The day was always going to come sometime. As sure as the passage of time. It will still take a fair bit of getting used to. In the overall scheme of things, while to many it might be a sporting triviality, it might be also be seen as an occurrence to pull on the heart strings of at least one generation of Irish horse racing nuts like the occupant of this seat.
The end of an era for sure. The event in question being the sudden but immediate decision by the great Derek O’Connor calling time on his extraordinarily successful career in the saddle.
Sentiment regarding JT McNamara and Nina Carberry (Walsh, MEP) aside, it is my genuine belief that Derek O’Connor will in the fullness of time be rightly recognised as the finest amateur exponent of the sport we all love there has been in generations.
When circumstances firstly took JT from racing and then from this world long, long before his time and Nina, Katie (Walsh/O’Sullivan) and Jamie Codd also went in different ways, it meant that, in terms of profile, the entire amateur fiefdom was his own to put his stamp on.
And, clichéd though it undoubtedly is, the great Galway man did indeed appear to better with age. For so long, like JT and Nina before him, the highlight reel of Derek O’Connor’s career revolved around JP and Noreen McManus and their family.
With a career winners total concluding at well into four figures it might be hard or in fact folly to even try to nominate singular highlights, but needs must. At my own expense it will be admitted that I am not sure whether the wonderful SpotThedifference was still on the go when Derek set out on what was to be a truly remarkable journey.
But, if ultimately pressed to pluck one memory from the vault, it would have to be winning the Irish Gold Cup for Joseph O’Brien with Edwulf. Because he certainly made the horse the best he could be and better than the horse probably actually was in reality.
As was also always the case with Nina in bumpers – or Paddy Mullins now – whenever there was a race for amateur riders, the go-to tactic from a punting perspective was always “What’s Derek riding”?
That wasn’t just for punters either though, if you were a trainer or an owner with horse to run in a Conditional Jockeys/Amateur Riders race, bullet point number one had always to be has JP anything entered in it?
Now, the following might seem a bit odd given the jockey’s age, but, the prospect of him retiring never even cropped up on the radar here. Until, that is, what we now know was the final couple of weeks of his career when it was noted a horse he was riding in a bumper was also trained by the great man himself as well.
Actually, that in itself wasn’t a guarantee that he was going to hang up the saddle. After all, Declan Queally is still doing a bit of both. Of course, there’s another angle to this story, it’s now fairly clear that Mark Walsh and Simon Torrens have the dividing of the jockey duties for the proprietor of the green and gold hooped silks and white cap.
As for who will take the amateur riders role, my guess is that it will probably lie between John Gleeson or Harry Swan. For whoever it turns out to be, while there’s no denying the attractiveness of the role, they are two enormous boots to try and fill.