Willie Supple is one of the longest serving current members in the Irish weighing room. He has been race riding for over 20 years and while he based himself in England for eight seasons during that time, he started and is likely to finish his career in Ireland.
Principal Trainer: Paul Deegan
Notable Wins:
- Stillorgan Premier Handicap (Castle Bar Sling 2010)
- C.L. Weld Park Stakes (Lady Springbank 2009)
- Flying Five Stakes (Reverence 2009, Tedburrow 1998)
- Connacht Tribune Centenary Handicap (Fit The Cove 2009)
- Ulster Derby (Fantoche 2008, Nordic Region 1990)
- Amethyst Stakes (Ferneley 2008)
- Killavullan Stakes (Confuchias 2006)
- Moyglare Stud Stakes (Miss Beatrix 2006)
- Woodlands Stakes (Moon Unit 2006)
- Hardwicke Stakes (Bandari 2005)
- Ribblesdale Stakes (Thakafaat 2005)
- Golden Jubilee Stakes (Fayr Jag 2004)
- Brigadier Gerard Stakes (Bandari 2004)
- Wokingham Stakes (Fayr Jag 2003)
- Zetland Gold Cup (Hazim 2003)
- Cheshire Oaks (Hammiya 2003)
- Greenham Stakes (Muqbil 2003)
- Gordon Stakes (Bandari 2002)
- Cumberland Lodge Stakes (Nayef 2001)
- Park Hill Stakes (Ranin 2001)
- Firth of Clyde Fillies Stakes (Alshadiyah 2000)
- Chipchase Stakes (Tedburrow 2000)
- Queensferry Stakes (Tedburrow 1999)
- Beeswing Stakes (Josr Algarhoud 1999)
- Northern Sprint Trophy (Unshaken 1999)
- Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes (Fly To The Stars 1999)
- City Wall Stakes (Tedburrow 1998)
- Golden Shaheen (Mudallel 1998)
- Coventry Stakes (Verglas 1996)
- Irish Lincolnshire (Tropical Lake 1995, Cielamour 1990)
- Belgrave Stakes (Diligent Dodger 1994)
- Tetrarch Stakes (College Chapel 1993)
- Testimonial Stakes (Bradawn Breever 1993)
- Knockaire Stakes (Dashing Colours 1992)
Early Days
Having graduated from RACE, the world-renowned apprentice jockey school in Co. Kildare, Supple was initially attached to the John Oxx Senior yard, but unfortunately he didn’t last long there as he broke his leg when pony racing. Once recovered from the injury, he went to work for Jim Bolger, for whom his brother was working for at the time. He began his race-riding career in 1988 and didn’t waste any time making an impact, riding seven winners from 127 rides in his first season, getting plenty of rides from outside trainers in the process. 1989 proved similarly successful, but it was in 1990 that Supple really began to make a name for himself. He began the season in perfect style, winning the Irish Lincoln on the Bolger-trained Cielamour, and he went on to gain another valuable win in the Ulster Derby on the Bolger-trained Nordic Region. Such winners helped raise his profile significantly and 1991 proved to be even more successful for him, riding no less than 33 winners with the majority coming on Bolger-trained horses, including a number of valuable handicap wins on the likes of Gogarty and Ballyloop. However, his most memorable race that season was a case of “the one that got away”, as he failed by just ½-length to pull off a 20/1 shock on Nordic Brief in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh.
While 1992 was not as numerically successful for Supple as the season that came before it, he did manage to claim a listed race success on the Daniel Murphy-trained Dashing Colours in the Knockaire Stakes. That season would prove to be a mere blip in his overall progression, as he stormed back to top form in 1993, registering a career-best total of 38 winners with the highlight perhaps coming when riding the Vincent O’Brien-trained College Chapel to make a winning debut in the Group 3 Tetrarch Stakes at the Curragh.
From 1993 through to the end of the 1997 season, Supple continued to operate at a high level, riding a multitude of big-race winners including his second Irish Lincoln (on the Michael Hourigan-trained Tropical Lake) and the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on Kevin Prendergast-trained Verglas), but his career had undoubtedly hit something of a plateau in Ireland. Supple identified this and duly made a decision that could potentially make or break his career by moving to England to pursue new opportunities.
