Al Pacino's Inch By Inch speech in the film Any Given Sunday resonates strongly with jockey Killian Leonard, who has been making waves on the breeze-up circuit in recent years. With the Miami Sharks down and appearing almost certainly out in the Super Bowl final, Al Pacino, who plays coach Tony D'Amato, tells his team that they can claw themselves back into the game, 'inch by inch, play by play'. He goes on, “The margin for error is so small. I mean, one half step too late or too early, you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second.”A second is an awful long time at the breeze-ups. A fraction of the second has the potential to be the difference of hundreds of thousands to vendors. Nobody is more aware of this than Leonard, the former crack apprentice jockey who has become the go-to breeze-up rider for many consignors in recent years. The County Cork native burst onto the scene in Ireland back in 2015 and 2016 where he rode 29 winners and amassed over €500,000 in prize-money. Leonard quickly established himself as one of the most assured young jockeys on the Irish racing circuit and produced impressive tallies in each of the following three campaigns after that breakout season. However, like many young jockeys, the rides dried up when Leonard lost his claim. And, after firing home just two winners in 2023, he returned to the breeze-up circuit and he hasn't ever looked back. The 32-year-old speaks openly and honestly about reinventing himself as a breeze-up jockey, the art to his craft, getting his riding career back on track, his views on the first-season sires and much more in the latest breeze-up focused Q&A.Would you say you have reinvented yourself as a breeze-up jockey a little in recent years?I have reinvented myself as a breeze-up jockey because I had no other choice. The rides were drying up on the track and, in order to make a few quid and get going again, I had to do something. It was the only real opportunity I had at the time and, when I was successful at it, a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon and it snowballed from there. When did you return to riding at the breeze-ups? Was there a catalyst?It was in 2024. I had done it when I was younger – probably 10 years previously – but, as I said, the rides had started to dry up a little. Eoin McDonagh [Shanaville Stables] had been onto me a few times asking if I would ride his breezers for him. I was riding a bit of work for Eoin and I always said I would but never actually did it. It was only in 2024 when I decided I'd give it a go again. Danny O'Donovan got wind that I was going to breeze a few for Eoin that year and he asked me if I'd help him out as well. So it was Eoin and Danny who were responsible for getting me back into breezing. For three or four seasons, you were one of the most in-demand apprentices on the scene in Ireland. A difficult question to answer, but it must have been very hard to go from that, to essentially driving the length and breadth of the country for only one or two rides. When you're going well, you think it will all last forever. You've a bit of youth and naivety on your side and, when you're on a roll, you can't see it ending. I suppose the biggest area where I went wrong was that I wasn't based with one trainer. I was essentially a freelance jockey and, when the claim went, I had no one trainer that supported me. That was as much my fault as anyone else. The way the game has gone, especially in Ireland, the bigger stables have gotten bigger and there aren't many spares knocking around. It can be a hard pill to swallow, though. For that initial two years after I lost my claim, I did a stint in England and Qatar. I didn't know where I wanted to settle and I was trying to make things happen rather than just letting them happen. I just became a journeyman jockey who rode lightweights and fell in for a spare every now and again. If I had my time over again, I definitely would have based myself in a trainer's yard full-time. Without a trainer, you're at nothing.You were making big money as a jockey at a young age. Had you got anyone in your corner to keep you on the straight and narrow?I suppose I felt a bit like a superstar as a teenager! Luckily, I never went off the rails or anything like that and always saved my money. I was always looking at buying property and things like that. I never blew my money on stupid things or did anything mad, thank God. My father was a businessman so I suppose the apple didn't fall far from the tree. The only big-money purchase I have ever made is in front of me. I am getting married to my partner Avril in August.When you go back breezing horses, I can only imagine it's very different to race-riding? Did you need to make much of an adjustment?It's a bit of a skill. It is the complete opposite to race-riding as you need to be sharper. My style of riding seems to suit the breeze-ups. I like to get in behind a horse and I like to encourage them forward. There's no coincidence that I have won plenty of races from the front, although I wouldn't like people to think I am one-dimensional either. But split seconds make a world of difference in a breeze. You need to be on it and get your fractions one hundred per cent right. I have always loved working with baby two-year-olds so it did seem a natural fit for me,It's fair to say that the breeze-up business can also be quite lucrative for a rider, can't it?It has definitely plugged the gap that was left over from the rides drying up on the track for me. To make a decent living as a jockey, you need at least 200 rides. That's an absolute minimum. So the breeze-ups have definitely become an important part of my year, in terms of finances. I work hard, though. I start out in the mornings at 6am with Paddy Vaughan, then I could go to Thomond O'Mara at 9.30am before trotting down to Willie Browne's to meet Eoin, Danny or even Mick Fitzpatrick. There are days in the spring where I could ride 25 to 30 horses every day. So they are long days and you need to work Sundays as well because you need to spread yourself around so many horses. But I enjoy it. I find it easy to please everyone when they all play ball. Does it ever play on your mind what's at stake when riding in the breeze because, as you said yourself, a split second can make a world of difference and many people's year and livelihoods are on the line?There's never any pressure. I don't over-complicate things and I know the horses that I am riding inside-out. The lads I am riding for, they never tie me down to anything and all they ever say to me is, 'do you best.' There is never a word if it happens to go wrong. They have their trust in me and I have my trust in them and it works well. It's high stakes at times but it wouldn't do anyone any good if you were thinking or worrying about it because this is the horseracing industry at the end of the day and things can go wrong on a daily basis. I've seen you in action on breeze day and the fitness levels required to get through the day, especially when you are an in-demand jockey like yourself, must be insane. How do you maintain your level?Nutrition would be the main thing. Any athlete, no matter the sport, nutrition and hydration is everything. Avril is a personal trainer and we could run 50 kilometers every week together. That's a benefit and we enjoy training together. I lift a lot of weights in the gym as well and I'm just naturally interested in fitness and exercise. Like, I rode 27 horses at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale last year. Now, I was tired after it, but I wasn't panned out on my back or anything. I know it is a big demand on the body on breeze day but I actually enjoy it.And have you noticed a rise in the quality of the horses you have been riding even in the past few years?Absolutely. The standard has risen and, flicking through the catalogues for Donny, the Craven and even Fairyhouse, the median prices of yearlings appears to be on the rise. I think the breeze-ups are on an upward trajectory and I notice myself riding a much higher standard of horse on the whole every year. It's getting more and more competitive. Have you sat on many two-year-olds by first-season sires? Any standouts?It's very hard to call at this stage of the season but I am mad about the Minzaals. Mehmas is just a phenomenal stallion and, between Minzaal, Persian Force and Caturra, it will be interesting to see if one of those can put their hand up. Now, I have ridden a few of the Persian Forces and I like them. I've also sat on a couple of Caturras that I like as well. I'm going to blow my own trumpet and say I called Starman at this stage last year and I'm going to say Minzaal will come up trumps this year. I have ridden a few that are not only sharp and forward, but they feel like they have a lot of quality as well. I think it is easy to like them. It has been easy to like the Persian Forces as well. I just find the Minzaals very professional and speedy and, the ones I have ridden, they have a brilliant attitude. That counts for a lot.It seems as though you really enjoy what you do. Okay, you said you had to reinvent yourself as a jockey, but you clearly enjoy the whole sales scene. I really do love it. We make a family holiday out of the breeze-up sale at Arqana and I even head back there for the July Sale as well. It's a brilliant scene to be a part of and I really enjoy it. The post Killian Leonard Q&A: ‘I’ve Reinvented Myself As A Breeze-Up Jockey – It’s A Big Part Of My Year Now’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.