HRI Awards 2024

There were 44 nominations for the Horse Racing Ireland Awards 2024, which took place in  Dublin on December 2. 

Just two years on from winning the champion apprentice title for the second time, Dylan Browne McMonagle has certainly cemented his position as one of the top jockeys in the country. His tally of winners has grown every season and his total of 82 saw him take third place behind Colin Keane and Billy Lee in the jockeys’ championship. He was a Group 1 winner in Germany with Al Riffa, in Ireland with Scorthy Champ and in France with Tennessee Stud. He won two Group 2 races during the year, five Group 3 races and hit the jackpot when winning the Goffs Million on Apples And Bananas at the Curragh in September. 

Colin Keane reached the 100-winner mark in an Irish season as he was crowned champion jockey for the fifth time in a row and the sixth time in all in early November. His season was highlighted by his Group 1 victories on White Birch and Babouche, a break-through Group 1 success in Britain on Tamfana and his win on the Ger Lyons-trained Magnum Force in the Juvenile Turf Sprint to give him his second Breeders’ Cup success. Perhaps a win that will mean just as much to him was that of Crystal Black, trained for the Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate by his dad Gerry, in the Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. 

Ryan Moore once again enjoyed a most remarkable strike-rate as he rode 64 winners from just 166 rides in Ireland during the 2024 Flat season. It was his best-ever tally and more than enough to see him home in fifth place in the jockeys’ championship, his highest finish to date. He was a Classic winner in Ireland on Los Angeles in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and on the world champion stayer Kyprios in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger, he rode City Of Troy to win the Epsom Derby, the Coral-Eclipse and the Juddmonte International, he won six races at Royal Ascot and two at the Breeders’ Cup and certainly showed his worth in valuable handicaps with contrasting wins on Wigmore Street in the Irish Cambridgeshire and on The Euphrates in the Irish Cesarewitch. 

Aidan O'Brien enjoyed another fine year, winning 22 Group or Grade 1 races with City Of Troy and Kyprios among his star performers. He was crowned champion trainer in Ireland for the 27th time and celebrated as the champion trainer in Britain for the seventh time in his most remarkable career. City Of Troy gave him a record extending tenth success in the Epsom Derby and Auguste Rodin became his 400th Group 1 or Grade 1 winner with his victory at Royal Ascot. A juvenile double saw Aidan emerge as the joint-winning most trainer at the Breeders’ Cup with 20 winners. 

Gavin Cromwell achieved career best tallies in the 2023/2024 National Hunt season as he well and truly confirmed himself as one of the leading trainers in the country. He sent out 72 winners during the season in Ireland and amassed well in excess of €1.3m in prize money. Wins with Inothewayurthinkin and Limerick Lace brought his Cheltenham Festival total to six winners and Gavin also featured among the big winners at the Aintree Festival where Inothewayurthinkin followed up at Grade 1 level. He rounded off the season with four winners at the Punchestown Festival and more recently his Flooring Porter was a spectacular winner of the Guinness Kerry National. 

In a thrilling finale to the 2023/2024 National Hunt season in early May, Jack Kennedy pipped Paul Townend to claim his first champion jockey title. He registered a three-figure tally for the first time and ended the term with 123 winners which included Grade 1 victories on the likes of Found A Fifty, Caldwell Potter, Irish Point and Teahupoo. The latter was also a big winner for the Kerryman at the Cheltenham Festival while he also bagged a trio of Grade 1 wins at Aintree where he was on the mark with Gerri Colombe, Brighterdaysahead and Found A Fifty. 

Champion trainer at home for the 18th time, Willie Mullins became the first Irish-based trainer to win the British National Hunt title in 70 years at the conclusion of the 2023/2024 season. He broke through the 100-winner mark at the Cheltenham Festival when saddling nine winners, including Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs and Champion Hurdle winner State Man and ended the British season on a real high with success for I Am Maximus in the Aintree Grand National, Macdermott in the Scottish Grand National and Minella Cocooner in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown. Willie sent out 25 Grade 1 winners in Ireland during the season, winning eight such races at both the Dublin Racing Festival and the Punchestown Festival. 

