Still only 25-years-old, Davy Condon is one of the rare talents that was capable of being one of the top apprentice riders on the Flat prior to climbing to the upper echelons of the National Hunt riders pecking order. He is well renowned for his ultra-confident riding style and looks to be the natural successor to Paul Carberry.
Principal Trainers: Noel Meade, Joanna Morgan, Gordon Elliott
Notable Wins:
- Monksfield Novice Hurdle (Fully Funded 2010)
- Craddockstown Novice Chase (Realt Dubh 2010)
- Florida Pearl Novice Chase (Thegreatjohnbrowne 2010)
- Matalan Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle (Orsippus 2010)
- Knight Frank Novice Chase (Pandorama 2009)
- Future Champions Novice Hurdle (Hollo Ladies 2009)
- Christmas Hurdle (Go Native 2009)
- Drinmore Novice Chase (Pandorama 2009)
- Fighting Fifth Hurdle (Go Native 2009)
- Scottish Champion Hurdle (Noble Alan 2009)
- Peterborough Chase (Monet’s Garden 2008)
- Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase (Emma Jane 2008)
- Horse and Jockey Hotel Hurdle (Sunshine Guest 2007)
- Platinum Stakes (Jumbajukiba 2007)
- Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Ebaziyan 2007)
- Bobbyjo Chase (Homer Wells 2007)
- Thyestes Handicap Chase (Homer Wells 2007)
- Laing O'Rourke EBF September Premier Handicap (Holy Orders 2005)
- O'Connell Transport Stayers Novice Hurdle (Homer Wells 2004)
- Ballycullen Stakes (Holy Orders 2004)
- Irish Cambridgeshire (Definite Best 2003)
- Guinness Premier Handicap (Holy Orders 2003)
- Vintage Crop Stakes (Holy Orders 2003)
Early Days
His father Michael Condon was an amateur rider that rode against the man who would become Davy’s first boss in racing after he graduated from the pony-racing circuit, Willie Mullins. Mullins was quick to recognise the talent he had on his hands and Condon did not waste any time making an impact as a fresh-faced 16-year-old apprentice. Having had his first ride on a racecourse at Tipperary on 25th May 2001, Condon got off the mark when winning a handicap at Tramore on the Joanna Morgan-trained Slaney Boy the following August. Less than 24 hours later, Condon again found himself in the winner’s enclosure at Tramore, this time on the Pat Martin-trained Knockatotaun. Those wins resulted in Condon soon being in major demand and his next winner formed part of a memorable double at Gowran Park just over a month later. Two days after that, he made it five for the season by riding the Austin Leahy-trained Flying Boat to success at Cork. That win capped what was a highly-promising first term as an apprentice, but much better lay ahead in the near future for Condon.
A Break-Out Season
2002 would prove to be very much a break-out year for Condon. In registering a total of 27 winners for the season, he finished just four winners behind Tadhg O’Shea in the race for the Champion Apprentice title, despite taking 161 less rides than that rival during the course of the season. There were many highlights during that term, but perhaps the memories that stand out of Condon were the two wins he gained on the Willie Mullins-trained Holy Orders. That enigmatic performer was a very important horse in the early years of Condon’s career, as the rider gained many plaudits for his numerous displays of horsemanship on the quirky performer in many big races. Then a five-year-old, with the pairing having already teamed up for two wins earlier in the season, they almost pulled off a memorable success in Condon’s first ride at Royal Ascot when failing by just a neck to win the Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap in June 2002. However, the pairing would gain abundant compensation in the years that followed, with them winning two listed races and two premier handicaps, as well as teaming up in the 2003 renewal of the “race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup.
Years Of Consolidation And A Problem
2003 saw Condon register no less than 22 winners on the Flat, amassing a career-high total prize money figure in the process. The latter achievement was thanks in no small part to the aforementioned exploits of Holy Orders, as well as the win of the Tony Mullins-trained Definite Best in the Irish Cambridgeshire at the Curragh. The following season he kicked home 21 winners, registering only a slightly reduced level of prize money than the previous season. Once again, Holy Orders was the star of the show, but without doubt the most significant occurrence during that year was Condon’s realisation that he was losing his battle with the scales and needed to come up with a plan. He plumped for the obvious solution and having ridden Holy Orders to finish fourth in a listed race at Musselburgh in early-November 2004, he switched his attentions to the National Hunt sphere.
