Martin Harley (born 19 July 1989 in

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is a

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group On ...

winning Irish

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

Career

Harley had spells as stable jockey for

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...

and

Marco Botti Marco Botti (born 23 December 1976) is an Italian racehorse trainer who is based in Great Britain, working from his stable ''Prestige Place'' in Newmarket, Suffolk. Botti is the son of Alduino Botti, a champion racehorse trainer in Italy, and wo ...

, before turning freelance. His first

victory was for Channon on

Samitar Samitar (foaled 1 February 2009) is a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who raced in four countries and won major races in England, Ireland and the United States. She showed good form as a juvenile in 2011, winning the Albany St ...

in the

Irish 1,000 Guineas The Irish 1,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to ...

in May 2012. For Botti, he won the

Prix Royal Oak The Prix Royal-Oak is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), an ...

the following year on Tac De Boistron, which helped him to a yearly prize money total of over £1 million for the first time. His breakthrough triumph was the 2015

King's Stand Stakes The King's Stand Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled ...

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

, on the Robert Cowell-trained Goldream. He won by a short head. He won the

Prix de l'Abbaye The Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged two years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,000 metres (about 5 furlongs) ...

with another narrow victory on the same horse later in the season. In March 2014, in a minor race at Lingfield, he clipped the heels of a rival on Red Art, and was catapulted into the ground, at almost 40 mph. He suffered a broken neck and several broken ribs in an injury that was considered potentially career-ending. In 2016, he built a successful partnership with stayer Sheikhzayedroad, winning three group races, including the

Doncaster Cup The Doncaster Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 2 miles 1 furlong and 197 yards (3,600 metr ...

and

British Champions Long Distance Cup The British Champions Long Distance Cup is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 7 furlongs and ...

Statistics

Flat wins in Great Britain by year

Major wins

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

- '' Goldream (2015)''

- ''

(2012)''

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

- '' Goldream (2015)'' *

- '' Tac De Boistron (2013)''

Notes

References

Irish jockeys Living people 1989 births {{Ireland-horseracing-bio-stub