JJ Slevin enjoyed an incredible end to the 2024/2025 season when adding to his Cheltenham Festival success on Lark In The Mornin’ with a most memorable win on the Tom Gibney-trained Intense Raffles in the Boylesports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday. JJ was also a Grade 1 winner at the Punchestown Festival where Fastorslow once again lowered the colours of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs to take the Punchestown Gold Cup while Banbridge had earlier won the week’s Champion Chase. 

Although coming up just short in his bid to retain his champion jockey title, Paul Townend enjoyed a most memorable season which was highlighted by a fine Cheltenham Festival, winning the Gold Cup on Galopin Des Champs and the Champion Hurdle on State Man. His tally of 34 winners makes him the most successful of the current jockeys and the third winning-most jockey in the meeting’s history. Paul won the Aintree Grand National for the first time on I Am Maximus in April to cap a successful season that also saw him ride 14 Grade 1 winners in Ireland. 

Chris Hayes hasn’t been far from the top of the tree throughout his career but he reached a new high this year when winning the Epsom Oaks on the Dermot Weld-trained Ezeliya. While no stranger to Classic and Group 1 success on home soil, it was a first English Classic win for Chris on only his second ride in the race. He had previously finished runner-up in the 2019 Derby at Epsom on Madhmoon for Kevin Prendergast. 

Gerry Keane has certainly found his horse of a lifetime in the shape of the ever-improving Crystal Black. Unbeaten in his last five starts, the Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate-owned six-year-old surely gave the Trim trainer his best day in racing when winning the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot in June with his son Colin in the saddle. Subsequently, Group 3 success came his way in the Xin Gin Ballyroan Stakes at Leopardstown in August, a win that saw Crystal Black emerge as a leading contender for the Melbourne Cup, only for injury to rule out a trip Down Under.  

Wayne Lordan bounced back from significant injury in July 2023 to record his highest tally in over a decade in the 2024 Flat season. His haul of 56 winners saw him finish in sixth place in the jockeys’ championship and included Group 1 success on the Aidan O'Brien-trained Lake Victoria in the Moyglare Stud Stakes. Wayne also won the Group 2 Gain Railway Stakes on Henri Matisse along with four Group 3 races and a fine season also featured three wins at Listed level. 

White Birch became a five-time winner for trainer John Murphy when reeling off a hat-trick of wins at the Curragh at the beginning of the 2024 season. He made a winning reappearance in the Group 3 Tote.ie Alleged Stakes, he followed up in the Group 2 Coolmore Irish EBF Mooresbridge Stakes and gave Murphy his first Group 1 success when readily getting the better of Auguste Rodin to win the Tattersalls Gold Cup in May. Sadly, injury ruled the four-year-old out for the remainder of the season. 

Donnacha O'Brien’s handling of the star three-year-old filly Porta Fortuna was one of the highlights of the summer months. Classic success just eluded her at Newmarket in May but she bounced back to win the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, followed up in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket in July and completed a brilliant hat-trick of top-level wins in the Coolmore America "Justify" Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in September on the opening day of Irish Champions Festival. 

Already a Cheltenham Festival winner, Pat O'Donnell enjoyed the biggest Flat victory of his 35-year training career when his current stable star Extensio raced to a most comfortable success in the Stayers Heritage Handicap at the York’s Ebor Festival in August. It was a fifth career success on the Flat for the O’Donnell-family owned seven-year-old, also the winner of two races over hurdles, and his 2025 campaign will revolve around a tilt at Royal Ascot. 

It was a case of déjà vu all over again as Martin Brassil lowered the colours of the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup hero in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup at the Punchestown Festival in May. Fastorslow was a relatively unconsidered 20/1 chance when he won the race at the main expense of Galopin Des Champs in 2023 but he showed that was far from a fluke when he triumphed again, at odds of 7/2, in this year’s renewal, again beating Galopin Des Champs in convincing fashion.

Sam Ewing’s progression in the jockeys’ ranks hardly comes as a surprise and his career continues to go from strength to strength. It reached new heights at the Cheltenham Festival in March when he registered his first winner at the meeting with a thrilling last-gasp success on the Gordon Elliott-trained Stellar Story in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. Not many get to ride their first winner at the Festival in a Grade 1 race. 

Tom Gibney was back in the big time when winning the BoyleSports Irish Grand National with Intense Raffles at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday. It was the trainer’s second success in the race after Lion Na Bearnai’s win in 2012. Intense Raffles remained unbeaten in three starts for Gibney last season and remarkably each of the wins came at the County Meath venue. 

