Cork jockey Dane O'Neill bows out after 32 years at the top
Jockey Dane O'Neill has announced his retirement having failed to recover sufficiently from injuries suffered in a fall at Wolverhampton in July. Picture: Tim Goode/PA Wire.
DANE O'Neill, who was brought up in Monkstown in Cork, has announced his retirement after 32 years in the saddle.
The popular 48-year-old jockey broke seven ribs and the T6 vertebra in a horrific fall on Eagle Eyed Tom last July at Wolverhampton.
O'Neill had been retained by Shadwell as second jockey to Jim Crowley. He rode his first winner on Port Sunlight in an apprentices' handicap at Sandown Park in 1993. His breakthrough moment came with his first Group winner Lots Of Magic in the 1999 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot.
O'Neill was born in Dublin on August 1, 1975, but raised on Leeside where he attended Monkstown National School. He went on to Rochestown for secondary level and his father kept a few point-to-point horses which sparked that initial connection with riding.
Like many aspiring young jockeys, O'Neill cut his teeth in the world of pony racing. He rode 24 winners in that sphere and was also an accomplished show jumper.
In a twist of fate, it was Cully who provided Wayne Lordan with his first-ever winner at Killarney in 1995 aboard Ethbaat. Lordan, like O’Neill, suffered a serious injury after a fall with fractures to his legs and elbow in the Irish Derby last July. He was riding San Antonio who suffered a fatal injury during the Classic at the Curragh.
Dane took the decision to move to England at the age of seventeen where he linked up with Richard Hannon Senior. Hannon had a strong Cork connection having provided John and Jim Horgan with two 2,000 Guineas winners: Don’t Forget Me (1987) and Tirol (1990), they also won the Irish equivalent.
I'm old enough to distinctly remember Dane’s very first winner Port Sunlight in the last race at Sandown Park in July 1993. There was a tip surfacing all over Cork that day for Richard Hannon’s charge.
Dane was patience-personified, making steady headway hard on the bridle. Much to the delight of legions of Cork punters that day, he cruised to the front a furlong out and won easily by two lengths, landing a gamble backed into 3/1 favouritism. It was a particularly bad result for Betting Offices on Leeside.
He only rode seven winners in his first three seasons. Undaunted he persevered and won the apprentice jockeys’ title with 67 wins in 1996.
His tenure with Richard Hannon proved to be fruitful, winning several major sprint races on Bold Edge, including the Cork and Orrery Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Diadem Stakes in 1999. His first Group One victory was aboard Bold Edge in the Prix Maurice de Gheest in August 2000 at Deauville.
Dane's marquee year in the saddle was 2003 when he partnered 110 winners. The highlight, Airwave’s Group 2 Temple Stakes win for Henry Candy. He also landed the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot on Macadamia for Newmarket trainer James Fanshawe. He secured a whopping £1.3 million in prize money that year.
That partnership helped him secure the biggest prize of his career at Royal Ascot in the inaugural Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in 2015 on Muhaarar.
O'Neill confirmed his retirement on medical grounds, having effectively sustained a career-ending injury at Wolverhampton last summer. His final Group One success appropriately in the Shadwell colours in last year's Al Quoz Sprint on Danyah on Dubai World Cup night.
The Monkstown pilot at his strongest as Danyah asserted close home to prevail by a head. Dane O'Neill's final win came on Craven for Richard Fahey last July in the Toons Furnishers Handicap at Leicester under a typically astute drive.
Dane walks away with 1,889 career victories in Britain.
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