2000-2025 2000 2025
‘Not many will have hisnatural gifts buthis dedication caninspire the ridersofthe future. That wouldbeafittinglegacy. Mayherestinpeace’
DerekO’Connor pays hispersonaltribute
WHENMichael O’Sullivan wonthe under-21 riders’ championship in the 2018-19 pointto-pointseason Iwas thrilledtohave the honour of presentingthe awardto him at oursport’sannualcelebration.
It meantalot to be askedtodo so because the O’Sullivan family supportedmegenerously earlyinmy career.Ihad reason to be grateful to Michael’sfather William and his brother Eugene,Michael’suncle Alongwith Michael’swonderful grandmother Mary andher late husband Owen, theyshowed me greatkindness.
I’ve alwayslookeduptothe family as representingthe best of the tradition and senseofcommunity that makesour partofthe racing world special.
Michaeldevelopedinashort time from beingapromisingyoung rider inpoints to achievingsuccess at the highestlevel of jump racing, earning wide respectasa topprofessional. He broughthonour to the family, not just because of his ability as a rider butalsobecause of his qualities as aperson.
He wasawell-educated young man who gota university degree while developinghis skills in the amateur ranks.Healwaysstayedmodest and down-to-earth
Ican only echo all the tributes that have beenpaidduringthe days he foughtfor his life and since we heard the awful news of his passing. Every one of thosetributesshowed what he meanttothosewhoselives he touched,inIreland, Britain, andin France too.
In the firstplace,hemadeabig impression on point-to-point followers.Hequickly became popular with racegoers whoadmired his polish and styleinthe saddle
Thosewho mayhaveknown him onlythrough television interviews sawayoung manwho expressed himself well and hadabrilliant understandingofthe horsesherode and of race-ridingtactics
At the time Michaelwas beginning to make his name Ihad become interestedintryingtopassonsomeof my experience to the younger generation. He attendedatraining course Iwas involved in at Race (RacingAcademy &Centreof Education) and Iwas impressed by everythingabout him:his willingness to learn, his polite manner,positive attitude and, of course, his natural abilityasarider Irodeinthe race in which Michael hadhis firstpoint-to-pointwin. It was in the open atCastletownGeoghegan at the beginningofthe autumn season in 2017. Iwas on the favourite Gilgamboa for Enda Bolger He wasonthe 20-1 outsider ADecent Excuse for his uncle Eugene and gave him alovely, polishedridetobeata horse ridden by JamieCodd.
Thefollowing week he doubledhis scoreonthe same horseatLoughrea Later that season,when he was preparingfor his LeavingCertificate exams,herodehis firstwinner on the track, Wilcosdiana, in ahunter chase at Cork. Irodethe second for Jim Dreaperand by then Iwas getting used to gettinga rear view of him in action.
Iremember we went head to head
The bigger the occasion the cooler he would be about it’
THE point-to-point community have added their heartfelt voices to the many tributes paid to Michael O’Sullivan.
The O’Sullivan name is synonymous with racing between the flags throughout Ireland, with his father William, uncle Eugene and grandfather Owen having combined to win the 1991 Foxhunter at the Cheltenham Festival with Lovely Citizen.
Michael followed in the footsteps of his father when making his debut in the saddle at his local Dromahane venue in March 2017.
He went on to ride 34 point winners, adding the under-21 title to his CV in 2019, before turning professional in September 2022.
Several of those who followed the early stages of his career in point-topoints or were closely associated with his formative years have paid tribute to the hugely talented jockey. EOGHAIN WARD
‘His loss is felt across the point-to-point community’ We struck up a great association with Michael in the 2018-19 season. He rode six point-to-point winners for us that season, three on Macs Legend and three on Maifitz’s Madonna. Our connection with the O’Sullivans goes way back. My brother Mike rode with William and Eugene, so we were always friendly, and you would always like to give a young fella a chance
Michael was always a good rider, even from an early stage We saw the potential and it just clicked for us We put him up on Macs Legend in a novice riders’ open at Dromahane in December 2018. It was his first ride for us; he won, and it all went from there.
He went on to win the under-21 title that year with 16 winners and we were able to give him six For such a small yard as ours, we’d never had six winners in a season before, and we haven’t since, so it was massive for us
I’ll always remember at Kildorrery that year, Michael and Macs Legend were going across the top of the track with three to jump and he went up the inside of Fenno’s Storm to make his move It was a super ride to get to the front.
He was a quiet lad. I remember when he won at Ballynoe in that same season, he had won by just a neck, but before they had called the result I asked him if he was up and he quietly said, ‘I think I am’.
His father William was there but he just stood back and let Michael do his job; it was his riding and his winning. They are just a great family.