A Star Is Born Over Jumps
While strictly a newcomer to his new discipline, Condon immediately looked as though he had been riding over obstacles all his life. He got off the mark over hurdles on the Ger Cully-trained Markason in a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse in mid-November. That first season over jumps produced a more than respectable 12 winners for Condon with the highlight undoubtedly coming when winning the Grade 3 O'Connell Transport Stayers Novice Hurdle at Cork on the Willie Mullins-trained Homer Wells. Condon kept his eye in on the Flat in the 2005 season, riding a dozen winners that included yet another valuable win on Holy Orders in the Laing O'Rourke EBF September Premier Handicap at the Curragh. Condon was much busier during the 2004/5 National Hunt season than he had been in his first term over jumps, but that was not reflected in his tally of winners, as he registered a tally of just nine successes.
It took Condon a number of seasons to really establish himself over jumps as, despite the fact that he had more than enough talent to warrant being used by any trainer in the country, being a convert from the Flat game meant he had to disprove the notion that being a smaller, lighter individual meant that he could not make the bigger jump jockeys for strength in the saddle. It wasn’t until the 2006/7 season that Condon well and truly began to break into the upper reaches of the jumping ranks.
Following another successful campaign on the Flat in 2006 (14 winners in total), Condon really put his head down and worked hard in the 2006/7 National Hunt season and with Willie Mullins firmly behind him, he make the breakthrough that he needed. By the time the season had concluded, Condon had ridden no less than 26 winners, with his old friend Homer Wells providing him with notable wins in the prestigious Thyestes Handicap Chase at Gowran Park and the Grade 2 Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse. However, the highlight of his season undoubtedly came at the Mecca of National Hunt racing when he rode the Mullins-trained Ebaziyan to success in the opening Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
Condon consolidated that excellent campaign by again riding 26 winners in 2007/8, this time from a smaller number of rides. Again, Willie Mullins provided him with many of the highlights of his season, with him rounding off the season in the perfect style by riding Emma Jane to success in the valuable Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival.
A Move To England
Now considered one of the fastest rising stars in Irish National Hunt racing, at the beginning of the 2008/9 season Condon decided to broaden his horizons by taking the job as stable jockey to Nicky Richards in northern England. While the move proved to be a success in numerical terms, with Condon riding 24 winners including notable successes in the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on the dashing grey Monet’s Garden and the Scottish Champion Hurdle on Noble Alan, it perhaps did not deliver the success that it promises it might. It was not a big surprise when Condon announced that he would be returning to his native land for the 2009/10 season and he hasn’t looked back since.
Home To Play
Condon did not waste any time re-establishing himself on the Irish scene, with him forming a particularly profitable partnership with Noel Meade-trained horses in the absence of the banned Paul Carberry. Indeed, with him only having ridden a single Grade 1 winner over jumps prior to the 2009/10 season, within little more than a month from late-November onwards he had ridden five of them on Meade-trained charges, with him gaining two wins at the highest level apiece on the high-class novice chaser Pandorama and the high-class hurdler Go Native, with the final Grade 1 success coming on Hollo Ladies in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting. In particular, his wins on Go Native in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton showcased Condon’s ultra-confident style and parallels were quickly drawn between those performances and that of Paul Carberry on Harchibald in years gone by. Condon’s excellent season was wrapped up by his win on the Michael Smith-trained Orsippus in the Grade 1 Matalan Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle at the Aintree Grand National meeting.
While 2010/11 has yet to see Condon gain a Grade 1 success, he is very much on target to easily beat his previous seasonal-best tally of winners, a reflection of the regard he is now held in amongst Irish National Hunt trainers. The highlight of his season thus far has been his profitable double at Punchestown in mid-November, with him riding the Meade-trained Thegreatjohnbrowne to success in the Grade 3 Florida Pearl Novice Chase and the Meade-trained Realt Dubh to win the Grade 2 Craddockstown Novice Chase.
Having built momentum to the extent he says this season, Davy Condon looks poised to make an even bigger impact on the Irish National Hunt scene and with further Grade 1 success unlikely to be too far away, he is very much worth following in the months and years ahead.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011