Hewick has certainly been a flag-bearer for John “Shark” Hanlon over the past few years and the diminutive chaser landed a huge success for a “small trainer” in one of the biggest races of the year when winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day. It was a 10th and by far a most significant career win for a horse that came up through the ranks winning the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown, the Tote Galway Plate, the American Grand National and the Grade 2 Oaksey Chase, another notable win at Sandown. 

Jimmy Mangan rolled back the years as he enjoyed two Grade 1 victories with Spillane's Tower in the final months of the 2023/2024 season. The six-year-old gave the Conna trainer his first top-flight success since 2008 when winning the Grade 1 WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday and he then followed up in the Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival. 

Although no stranger to success throughout his career, Eric McNamara achieved quite the feat when saddling five winners at the Listowel Festival. Listowel has been a happy hunting ground for Eric over the years and his success at the meeting in September saw him end the week as the joint-top trainer in terms of the number of winners. The Rathkeale trainer brought his fine form to Limerick the following month where he his veteran Real Steel won the BoyleSports JT McNamara Munster National Handicap Chase.  

The ever-reliable Danny Mullins enjoyed a great season which included several highlights. He reeled off the quickest of Grade 1 hat-tricks when winning the first three races at the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in February and was a winner at the top-level again at the Punchestown Festival as the season ended. Danny notched up two high-profile wins just a week apart in April when successful on Macdermott in the Scottish Grand National and on Minella Cocooner in the bet365 Gold Cup and more recently he was a big winner again on the Eric McNamara-trained Real Steel in the BoyleSports JT McNamara Munster National.  

Alex Harvey rode a winner on his first day with a professional licence at the beginning of the 2024/2025 season and he hasn’t looked back. He rode 15 winners in the amateur ranks and has already surpassed that total as he sets the early pace in the conditional jockeys’ championship. Alex has already ridden three doubles as a rookie professional and he added to his tally in Britain when riding a winner at Cheltenham in late October as he continues to climb the ladder. 

Wayne Hassett counted three major handicap victories among his haul of 31 winners during the 2024 Flat season. His success at Leopardstown on Fighter in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Petingo Handicap at Irish Champions Festival was his biggest win. Wayne also enjoyed feature race success on Mexicali Rose in the Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap at the Galway Festival and when partnering George Scott’s English raider Prydwen to win the Kellihers Toyota Kingdom Gold Cup at Killarney.

Keithen Kennedy only rode his first winner 13 months ago and 2024 has certainly seen him build on the promise he showed in the very early part of his early (delete) career. He rounded off his first full season with 19 winners to take sixth place in the apprentice championship, riding winners for eight different trainers at 13 racecourses. All but two of Keithen’s winners during the season came in handicap races. 

Carl Millar certainly made the most of the opportunities afforded to him during the year and he celebrated notable success at a number of high-profile meetings. He registered handicap hurdle success on Maxxum at both the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in February and at the Punchestown Festival in early May with the seven-year-old defying big weights on each occasion. Effernock Fizz was another headline-making winner for the Blanchardstown conditional at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and Carl also took the Ulster National Handicap Chase on Jumping Jet. 

The newly crowned champion apprentice, James Ryan enjoyed a fine season and his tally of 33 winners included a first Group race success which came on the Danny Murphy-trained Ostraka at Dundalk in late October. James scored notable wins elsewhere as he landed the Apprentice Derby at the Curragh on Irish Derby Weekend and figured among the winners at the Galway Festival. The progressive Keke was another useful sprinter that James was associated during the year. 

David Christie once again proved why he is a master at campaigning horses within the open division, as he won no fewer than 19 races in the category throughout the 2023/24 season. Stable star Winged Leader supplied nine of those victories, which were all recorded in a winning run that stretched from Farmacaffley in February to Taylorstown in May. Not only did that winning run secure Winged Leader the champion point-to-point horse crown, but he also became the third different horse that his Fermanagh-based handler has secured that title with in the past five seasons, as Winged Leader’s prolific 2024 year now leaves him in sixth position on the all-time winners list in point-to-pointing.

