On the trail of an unpredictable star

A young Irish trainer has the chance to put his name on the map in no uncertain fashion today — but it won’t have been by conventional means. Alan Fleming spoke to Declan Colley

ALAN FLEMING’S career has not exactly followed a predictable path, but that is of little consequence to the 32-year-old from Blessington in Co. Wicklow as he gears up for today’s opening Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham with the fancied Starluck.

It might be that his mum drove him to Ted Walsh’s yard every day when he was thirteen (he hitched the fourteen miles home every evening) and that he subsequently worked with the likes of Martin Brassil and Tony Martin. It might also be that he gained further valuable experience from Arthur Moore and Oliver McKiernan before taking out his own licence.