A Career-Changing Decision
Supple was entitled to be nervous about moving away from Ireland on a full-time basis for the first time, but those nerves did not take long to be cooled as he claimed a valuable success on the Dhruba Selvaratnan-trained Mudallel in the Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night at Nad Al Sheba. Indeed, Dubai would prove to be a very happy hunting ground for Supple during the winter months, with him beginning crowned Champion Jockey on a number of occasions in the years to come. That win kick-started what proved to be a more than satisfactory first season as a freelance rider in England, with him riding a total of 21 winners from 366 rides.
In 1999, Supple began to receive rides from the various Arabian sources and indeed, it was the Saeed Bin Suroor-trained Fly To The Stars that provided Supple with a milestone first Group 1 win in the Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 15th 1999. A few months later, the same stable provided him with a Group 3 victory courtesy of Josr Algarhoud in the Beeswing Stakes at Newcastle. This, combined with his lucrative association with the Eric Alston yard, meant that Supple registered a fine total of 41 winners for the season from just over 500 rides. The following year saw him gain no less than 49 winners from 574 rides and while he failed to land a big-race success that term, the likes of the Alston-trained pair of Tedburrow and Damalis proved to be excellent servants to him a listed events and high-class handicaps respectively. However, more significantly, it was during this season that Supple began to ride more and more horses for Hamdan Al Maktoum and the following season, he would have the honour of being appointed as the second-rider to the powerful owner behind Richard Hills.
With such powerful support now behind him, 2001 proved to be the most successful season of Supple’s career in terms of number of winners (73 in England) and he also gained a number of memorable Group-race successes, namely on Ranin in the Group 3 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster and on the subsequent multiple Group 1 winner Nayef in the Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot.
While Supple’s winner tally was never far away from his 2001 total in the next number of years, he did better the standard of big-race wins during those intervening years. Perhaps one of his most treasured companions during these years was the teak-tough Fayr Jag, whom Supple enjoyed a lucrative partnership with from 2002 until 2005, gaining a total of six wins on him including in the Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot (dead-heated) in 2003and the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot the following season. Another notable partner for Supple during this period was the Mark Johnston-trained Bandari, on whom he won the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in 2002 and the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot at York in 2005. Significantly, the last-named win came less than 48 hours after Supple had ridden another Royal Ascot at York winner on the John Dunlop-trained Thakafaat in the Ribblesdale Stakes. However, despite all these high-profile successes, Supple had another big change in mind for his career, one which would bring him back to the land of his birth.
Returning To Ireland
At the beginning of the 2006 season, Supple made the very difficult decision to resign as the second-choice jockey to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum to return to Ireland for the remainder of his career. It was undoubtedly a tough choice to make, but Supple was quickly rewarded for his bravery with an excellent first season back in his homeland. He rode a total of 33 winners from 515 rides, with the highlight unquestionably being his win on the Kevin Prendergast-trained Miss Beatrix in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. Other highlights came on the Frank Ennis-trained Confuchias in the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown and on the Harry Rogers-trained Moon Unit in the listed Woodlands Stakes at Naas.
While Supple did not enjoy as much success on the big-race front in 2007 as he had in 2006, he maintained a similar strike-rate and consolidated his position as a man still to be reckoned with in the Irish weighing room. Things returned to normal on the big-race front for Supple in 2008, with him gaining a Group 3 victory in the Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown on the Frank Ennis-trained Ferneley before claiming his second success in the Ulster Derby on Fantoche, 18 years on from his first success in the race on Nordic Region. However, his season ended on a sore note as he missed the last three months of the term due to suffering fractures to three vertebrae in a fall at the Curragh.
Not deterred by that injury setback, Supple got 2009 off to a good start with another solid season in the UAE and once back in Ireland, he continued that trend. A steady stream of winners followed and he gained notable wins on the Harry Rogers-trained Fit The Cove in the valuable Connacht Tribune Centenary Handicap at the Galway Festival, on the Eric Alston-trained Reverence in the Group 3 Flying Five Stakes and on the Paul Deegan-trained Lady Springbank in the Group 3 C.L. Weld Park Stakes, both at the Curragh.
2010 was a solid if somewhat unspectacular campaign for Supple. Despite a couple of bold bids, he failed to win a stakes race during the course of the term, but he did secure a lucrative win on the Thomond O’Mara-trained Castle Bar Sling in the Stillorgan Premier Handicap at Leopardstown in July.
With jockeys such as Kevin Manning and Pat Shanahan showing that Flat jockeys can remain at the top of their game well into their forties and beyond, Supple can look forward to plenty more successful years in the Irish weighing room.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011
