Forced into retirement in November 2024, after injuries more or less ended his career as a jockey, Irishman Jack Foley has taken to the life of a trainer like a thoroughbred to fences.
While his career as a trainer may still only be in its infancy, he has had an impressive start to life so far. Indeed, his debut runner was Monbeg Par, who raced in the Kerry National at Listowel indeed, this being a major handicap chase.
This provided him with a springboard; having a runner in such a high profile race elevated his standing immediately and demonstrated the level of trust placed in him by owners.
Turning Bad News Around
Since having to retire, with opportunities being hard to come by, Foley has well and truly caught the ‘training bug’, which happened while he was helping breeze-up horses.
Located out of his own yard in Carlow, Ireland; a region known for its rolling hills and sweeping pastures, this serenity has proven pivotal to his progress; a considerable contrast from the high pressure, more commercial training centres.
Having received his training licence in July 2025, he focused initially on a small string of horses, including breeze-up prospects and flat runners, prior to changing to jumps.
One of his biggest fans has been the owner/handler Donnchadh Doyle, who has been responsible for providing Foley with his first major opportunity in the training ranks.
Very much being a modest, small-scale operation, this means that all horses receive highly personalised attention which is a completely different approach to that of the expansive stables of champion trainers.
Despite being a start-up operation, the yard is still equipped with modern features such as low impact fitness technology and an equine spa, which complements the rigorous natural ground work.
Each day starts before dawn with feeding and an extensive schedule of mucking out, exercise and stable management. Based on his experience as a jockey, the focus is based on a thorough understanding of each horse’s needs and hands-on care.
Afternoons are spent with physios and vets while fostering relationships with owners, in addition to visits to see horses in their schooling venues.
A combination of traditional and modern methods are utilised, where he is able to apply his skills from working with breeze-up horses (focused on speed and athleticism), while combining this with stamina work that is necessary for jump racing.
Bright Future Ahead
Already, he is being heralded as a trainer that can do big things, though within some factions of the media, there are journalists who describe him as being “unbelievably lucky” and “surreal”, due to him having such a high calibre start.
Due to his modest start in flat, before a quick step up in calibre, this has caught the attention of many, though it does seem that Foley has the maturity to handle this well.
While his career as a jockey may have been unexpectedly cut short, there is no doubt that he has quickly found a way to make up for this.