Michael also rode Macs Legend to win a hunter chase at Thurles in February 2020. They went a fierce pace that day and he came from way off the pace to beat Samurai Cracker, which was a great occasion for us.
I have a picture up here on the wall at home of them winging a fence and I’ve been looking at it all week. It really was a pleasure to have had him ride for us
His loss is being felt across the whole point-to-point community, it’s hitting everyone
Gerry Kelleher, handler and chairman of the Point-to-Point Handlers Association
‘He was always a gentleman, a real proper fella’
Michael was always so sharp He would ask you about different tracks and what was the best approach to riding them
I remember Paul Cashman telling me about him six or eight months before he even came on the scene in a proper way. Paul felt he was different gravy as a rider
I was listening back to his interview on thehorse.ie, remembering that the year he won the title he rode his first winner only on December 30. He hadn’t had a winner during the autumn.
That’s some going to win the title from there.
He made some impression and he was always trying to improve. He was always a gentleman, a real, proper fella.
Ger Hannon, commentator
‘How many lads would seize the opportunity in France?’
Michael rang me one day and we just started talking. From there, he rode in a novice riders’ race for me and then started coming in on the odd day.
He was very obliging, he was great riding work and very intelligent. I just loved the way he rode a horse. He had a great pair of hands and was very sensible He’d just finished school and started college and was trying to work both of them
The thing about Michael was that the more pressure he was under the cooler he was. I thought that was one of his biggest attributes and I was in awe of him for that.
He won on Inthepocket in Moig South We had a lot of expectations for the horse and it was a big day for us and Michael gave him a super ride.
He was as cool as the breeze The bigger the occasion, the cooler he would be about it
From a young lad’s perspective, he had a great grounding, having been in
Eugene’s and with his father’s experience, too but, as he would say himself, his mother was a big advocate for education and having a college degree
He listened to his father and mother He had an education and it stood out. I saw a video of him having ridden a winner in France for Noel George and he was walking back into the winner’s enclosure speaking fluent French.
How many young lads would go over to France, adapt to it, and seize the opportunity? When I saw that, I just thought, ‘kudos to him’. You would be so proud of what he went on to achieve.
He’d spoken to me and plenty of others about switching to the track.
I’d said to him about a year before he turned professional he needed to make the switch. He had the intelligence and his weight was so good he could have claimed off bottom weight, no problem
I told him he had done his grounding in point-to-points, he’d won the under-21 title, just wait for the right opportunity and do it when it suited him
He got the association with Barry Connell which took him to another level. You could be a lifetime waiting to do what he was able to do
We are all devastated. There is a hole in everyone’s stomach at the moment; there’s a numb feeling in the locality.
Paul Cashman, handler
‘He was always going to become a top-class rider’
You couldn’t meet a nicer young lad. He was an old head on young shoulders From an early point you could always see he was a natural talent; he was always going to become a top-class rider
The O’Sullivans are such a huge family in point-to-pointing. Michael’s dad William was a top rider in his day and Alan is a very good rider too. His uncle Eugene does so much for the point-to-point industry. It’s a huge loss and we all send our condolences to his family.
John Barry, rider
‘I was struck by how down to earth he was’
Michael’s first winner was A Decent Excuse at Castletown-Geoghegan. It wasn’t a novice rider open, either He beat Jamie Codd into second spot on Samanntom. Derek O’Connor was on Gilgamboa, and Barry O’Neill rode Eddies Miracle, and they finished fifth and sixth, respectively. That just shows you the calibre of rider he was meeting that day, and he didn’t look out of place
Michael won again the next week in Loughrea on A Decent Excuse and he rode for a vast array of trainers
Don’t forget he was studying for the Leaving Cert and after that he went to college and combined his studies at UCD with riding at a good level. His talent always shone through
Two years ago a few of us sat down for dinner before a Cheltenham preview in west Waterford. Michael was giving up his time to be on the panel and I was struck by how levelheaded and down to earth he was.
That evening, he went to Pat Breen’s. Pat lives between Dungarvan and Youghal and had an Equicizer at his place Michael had been using the Equicizer before he came over to the preview evening. It was a mark of his dedication.
That evening he tipped Marine Nationale for the Supreme He was confident about it, but in a respectful way.
More recently, I was at the Goffs Arkle sale last year with my late father We were going out to the car and Michael was coming in.
He just started talking and I introduced him to Dad. He was just so pleasant, well mannered and unassuming. He was a credit to his family, really and truly.”
Neil O’Donnell, point-to-point reporter
Michael O’Sullivan winning on Macs Legend at Dromahane in December 2018 on his first ride for Gerry Kelleher
HEALY RACING
