Martin Molony

Martin Molony (20 July 1925 – 10 July 2017)[1] was an Irish jockey.

Martin Molony
OccupationJockey
Born(1925-07-20)20 July 1925
County Limerick, Ireland
Died10 July 2017(2017-07-10) (aged 91)
Ireland
Major racing wins
National Hunt wins:
Irish Grand National
(1944, 1946, 1950)
Cheltenham Gold Cup (1951)
Irish Classic wins:
Irish Oaks (1947)
Irish 2,000 Guineas (1951)
Irish 1,000 Guineas (1950)
Racing awards
Irish Champion Jockey
(1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951)

Jockey

Initially, Molony was apprenticed to Martin Hartigan. When WW2 began he returned to Ireland. He rode his first winner for George Harris at the Curragh on merely his third mount.[2] Molony was retained by Lord Bicester to ride his horses in England. He regularly commuted between Ireland and England. He had a thirty three per cent strike rate in England.[3]

Flat

Molony captured the Irish Oaks on Desert Drive in 1947. Molony rode Princess Trudy to win the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 1950. That year he also finished third in The Oaks on Stella Polaris.[2] The following year he was victorious the Irish 2,000 Guineas with Signal Box.[2] He rode Signal Box in the 1951 Epsom Derby where the horse finished third to Arctic Prince.[4]

Jumps

Molony won three Irish Grand Nationals (Knight's Crest in 1944, Golden View in 1946 and Dominick's Bar in 1950).[2] In 1950 he won aboard Dominick's Bar, a six-year-old gelding, finishing two length ahead of Stormhead, and beating three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Cottage Rake.[5] In March 1951, he won a Cheltenham Gold Cup on Silver Fame; the pairing also won two other races at the festival.[6]

Retirement

Later in 1951, Molony was forced to retire at the age of 26 following a fall at Thurles on Bursary.[2] He returned to his native Limerick and ran Rathmore Stud with his wife.[3]

Records

Molony won six consecutive Irish jump racing Champion Jockeys titles between 1946 and 1951.[6] He finished runner-up to his elder brother, Tim, in the British jump jockeys table 1949-50. Molony rode 186 winners (in Ireland, Britain and US) in 1949, including 94 jumps winners. The latter was a record that stood until broken by Charlie Swan in 1992.[2]

Death

Molony died 10 days before his 92nd birthday on 10 July 2017, aged 91.[7]

References
  1. "A rare breed: top dual-purpose jockey Martin Molony dies aged 91 | Horse Racing News | Racing Post".
  2. "Leading Flat Jockeys Down The Years". Irish Racing Greats. Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  3. Ivor Herbert Jacqueline O'Brien (2005). Vincent O'Brien The Official Biography. Bantam Press.
  4. "Arctic Prince wins English Derby". The Age. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  5. "Dominick's Bar wins Irish Grand National". The Indian Express. 12 April 1950. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  6. St John Williams, Guy (2011). Cheltenham Festival Centenary 1911–2011. Monasterevan Co.Kildare: Daletta Press.
  7. "Legendary jockey Martin Molony passes away aged 91". RTE.
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