Twenty four year-old Tadhg O’Shea only rode his first winner in September 1999 but he is now established as one of Ireland’s leading riders after enjoying a quick rise through the ranks. That first winner came aboard Class Society at Tipperary for trainer Michael Halford to whom he served his apprenticeship and this natural born lightweight, who can comfortably manage to ride at the minimum 8st 4lb, quickly made a name for himself as a top apprentice. Indeed, he became Champion Apprentice in 2001 and 2002 as he came to the attention of a wide variety of trainers with his strength in a finish being one of many assets that helped him to increase his profile.
Indeed, the 2000 Galway Festival was a memorable one for this young Corkman as he recorded three winners at the week long meeting. He scored on Class Society on the Tuesday evening before guiding Berkeley Bay to victory on the Thursday and then rounded things off with success on Des McDonogh’s Benefits Galore on the Sunday. At the Curragh Guineas Meeting the following May, Tadhg got the mount on the Dermot Weld trained Caumshinaun in a competitive handicap and the combination clicked for a notable success. Weld decided to keep Tadhg on board when the filly contested a valuable handicap over the same course at the Derby Festival Meeting and despite having to shoulder 9st 10lb, this very smart sort duly obliged again. For O’Shea this was a memorable success as later that day he completed an excellent double on Mick Halford’s Cool Cousin. Interestingly, Caumshinaun was in the news just last weekend as she is the dam of the Boylesports Irish 1000 Guineas winner, Nightime, owned and bred by Mrs Marguerite Weld.
Following this high profile double on Derby weekend, the winners continued to flow for Tadhg and another big race followed when he rode Tony Martin’s Clever Consul to a short head success in a valuable premier handicap at Leopardstown in September. He then achieved his first ever Group race victory on Charles O’Brien’s Montecastillo in the Coolmore Stud Home Of Champions Concorde Stakes at Tipperary which was quite an achievement for a 5lb claiming apprentice and one that rounded off a great season in which he was crowned Champion Apprentice.
Further success with the Charles O’Brien stable was achieved at Gowran Park the following May when he guided Smugglers Song to a decisive victory in the Glanbia Classic Trial and at this stage, his claim was down to 3lbs. Tadhg also teamed up with Jessica Harrington’s Evening Scent to win at Clonmel before following up on the same horse in a valuable handicap at the Curragh while later that year English trainer, Neville Callaghan, was quick to use his services for his charge, Colonel Cotton, a move that yielded another big race success in the Land Rover Handicap over five furlongs at the Curragh.
Crowned Champion Apprentice for a second time in 2002, Tadhg lost his right to claim with victory on the Ger Lyons trained Brigadier Monty at Navan in April. Now as a fully fledged professional, he may have expected life to get a lot tougher but he got off to a great start when winning the Woodlands Stakes on Michael Halford’s Sweet Emma at Naas in early May. Three weeks later, Tadhg enjoyed a memorable Guineas Festival Meeting at the Curragh as he partnered the same filly to win the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes to give her trainer his first pattern race victory. That weekend was made all the more memorable when the same combination struck with Tipperary All Star in the Airlie Stud Silver Stakes over ten furlongs. Tadhg continued to boot home the winners and won the Sweet Mimosa Stakes on Daganya at Leopardstown in July before taking the Guinness Gold Cup at the Tralee Festival on the Paul Nolan trained Cloone River. He also scored on the same horse at the Curragh shortly afterwards and rounded off his first year as a professional with a healthy total of 29 winners, a figure which saw him finish in ninth place in the Jockeys’ Championship won by Michael Kinane.
The 2004 season saw further big race success for Tadhg as he partnered Royal Devotion to win the Oyster Stakes at Galway in September while the following month, he rode a rare winner for the John Oxx stable on Hamairi in the Coolmore Stud Home Of Champions Concorde Stakes, his second success in this Group 3 event and one of 33 winners he notched up during the year. Over the winter months it was announced that Michael Halford would link up with Johnny Murtagh on a more regular basis and this arrangement saw Tadhg switch to the Ger Lyons stable. The new combination managed to amass a good total for the stable with victory on An Tadh in the European Breeders Fund Premier Nursery at Galway one of their more notable victories while he guided Paul Nolan’s Cloone River to a good win in the Arthur Guinness E.B.F. Handicap at the Curragh on Derby Day and then rounded off another successful season by riding John Kiely’s Clara Allen to a comfortable win in the Hackett’s Bookmakers Irish Cesarewitch Handicap in October.
During the off season, Tadhg has spent four of the last five winters riding with considerable success in Dubai. All told he has ridden a total of 50 winners with his best season being the 2004-2005 season when he amassed 18 winners. He also spent one winter season riding in America and having now ridden in close on 3000 races worldwide, it is clear to see that he has already gained a vast amount of experience in his career to date.
In recent times, it was announced that Tadhg would no longer be first jockey for the Ger Lyons stable and this means that his talented young Corkman will be working on a freelance basis. However, the fact that he can ride at a light weight should ensure he continues to get lots of winning opportunities in the future and this very determined and hard working jockey is likely to make his presence felt on the racing scene for many more years to come.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland – Updated June 2006
