Martin Molony (20 July 1925 – 10 July 2017) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

jockey.

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. 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.

Flat

Molony captured the

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks 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 and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it is s ...

on Desert Drive in 1947. Molony rode Princess Trudy to win 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 1950. That year he also finished third in The Oaks on Stella Polaris. The following year he was victorious the

Irish 2,000 Guineas The Irish 2,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is s ...

with Signal Box. He rode Signal Box in the 1951

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

where the horse finished third to

Arctic Prince Arctic Prince (1948–1969) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who was trained in England during a brief racing career which lasted from 1950 to 1951 and consisted of only five races. Arctic Prince won two races including th ...

Jumps

Molony won three

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5,834 m ...

s (Knight's Crest in 1944, Golden View in 1946 and Dominick's Bar in 1950). 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 Cottage Rake (1939–1961) was a successful National Hunt racehorse. His breeder was Richard Vaughan from Hunting Hall, Castletown Roche, Co. Cork, Ireland. Before he embarked on his jumping career, he was failed by a vet on three different ...

. In March 1951, he won a

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

on Silver Fame; the pairing also won two other races at the festival.

Retirement

Later in 1951, Molony was forced to retire at the age of 26 following a fall at

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

on Bursary. He returned to his native Limerick and ran Rathmore Stud with his wife.

Records

Molony won six consecutive

Irish jump racing Champion Jockey The Champion Jockey of National Hunt racing in Ireland is the jockey who has ridden the most winning horses during a season. The list below shows the Champion Jockey for each year since 1946. The current champion, as of 2023, is Paul Townend. ...

s titles between 1946 and 1951. 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.

Death

Molony died 10 days before his 92nd birthday on 10 July 2017, aged 91."Legendary jockey Martin Molony passes away aged 91"
RTE.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molony, Martin 1925 births 2017 deaths Irish jockeys Sportspeople from County Limerick