Principal Trainers:Tracey Collins, Dermot Weld, Harry Rogers, Sheena Collins
Notable Wins:
- Lanwades & Staffordstown Stud Stakes (Turin Lady 2008)
- Minstrel Stakes (Redstone Dancer 2007)
- Brownstown Stakes (Redstone Dancer 2007)
- Woodlands Stakes (Dandy Man 2007)
- Isabel Morris EBF Stakes (Pencil Hill 2007)
- King Of Beers Stakes (Dandy Man 2006, Tiger Royal 2002)
- Tipperary Stakes (Dandy Man 2005)
- Dance Design Stakes (Chelsea Rose 2005)
- Ballyroan Stakes (Chelsea Rose 2005, Sadlers Wings 2001)
- Silver Stakes (Chelsea Rose 2005)
- Moyglare Stud Stakes (Chelsea Rose 2004)
- Fairy Bridge Stakes (Queen Of Palms 2004)
- Tyros Stakes (Elusive Double 2004, Softly Tread 2000)
- Martin Molony Stakes (Maharib 2003)
- Amethyst Stakes (European 2003)
- Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial (Cat Belling 2003)
- Solonaway Stakes (Magic Cove 2001)
- Gladness Stakes (Softly Tread 2001, Bezelle 1992, Mr Brooks 1991)
- Athasi Stakes (Desert Magic 2000)
- Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial Stakes (Port Bayou 1999)
- Blandford Stakes (Lisieux Rose 1998)
- Molecomb Stakes (Lady Alexander 1997)
- Anglesey Stakes (Lady Alexander 1997)
- Irish Derby (Zagreb 1996)
- Leopardstown Stakes (Jahid 1994)
- Knockaire Stakes (Pre-Eminent 1993)
- Trigo Stakes (Pre-Eminent 1993)
- Beresford Stakes (Frenchpark 1992)
- Killavullan Stakes (Asema 1992)
- Concorde Stakes (Mr Brooks 1991)
- Ballyogan Stakes (Mr Brooks 1991, Knesset 1988)
- Princess Margaret Stakes (Bezelle 1991)
- National Stakes (Heart Of Darkness 1990)
- Irish Oaks (Princess Pati 1984)
60 Seconds With Pat Shanahan
Q: Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
A: Con Collins, no doubt.
Q: What was your most memorable winner?
A: Zagreb in the Irish Derby.
Q: Of the races you have not yet won, which would you most like to win?
A: The Irish 2,000 Guineas.
Q: You have been a professional jockey for so long now, do the same goals that you had as a younger rider still drive you on, or do you have a different motivation now?
A: When you’re young, you want it all, so I suppose as you get older and wiser, motivations will always change. It’s the love of game that keeps me going these days.
Q: Whether you like it or not, when a jockey gets to your age, the question of how long you will continue to ride is sure to arise. Do you have any idea as to how long more you will continue to ride?
A: I’ll keep going while I’m enjoying it. I’ll probably wake up some morning down the line and decide that is that, and that’s probably how it’ll finish.
Pat Shanahan is one of Ireland’s longest serving members of the weighing room and is also arguably the most loyal, having been associated with the Curragh-based Collins family for over 30 years. His riding is characterised by his no-nonsense consistency and his strength in the saddle, which has seen him prevail in a multitude of top-class races over the decades.
Shanahan started his riding career with as an apprentice to the legendary Con Collins in 1978 and soon began to make an impact on the Irish scene. However, there is no doubt that the winner that propelled Shanahan into the national limelight was the Collins-trained Princess Pati in the 1984 Irish Oaks. That win remained the biggest win of Collin’s long and illustrious career and for Shanahan, it was a tremendous boost to his own career. In the years following that success, Shanahan maintained a consistent strike-rate in Group and listed contests with the wins of the John Costello-trained Knesset in the 1988 Ballyogan Stakes and the Group 1 National Stakes on the Ian Balding-trained Heart Of Darkness standing out as notable highlights.
