On the stage where racing's spotlight shines brightest, Michael O'Sullivan excelled

IT WAS A Tuesday afternoon in March 2023 when Michael O’Sullivan announced himself to the wider sporting world.

He moved into a space of wider recognition, beyond the world of racing where his progress as a jockey had been tracked and measured, admiration growing all the time.

On the Cheltenham stage, the arena where National Hunt racing attracts the brightest glare of the spotlight, O’Sullivan excelled.

He steered Marine Nationale to win the opener, the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, for Barry Connell. The aftermath of that success was a blur of activity and acclaim for O’Sullivan, but he gathered himself amidst all the attention and later guided Jazzy Matty first home in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle for Gordon Elliott.

Two winners as the Cheltenham Festival was kick-started. Leading rider after the opening day. Dream stuff for a 23-year-old, a feat that illustrated the talent he possessed.

If that Tuesday spring afternoon was the moment of celebration, then the rise could be traced back to his pony club days in Duhallow, to Sundays spent on the point-to-point circuit, and to Friday winter nights showjumping in Ballyrafter Equestrian Centre, his father William invariably behind the wheel of the car on the trip to and from west Waterford.

“We mightn’t be back home until one o’clock that night,” recalled O’Sullivan of those younger experiences when we spoke in October 2023 for the Irish Racing Yearbook.

“It was a fair commitment. Dad runs the show at home on the farm. He works very hard and always has done.

“So for him to put that extra time and effort and money and everything into me. It was nice to be able to repay him in the way things have gone. He deserves a lot of credit.”

Michael O'Sullivan rides out Marine Nationale in 2023. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

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In early hours of Sunday morning, Michael O’Sullivan passed away at Cork University Hospital after 10 days ago suffering a fall when riding at Thurles race track and having to be airlifted from the Tipperary venue.

It is an unfathomable tragedy for his family and friends. The O’Sullivans from Lombardstown, just off the main route from Mallow to Killarney in north Cork, have long been immersed in the sport. Dad William rode Lovely Citizen, trained by Michael’s uncle Eugene, to win the 1991 Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham.

Twenty-nine years later, Eugene trained another Festival winner in It Came To Pass, a victory celebrated all the more by the presence of his daughter Maxine in the saddle. When we spoke in 2023, Michael recalled his pride at seeing his cousin’s victory that day.

“Myself and Maxine would have joked we were nearly sick of hearing about 1991. We wanted our own success. That was brilliant when Maxine won, I was there. I got a great kick out of that. At the same time I was riding myself and I was jealous of her, so I was dreaming of doing it myself at Cheltenham.”

Three years later, that dream came true as he wrote another glowing chapter in the family’s Cheltenham story.

The previous May in 2022, he had graduated with a degree in Agricultural Science from UCD. After his school days in Patrician Academy in Mallow, college added to an array of experiences that helped foster his traits of hard work, genuine decency, and maturity.

He was a big supporter of his local GAA club Kilshannig, who won the Cork premier intermediate football title last year, but racing was his one true love. In total he rode 95 winners as a jockey, recently tasting success in France and England.

His death is jarring reminder of the risks and dangers jockeys face every time they compete, of the remarkable bravery they exhibit. A harrowing story for the Irish racing community to face, just like those previously of Kieran Kelly, Jack Tyner, John Thomas McNamara, and Jack de Bromhead.

In an insightful column for the Irish Examiner last week, Ruby Walsh shone a light on what jockeys face, while also sharing an encounter with O’Sullivan before that golden Cheltenham afternoon in 2023.

 ”On the morning of 14 March 2023, I stood outside the Cheltenham racecourse stable yard in the unloading area, talking to Charlie Swan. A tall, lean figure hovered behind us before approaching, looking for advice. He didn’t want to know how he should ride his horse or what we thought of the race; he wanted to know about the track. He wanted any small pointers that he felt he should know.

“Charlie voiced a few ideas, and I chipped in with one or two more. He thanked us for our time and left. Five hours later, I joked with Charlie Swan that it was like Micheal O’Sullivan had an earpiece in as his execution of what we suggested was delivered on point. Marine Nationale nailed Facile Vega, and Micheal was a Supreme hero.

“His cleverness to ask, his manners of approach, and the general vibe he exudes have made him a likeable man.”

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.