Generation Next with Megan O'Leary

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Megan O’Leary can’t remember a time without thoroughbreds in her life. The daughter of leading Irish breeders and consignors Eddie and Wendy O’Leary grew up on Lynn Lodge Stud in Westmeath, Ireland, whose recent graduates include Group 1-winning stallions Donjuan Triumphant (Ire) and Latrobe (Ire).

“As soon as I was old enough to be able to walk around the fields with my wellies on, I was always by my dad's side,” O’Leary said. An active member of the Pony Club, she competed in eventing around working on the stud, helping her parents prepare yearlings and 2-year-olds for sale. It might be a surprise to some that, when O’Leary finished highschool, she moved to Dublin to study Commerce, but it was with her parents’ blessing.

“My parents were keen to not pigeonhole (me) into the industry, and for me to see the broader world,” she said. Commerce would provide O’Leary with just that, taking her to Singapore in 2019 on the Erasmus exchange program. The experience let her get in touch with a different aspect of the thoroughbred industry as well, thousands of miles from home.

Broadening horizons

“It was really cool, it allowed me to see that international side of the industry that I hadn’t seen before,” O’Leary said. Around her studies, she was able to connect with and visit the stables of renowned Singapore trainer Steven Burridge. “It was my first insight into Asian racing, which was very interesting when, in 2019, Singapore was still very much still in its prime. It’s sad to see that it's no longer there.

“Any day off or free time I had, I was out in stables and just trying to see the horses. I guess it made me feel at home. It was a very different city to our country, to Ireland, so I quite enjoyed seeing the kind of horses in Singapore.”

That initial connection was thanks to Tony “Tubba” Williams, then the managing director of Goffs UK. O’Leary and Williams had become acquainted with each other on the sales circuit. When Williams heard that she would be heading overseas, he reached out and provided the link to Burridge.

“He was very kind to put me in touch with Steven Burridge,” O’Leary said. “He’s been a great advocate for the industry!”

Despite her studies, O’Leary couldn’t shake the industry bug. In the summer of the same year, she headed to Kentucky to prepare yearlings at Peter and Jenny O'Callaghan’s Woods Edge Farm.

“It's an amazing farm, so it was great to spend some time there,” O’Leary said. Her first working “international experience” was a success and she returned to Ireland with the dawning realisation that a nine to five grind wasn’t going to be for her.

Working with Joseph O'Brien

That feeling solidified with a nine month work placement as part of her degree - the corporate world was not the kind of place she wanted to work in. After graduating, O’Leary was straight back into thoroughbreds, spending a year at the stables of Joseph O’Brien. Out of the saddle and in the office, she became responsible for recording the footage and audio for owner updates.

“I absolutely loved it,” O’Leary said. “It was something I'd always been interested in, having done a few marketing modules in university and then getting to see how that gets applied.

“Communications to owners in Ireland has come on a lot, but it's nothing compared to what Australia has. Joseph (O’Brien) is probably the leader in terms of owner communication (in Ireland), so it was cool to be there at a time when (trainers) were really starting to invest heavily in their own communication.”

The opportunity to experience a different facet of the racing world was illuminating.

“I couldn’t thank them enough for every opportunity they gave me,” O’Leary said. “Joseph is amazing to work with. He’s obviously an absolute genius, and he was very good with me when I worked there.”

Aboard the Godolphin Flying Start

In 2022, after a year with O’Brien, O’Leary took a leap to immerse herself further in the industry, and joined the Godolphin Flying Start. An early highlight was getting to head back to the States, where she spent time with leading consignor Eddie Woods, famously the consignor of Eclipse Champion Big Brown (USA) and 2024 Champion 2YO Citizen Bull (USA) (Into Mischief {USA}), at his Ocala farm.

“He’s just an absolute horseman and a gentleman,” O’Leary said of Woods. “I spent a month with him and got to see how he does everything with his 2-year-olds, and that was pretty cool.”

It was a completely different world to breeze-ups at home, but there were many things that O’Leary could put in her back pocket for later.

“That’s what the Flying Start teaches you,” she said. “You learn so much along the way and get exposed to so many different things, and you can pick from every visit what you want to apply to your career in the future.”

Another completely different world was one of her last placements, when she touched down in Australia in late 2023.

“Australia stood out the most to me because I'd never been here before,” O’Leary said. “I'd worked in Ireland, in England, and I'd been in Kentucky before, whereas everything in Australia was so new. And it was better, I think, that it was that way because I became fully immersed in it.

“And it was funny, when I first came to Australia, I was like, ‘oh, it'd be cool. I'll see Australia for six months. But my heart will be back in Europe’.

“But then Annabel (Neasham) offered me the job, and I couldn't really turn it down.”

An unmissable opportunity

O’Leary had the good fortune of renowned bloodstock agent Stuart Boman - whom she worked for during her Flying Start - putting her in touch with Neasham, which ultimately led to her securing a placement with the rapidly growing team.

It came at a dynamite time for Annabel Neasham’s operation - Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) was at the height of his powers, Group 1 winner Sunshine In Paris (Invader) had remained in her hands after being sold for $3.9 million, and Neasham’s young, vibrant team was expanding interstate, tripling in starters from the 2021/22 season to 2022/23. O’Leary was able to shadow the team at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale where Neasham signed the docket, in collaboration with well respected entities such as Tony Fung Investments and Will Johnson Bloodstock (FBAA), for 20 yearlings. Among that number was recent G3 Canonbury Stakes runner-up Hillier (Zoustar).

After her placement, accepting the role as an assistant trainer was a no-brainer.

“It was a huge advantage for me to have spent six weeks within her (Neasham) organisation,” O’Leary said. “When I came back in August (2024), it was a lot easier for me to integrate back in, because I was so familiar with everything.”

The role, looking after the Warwick Farm stable, was initially shared with Aaron Lau before his departure to Snowden Racing. Sharing the position with him was an invaluable experience.

“It was huge to be able to have someone that had been in that role for a while, and (he) was able to transition me into the role,” O’Leary is thankful for Lau’s input and support in the early stages of her return to Australia.

Every week is different - most mornings, O’Leary rides work or spends time in the trainers’ tower, clocking gallops. Most afternoons, she travels to races across the state, caring for some of Sydney’s top racehorses.

Some faces from O’Brien’s stables remain familiar to this day - despite being thousands of miles from home, O’Leary once again works with former O’Brien gallopers Vega Magnifico (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and G2 Q22 winner Fawkner Park (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who are both in the care of Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald. In a way, it has all come full circle.

“I now have the joy of looking at these horses every day!,” she said.

Looking to the future

While she doesn’t yearn for home at the moment, O’Leary plans in the long run to return to Lynn Lodge Stud and join her father in preparing horses for the sales. The farm continues to turn out stock for the upper echelons of the European market - recent graduate, Eben Shaddad (USA) (Calyx {GB}), was placed at the highest level behind the indomitable City Of Troy (USA) (Justify {USA}) last year.

Gallery: Megan O'Leary at her first Goffs Dubai breeze-up sale, handling horses for the family’s Lynn Lodge Stud with her father, images courtesy of Goffs

“I took this job with the view of how I can apply it all to breeze-ups and potentially even training a few in Ireland,” O’Leary said. “I definitely love that side of working with young horses and with the babies, and breeze-ups have always been the side (of the industry) that I think I've loved the most.”

For now, she is taking it all in, and is thankful for her position in the Neasham and Archibald team.

“Annabel and Rob are amazing people to work for,” she said. “I couldn't really be more grateful to them for the opportunities they’ve given me.”