Sean Flanagan has progressed into one of the more promising young jockeys in the Irish National Hunt weighing room and he is very much a man to follow in the seasons ahead. He has impressed many observers with his tactical racing brain, as well as his strength and determination in a finish, and he looks destined to continue his rise up the National Hunt jockey rankings in Ireland.
Principal Trainers: Liz Doyle, Dusty Sheehy
Notable Wins:
- Thyestes Chase (Whinstone Boy 2010)
- Grabel Hurdle (Voler La Vedette 2009)
- Midlands National Handicap Chase (Piano Star 2009)
- Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association EBF Mares Hurdle (Voler La Vedette 2009)
- Shamrock Handicap Chase (Battle Axe 2009)
- Pierse Hurdle (Penny’s Bill 2009)
- Lighthouse @ Flaherty Markets Handicap Chase (Operation Houdini 2008)
- Ballymore 25th Anniversary Handicap Hurdle (Brave Right 2008)
- Gain Horse Feeds Handicap Hurdle (Bambootcha 2008)
- Guinness Greenmount Park Novice Chase (Merry Cowboy 2007)
Early Days
Associated with the Co. Kilkenny-based trainer Eamonn ‘Dusty’ Sheehy from the outset of his career, Flanagan had his first ride in public on the Liz Doyle-trained On Your Way in a 1m 6f Flat race at the Listowel Harvest Festival in 2005. While he failed to trouble the judge in that contest, or indeed in any of his remaining rides in the 2005/6 season, 2006/7 would prove to be a much more successful campaign for Flanagan.
Having had a number of near misses, Flanagan rode his first winner on the racecourse when steering the Dusty Sheehy-trained Keevas Boy to success in a handicap chase at Down Royal on November 4th 2006, despite someone in the crowd throwing a pint of beer at him in the closing stages. Just under seven weeks later, he doubled his tally when winning a handicap hurdle on the Dusty Sheehy-trained Merry Cowboy at Limerick’s Christmas meeting. Two more wins quickly followed in early January and it was then that Flanagan took the decision to turn professional. He wasted no time in getting off the mark as a pro, winning a handicap hurdle on Merry Cowboy at Fairyhouse only a matter of days later. He went on to have a more than satisfactory season, riding a total of 14 winners and grabbing the attention of many judges with his tactical brain and strength in a finish.
Big Race Success
If 2006/7 was the season in which Flanagan burst onto the scene, 2007/8 was the campaign in which he broke onto the big-race landscape. Having had a solid first half of the season, Flanagan gained by far the biggest win of his career at that point when riding his old friend Merry Cowboy to success in the Grade 2 Guinness Greenmount Park Novice Chase at the Christmas meeting at Limerick. He continued to ride consistently well during the months that followed before signing off the season in excellent fashion at the Punchestown Festival. On the Tuesday of the meeting, he rode the Colm Murphy-trained Bambootcha to success in the valuable Gain Horse Feeds Handicap Hurdle, while on the Saturday of the meeting, he made up for a narrow defeat in the Pierse Hurdle the previous January on the Leonard Whitmore-trained Brave Right by riding the same horse to success in the most valuable handicap hurdle ever run, the Ballymore 25th Anniversary Handicap Hurdle.
2008/9 saw Flanagan further consolidate his position as one of the most promising riders in the country. He rode his best-ever seasonal tally of winners and continued to be a regular visitor to the big-race winner’s enclosure. His first valuable success of the season came on the Davy Fitzgerald-trained Operation Houdini in the Lighthouse @ Flaherty Markets Handicap Chase at the Galway October meeting. Flanagan was controversially robbed of an even bigger success on that horse in the steward’s room after he “won” the Cork Grand National the following month. However, Flanagan gained abundant compensation for that reversal of fortunes just a few short months later when riding the Liz Doyle-trained Penny’s Bill to success in the ultra-competitive Pierse Hurdle at Leopardstown in January. Flanagan rode the winner of yet another valuable handicap, this time over fences in the Shamrock Handicap Chase at Gowran Park on the Jim Lennon-trained Battle Axe in March and he reached another milestone in mid-April, with him riding out his 3 lb claim by winning a handicap chase on the Philip Rothwell-trained Hollow Ranger at Fairyhouse. He wrapped up that highly-successful season by riding the Colm Murphy-trained Voler La Vedette to success in the Grade 3 Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association European Breeders Fund Mares Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival.
A Fully-Fledged Jockey
Many promising careers in the saddle have floundered once a claim has been lost, but Sean Flanagan did not fall into this category as he enjoyed a highly-successful first season as a fully-fledged jockey in 2009/10. He wasted no time getting off the big-race mark for the season, winning the Midlands National Handicap Chase at Kilbeggan on the Michael Cunningham-trained Piano Star in July. Voler La Vedette provided him with another valuable success in the Listed Grabel Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, but it was the Jimmy Mangan-trained Whinstone Boy that was his most lucrative partner of the season. Flanagan won a conditions hurdle at Thurles in November, but better still was to come as they combined to win the Thyestes Handicap Chase at Gowran Park in January. A fortnight later, Flanagan made it three-from-three on Mangan’s charge, winning a conditions chase at Clonmel. All told, Flanagan rode a total of 20 winners in his first full season without his claim, which was a more than satisfactory haul in the circumstances.
While Flanagan has made a somewhat slow start to the 2010/11 season, his talent remains intact and it will only be a matter of time before this talented young rider returns to form.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011
