The racing world was rocked on Tuesday evening with the news that one of Ireland’s great jockeys had been taken away from us too soon at the age of just 43.

Pat Smullen’s life was unfortunately cut short because of pancreatic cancer. He fought the disease with a typically stoic and unselfish attitude. Making the best of his terribly unlucky situation, Pat organised the Legends race last year at Leopardstown which raised an incredible €2.5 million for pancreatic trials and research.

It was this determination and perseverance that helped him reach the very top of the sport. Pat was a double Irish Champion Apprentice in 1995 and 1996, and following this early success he then went to have 1,892 career winners.

Not only was he a consistent performer week in, week out which earned him a massive nine Irish Jockey Championship titles –  he was so dependable in the big races as well.

The biggest win in Pat’s career was winning the Derby aboard Harzand in 2016 at Epsom. Pat was typically humble after his huge win, he said “I’m privileged to ride these horses but it’s a huge team effort, the team worked hard today to pull this win off”.