Grandest of obstacles put firmly into perspective

PROFILE: PADDY FLOOD: BRIAN O'CONNORmeets a man who is no stranger to beating the odds and who is relishing his first appearance in the Aintree Grand National

THE WORLD'S most famous horse race might take over 10 minutes but Paddy Flood suspects he won't have to wait that long to find out if he has a chance of becoming just the fourth jockey to complete the Irish-English Grand National double in the same year.

"I'll know my fate early. Baily Breeze knows more about racing than I do. Some days he runs his heart out, other days he minds himself," chuckles Flood, who enjoyed the biggest success of his career just 12 days ago when Hear The Echo won at Fairyhouse.

"But if everything clicks he actually has the ability to come up that straight in front. Only he will decide what he does."

If Baily Breeze decides he's on a "go day" a monstrously-priced National double might be on the cards. Hear The Echo was 33 to 1; Baily Breeze has been double those odds in ante-post betting.

But beating the odds is something his jockey is acquainted with. In fact considering the odds Flood, at just 21 years of age, has already beaten, you might, in his shoes, fancy yourself against any price a bookie might throw around.

It is two years since the Kildareborn-and-bred jockey found himself staring further into himself than most of us ever have to and acknowledged some realities. As views go for a 19-year-old it made today's four and a half miles and 30 fearsome fences seem a walk in the park.

Flood is an alcoholic - "a recovering alcoholic, never recovered" - who hasn't had a drink in two years. He speaks about it with the straightforward candour of those who've visited depths of despair through drink and then dragged themselves back. There isn't a hint of self-pity and no blaming anyone but himself. He's even managed to hold on to a sense of humour.

When Hear The Echo galloped past the post, Flood was giggling with incredulity. The pictures in the papers the following day caught him at it. There have been other pictures of him going past the post in front, too, but with no smile on his face.

Flood especially remembers a pre-Christmas meeting at Thurles, the day after a hectic Christmas party, and drinking half a dozen cans of Bulmers on the way to the races. He was wasted, and he won.

"That was the worst thing that could have happened. I'd won the race; what was the problem? I couldn't understand I'd been a danger to everyone else as well as myself. I can laugh about it now but I was out of it plenty of times like that," he recalls.

"I had to realise that I wasn't behaving normally but I couldn't.

"The last year was the worst. I was wild, doing stupid things, and I couldn't look outside the box at all. It's a lonely place to be.

"I couldn't hold a conversation with anyone, couldn't look people in the eye. I couldn't even leave the house sometimes. I hated myself, so I hated everyone else.

"Looking back I was only a boy in a man's world. I was making a few quid from riding winners but my brain hadn't matured at all. I didn't care about horses, I didn't care about myself, I didn't care about life," Flood adds.

Behind it all he knew he was in trouble. Not caring about the horses was enough to make him realise that. Riding was always what he'd been good at. His dad invested in a pony when he was kid and they travelled a lot of the country, relishing the wildness of those "flapper" races. Next to them, school hadn't a chance.

When he started riding for Dessie Hughes on the Curragh, all that dash and courage made him a natural. At 17 he was riding winners and knew for sure he had found what he was born to do.

And then it all started to slide away from him. "Don't get me wrong - there were some great times when I was drinking, and I met some great people. But I ended up in a very bad place. I was badly beaten up by drink," he says.

Despite everything, Flood's raw talent was enough to secure him a coveted job as Edward O'Grady's first jockey. It started well enough but O'Grady is something of a perfectionist whose standards are high. A work session involving three Grade One-winning horses Back In Front, Pizarro and Ned Kelly was the tipping point.

"I went on a piss-up the night before. I did get up but I simply didn't go down to Tipperary to ride out," he says. "Edward was trying to get in touch with me and eventually I answered the phone, expecting a screaming match. But he was very calm. We met up and he suggested it might be a good idea if I went to see someone."

Through Dr Seán McCarthy in Cashel, Flood was booked into the Aislinn treatment centre in Co Kilkenny. Six weeks of intense work opened the young jockey's eyes.

"I went in thinking 'I'll keep my head down, do nothing stupid, come out, and keep on drinking on the quiet'. But there are some wonderful people there," he says.

"I thought I was harming no one but myself but it's like throwing a stone into water. There is a ripple effect. Those rings go out and affect everyone close to you. I was too immature to realise that."

Flood still goes to meetings and still presumes nothing. He's in a good place now, though, and insists that while it is a constant struggle, it isn't a tooth-and-nail battle anymore. His conclusion is it all happened for a reason, maybe to help him grow up. The result is a young man in a hurry who can now sometimes stop and relish what he has.

"I'm not a patient person, never have been, but when I do relax, it seems to me being out on a racecourse or riding out in the morning can be the most beautiful place to be," he concludes.

"I appreciate it all so much more. On the big day Mouse's horses come alive. We saw that at Fairyhouse. What was brilliant about that was how unexpected it was. Mouse thought he had an each-way chance but I wasn't hopeful at all. Then the horse caught hold of the bit at the second fence and we took off," says Flood, who will be riding the Aintree National for the first time. "I can't wait for the whole buzz of it. Everything will happen so quick and you never know what's going to happen next. Baily Breeze could actually end up winning it."

Such a balanced attitude has been hard-earned by Flood, and not many are entitled to it more.