Shane Cotter achieved something quite remarkable as he secured the Under-21 title, a prize that has previously been won by the likes of John Thomas McNamara, Davy Russell and Derek O’Connor, in his very first season as a jockey. Making his debut at Tinahely in October, the Conna native did not have to wait long to gain his first winner. That came aboard Special Prep at Lingstown in December, from where he soon made an immediate impression having captured the attentions of both Denis Murphy and David Christie, twice riding the champion pointer Winged Leader to success for the latter. By the season’s end, he had ridden 15 winners, ending his debut season in the top 10 on the overall leaderboard.

Rob James became just the fourth jockey in the last 30 years to be crowned champion rider, after he shared the 2023/24 championship with his great friend and rival Barry O’Neill. It had been a slow start to the season for the Wexford native, as he ended the autumn campaign have ridden four winners to O’Neill’s 19. However, he more than made up for that in the spring, outscoring O’Neill 35-20, before the pair elected to sit out the final weekend and share the title.  The 2024 season also brought him a first regional title in the eastern region, as he successfully combined race-riding and training, saddling five winners in the ultra-competitive four-year-old maiden division, including with the subsequent Goffs Aintree Sale top-lot He Can’t Dance.

Emmet Mullins came close to enjoying a near perfect season with It’s On The Line, as the seven-year-old ran six times last season, winning five of them, with his only defeat coming at the Cheltenham Festival Hunter Chase when finishing a very creditable second in the blue-ribbon race in the division for the second year in a row. The Presenting gelding quickly regained the winning thread at two of the other big spring festivals at both Aintree and Punchestown, with his victory over the national fences seeing him become the youngest horse to win the Aintree Foxhunters since Spartan Missile all the way back in 1979.

Barry O’Neill became just the third rider to pass through the 800-winner mark in the point-to-point sphere at Necarne in May, en route to again successfully defending his champion rider’s crown, a title that he shared this year with Rob James. His season took in 39 winners, despite having to sit out two weekends at the peak of the season due to injury, whilst also having a frustrating 49 second-place finishes, 16 more than any other rider. Crucially, this latest title has seen him move ahead of Enda Bolger with an eighth successive championship, as now only Derek O’Connor has won more titles than him.

City Of Troy quickly put his below par effort in the Newmarket 2,000 Guineas behind him with a devastating display to win the Epsom Derby. He backed that up with success in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse and gained a third straight top-level victory in the Juddmonte International at York in August to confirm himself as the top three-year-old middle-distance colt in Europe. 

Galopin Des Champs went into the record books as he landed a back-to-back success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup for owner Audrey Turley, Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, becoming only the ninth horse to do so. As a precursor to his Cheltenham Festival win, Galopin Des Champs had taken the Grade 1 Savills Chase at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival before winning the Grade 1 Paddy Power Gold Cup for a second time at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. 

Kyprios confirmed himself as the outstanding stayer in the world with a magnificent unbeaten season that saw him win seven races. It was his second time to enjoy an “invincible” year and six of his wins mirrored his performances from 2022. A repeat win in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot was the highlight, along with success in the Goodwood Cup, the Comer Group International Irish St Leger and the Prix du Cadran. For good measure, he added the Group 2 British Champions Long Distance Cup to his tally for the first time this year. 

Porta Fortuna emerged as the star three-year-old filly this season and her hat-trick of Group 1 wins was one of the highlights of the summer months. Classic success just eluded her at Newmarket in May but she bounced back to win the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, followed up in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket in July and completed a brilliant run of top-level wins in the Coolmore America "Justify" Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in September on the opening day of Irish Champions Festival.

Beginning and ending at Punchestown, State Man enjoyed an unbeaten season that stretched to five Grade 1 wins. He landed second consecutive successes in the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle, the Matheson Hurdle, the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle and the Boodles Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival. But his season’s highlight was certainly his win in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival making him the top-rated hurdler in Ireland or Britain and the winner of 12 of his last 13 starts.

Although restricted to just three runs, Teahupoo went unbeaten in three Grade 1 races to end the season as the leading staying hurdler in training. He set himself up for the perfect year when recording a second success in the Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at the Fairyhouse Winter Festival and he wasn’t seen again until the Cheltenham Festival where he won the Stayers’ Hurdle in emphatic fashion. He was better again in taking the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle at the season’s ending Punchestown Festival.