and in France between 2016 and 2022, before joining Tapeta Footings as its Operations Director in 2023 to create new racing surfaces at iconic US racecourses such as Belmont Park and Santa Anita. His return to the UK saw a stint as Operations Director at British Champions Series before joining team Epsom Downs after the successful delivery of British Champions Day.
