Meet the 39-year-old former labourer gunning for Grade 1 glory at Leopardstown

A good horse can pop its head over any stable door, but there would have been big prices bandied about on trainer Paddy Corkery and jockey Ian Power featuring in a Grade 1 race this season.

However, the unlikely duo will be heading to the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown on Sunday with a realistic chance of victory in the Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle with Master McShee.

This horse means a lot to Power. For all that the rider has been blessed with undeniable talent, he has had his share of issues off the track and is not long back from his latest sabbatical, which this time lasted seven years.

Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle card

Power explained: "You never know where a good horse will come from. That's the beauty of life, you never know what is around the corner.

"I had a lot of problems with my weight and had a lot of problems with myself and understanding who I was. A lot of that came down to immaturity and I just needed to grow up."

Master McShee: has provided Ian Power and Paddy Corkery (right) with reason to dreamCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He added: "When I finished riding, I was always still around horses and helping a lot of local people with horses. There was a stage when I was working full-time as a labourer, but I have more or less kept around horses all along. If I had come back sooner, I wouldn't have appreciated it like I do now.

"I'm in a much happier place, much more comfortable with myself. Everyone has a different story, I suppose."

It is somewhat ironic that a lightbulb moment at the 2019 Leopardstown Christmas festival led to Power reapplying and being granted his riding licence, as he enjoyed his finest hour for some time in the saddle aboard Master McShee at that meeting in December.

The 39-year-old said: "I was in the restaurant at Leopardstown and I just said there and then I was going to come back. It wasn't until I got my licence back and I started race-riding again that I realised how much I loved it.

"I'd have been happy if I got two rides a month when I came back but, fair play to a lot of people around Dungarvan, they were all behind me.

"It has taken off and I didn't expect it to go this well at all. Even when I was riding in Noel Meade's, I was riding a lot of winners and, as great as it was and how good Noel Meade was to me, I can honestly say that I didn't appreciate it anywhere near as much as I appreciate it now."

'If it's meant to be, we might give him a race of it'

Power, who rode Graded winners for Meade and Paul Nolan in the early noughties, could enjoy his best moment in racing on Sunday if Master McShee is able to lower the colours of short-priced favourite Appreciate It. The pair have history as Appreciate It delivered on odds of 1-12 to beat 50-1 chance Master McShee at Cork in November.

Power added: "He [Master McShee] was second to Appreciate It at Cork but Appreciate It had won his bumpers, is trained by Willie Mullins, had been to Cheltenham and he was a short-priced favourite. But it was effectively our fella's first run. If it's meant to be, we might give him a race of it on Sunday. If it's not, fine."

Power paid tribute to Corkery, whose Master McShee is the sole horse in his care, and one he has repeatedly turned down big-money offers for.

He said: "You have to hand it to Paddy Corkery, he has just the one horse he's tipping away with and he has done a fantastic job with him.

"When I rode the horse at Cork, he came into the weighing room after the race and thanked me for not hitting the horse in the finish – the horse didn't need a harder race than he got and he improved from it.

"For Paddy to have one good horse like Master McShee and to give me the ride in the first place and then to leave me on him, it's just fantastic. I couldn't thank him enough."

Victory on Sunday would be one hell of a way of saying thanks.

Read more on the Dublin Racing Festival:

Confirmed runners and riders for the Irish Champion Hurdle on Saturday

Five horses who could be slashed for Cheltenham at the Dublin Racing Festival

Champion Hurdle bid pending for Honeysuckle if star retains Dublin crown (Members' Club)

Kennedy hoping for magic Dublin Racing Festival with Abacadabras and Delta Work (Members' Club)

Dublin Racing Festival 2021: essential information for the races at Leopardstown

Al Boum Photo set for 'major work' this week as Gold Cup preparation intensifies

Willie Mullins hails exceptional novice chase team as strongest he's ever had

Get clued up with the latest Cheltenham Festival tips and odds with our free microsite. The best Cheltenham betting advice and exclusive free betting offers all in one place.