From the early-90’s onwards, Shanahan was omnipresent in the upper echelons of the Irish riding ranks and this was reflected by his continued success in Group races. A notable performer for him at the time was the Kevin Connolly-trained Mr Brooks, whom Shanahan rode to three separate successes at Group 3 level in 1991. Con Collins continued to provide Shanahan with the majority of his winners, but he also enjoyed great success for Dermot Weld during this time with the likes of Asema (Killavullan Stakes 1992), Pre-Eminent (two listed races in 1993) and Jahid (Leopardstown Stakes 1994). Indeed, it was Weld who provided Shanahan with the most lucrative winner of his long career when giving him the leg up on Zagreb in the 1996 renewal of the Irish Derby. Sent off at 20/1, the pair looked to have an outside chance at best. However, the son of Theatrical profited from a well-judged ride from Shanahan on his way to running out the stunning six lengths winner, giving Shanahan his second Irish Classic success and cementing his position in the upper echelons of the Irish weighing room.
Over the years Shanahan has been an infrequent visitor to Britain, but when he has made the trip he has tended to enjoy success, with noteworthy wins coming on the Collins-trained Bezelle in the 1991 renewal of the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot and on Lady Alexander in the 1997 renewal of the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood. The latter filly proved to be a profitable partner for him during that time, also winning the Anglesey Stakes at the Curragh that season.
Shanahan’s consistent success at Group and listed level continued unabated into the new millennium and beyond, but it wasn’t until 2004 that he returned to the Group 1 winner’s enclosure. With his boss and mentor Con Collins very much in the latter stages of his training career, Shanahan must have known that chances to ride another Group 1 winner for him would be limited, so when a filly called Chelsea Rose was declared to run in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh, Shanahan knew he had to seize the opportunity. Sent off at 9/1, the pair hit the front over 2f out and galloped on strongly to hold off the challenge of Pictavia by ¾-length, prompting great scenes of celebration at the track Collins had called home all his racing life. The pairing would go on to win three times at listed level in 2005, with a close second in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh being the pick of their efforts in 2006. She was a fine servant to both trainer and rider and proved to be the last top-class performer that Collins had through his hands, as having been badly kicked in the parade ring at the Curragh in early-2005, he never quite recovered and died in January 2007. While Collins’ death was the end of an era in Shanahan’s career, he continued to have strong ties with the family by riding regularly for Con’s daughters, Tracey and Sheena.
The aforementioned Lady Alexander has been just as good to Shanahan in her broodmare career as she was in her racing career, producing Dandy Man who has proven to be one of Shanahan’s higher-profile mounts in recent years, winning two listed races for Con Collins before winning another of those events and finishing in the money in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York for Tracey Collins in 2007 before being sold to Godolphin.
The highlight of 2007 for Shanahan was undoubtedly the partnership he struck up with the Sheena Collins-trained Redstone Dancer. The pair had combined to win two valuable handicap in 2006, but having been put in foal to Refuse To Bend, the four-year-old filly enjoyed an extremely lucrative 16-day period in the mid-summer of 2006, winning the valuable Jordan Town & Country Estate Agents EBF Summer Fillies Handicap at the Curragh, the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes at Leopardstown and the Group 3 Minstrel Stakes back at the Curragh. While in 2008, it was Tracey Collins that provided Shanahan with the pick of his winners, with him riding her Turin Lady to success in the listed Lanwades & Staffordstown Stud Stakes at Fairyhouse.
While Shanahan had to wait until last Wednesday, 3rd July, to get off the mark for the 2009 season, he has most certainly been knocking on the big-race door, finishing fourth in the Irish 1,000 Guineas on the Dermot Weld-trained Rare Ransom and a close second in the listed Victor McCalmont Memorial Stakes at Gowran Park on the Weld-trained Chinese White. With him looking as strong and enthusiastic as ever, there looks to be plenty of life left in the riding career of Pat Shanahan and as has been the case for over three decades, he remains one that is not to be underestimated at any level.
