Age: 24
Principal Trainer: Richard Hannon
Notable Win: Irish Lincolnshire (Big Robert 2010)
Kieran O’Neill is yet another Irish apprentice rider that has been making waves in Britain in 2010. However, O’Neill didn’t get an easy road to where he is now by any means. From humble beginnings with Declan Gillespie, followed by a stint in America and a successful return to Ireland with Paul Deegan, O’Neill has squeezed a lot of experience into his short career and that is very much paying off in his current stint with Richard Hannon.
Early Days
Like so many stars of the future, Kildare-native O’Neill learned his trade in the world-renowned apprentice school RACE, graduating in 2004 and joining Declan Gillespie straight away. Unfortunately for O’Neill, Gillespie’s training career was on something of a downward curve at the time and thus, winning opportunities were few and far between. He took his first ride on the Gillespie-trained Turn Card in a maiden at Tipperary on September 16th 2004, but he didn’t get off his mark until his 27th ride nearly two years later, riding Jemmy’s Flame to success in an apprentice handicap at Gowran Park on July 4th 2006. He rode just two winners in all of 2007 and with Gillespie’s training career winding down, O’Neill had to make a decision with which direction to take his career. Rather than taking the more traditional route of moving to another yard in Ireland or even move to Britain, O’Neill decided to gain an entirely new experience in America.
Stateside Bound
Gaining experience in America is considered very desirable for any young jockey, as with the emphasis on riding to correct fractions being much stronger there, a prolonged period of riding in America is considered a big advantage when the riders return to Europe. Having moved to America in November 2007, O’Neill based himself at Turfway Park in Kentucky and didn’t waste much time making an impact, getting off the mark by riding a double on January 26th 2008. By the time he finished up his year-long stint in Kentucky, O’Neill had ridden six winners from 71 rides and was ready to return to Ireland a stronger and superior rider than when he left.
Home Again
Having moved back to Ireland, O’Neill joined the up-and-coming trainer Paul Deegan on the Curragh. The new pairing wasted no time in making hay, with their fifth runner together resulting in a winner in the shape of Shes Diman in a handicap at Dundalk on April 17th 2009. It was August that O’Neill really hit form, winning twice on the Ado McGuinness-trained Silly Dancer and once on the Flan Costello-trained Lukes Desire. At the end of the campaign, he had ridden a more than satisfactory six winners from 136 rides and it set him up nicely for what would be an even better season in 2010.
O’Neill could seldom have made a better start to the 2010 campaign, as on just his fourth ride of the season, he gained the biggest win of his career on the Deegan-trained Big Robert in the Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh. Such a high-profile success did wonders for O’Neill’s profile and he didn’t waste any time building on that momentum. He gained five wins in the months that followed and while he endured a slightly quiet spell during the high summer, he finished the campaign with a flourish, riding six more winners in the closing months of the season. All told, he rode 12 winners from a total of 178 rides, which represented a solid progression.
On The Road Again
While some were tipping O’Neill as a potential Champion Apprentice contender in Ireland in 2011, O’Neill made a slightly unexpected decision to move to the powerful stable of Richard Hannon in England in January. O’Neill could hardly have got his association with Hannon off to a better start as on just his third ride after moving to England, he memorably rode the Queen’s Countermarch to success in a maiden at Wolverhampton on March 12th. Things have got better and better for O’Neill since that win, with him riding winners for a wide variety of trainers and rapidly gaining a reputation as a 5 lb claimer to follow.
O’Neill has the profile of an apprentice that will be heavily supported by outside trainers and it would be no surprise to see him gain his first big-race win in Britain in the months ahead.
Updated June 2011
