BBC SPORT | Other Sports | Maguire's rollercoaster ride



By Frank Keogh BBC Sport Online

Adrian Maguire was one of jump racing's greatest - and unluckiest - jockeys.

The 31-year-old Irishman's career was blighted by serious injury yet he still managed to join the elite club of jump jockeys to have ridden 1,000 winners in jump racing.

Adrian Maguire highlights

1991: Champion Irish point-to-point rider

1991: First Cheltenham Festival win - Omerta, Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase

1992: Joined English trainer Toby Balding, won Cheltenham Gold Cup on Cool Ground

1993: As first jockey for David Nicholson, won King George VI Chase on Barton Bank

1994: Claimed Queen Mother Champion Chase with Viking Flagship

1998: Lost job with Nicholson, won Whitbread Gold Cup on Call It A Day

2000: Joined Ferdy Murphy on a three-year deal, took Scottish National with Paris Pike

2001: Passed 1,000-win mark, won King George on Florida Pearl

Maguire, born in County Meath in the heart of Ireland, was a rider from an early age, starting his career in pony races at the age of nine.

He went on to be a young champion with 38 wins and even claimed six races in one day.

By 17, he had taken out an amateur licence with Michael Hourigan in County Limerick and ridden his first winner on Glad To Get It.

He was barely 20 years old when he arrived in Britain from the Republic of Ireland.

And in his first ride at the Cheltenham Festival, the blue riband of jump racing, he won aboard Omerta in 1991.

A year later, Maguire secured a shock success in the blue riband Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Maguire was racing's golden boy and secured one of the most sought-after roles when appointed as first jockey to trainer David Nicholson.

Nicholson, known as The Duke, ruled the mighty Jackdaws Castle stable just 20 miles or so from Cheltenham, the home of National Hunt racing.

Maguire had the rides on some of the top horses and duly obliged with victory in the King George VI Chase at Kempton (Barton Bank) and Cheltenham's Queen Mother Champion Chase (Viking Flagship).

Even a heartbreaking fall at the last when cruising to a second King George on Barton Bank did not appear enough to break the Maguire-Nicholson magic.

The Fellow is defeated by the Maguire-ridden Cool Ground in the 1992 Cheltenham Gold Cup
The rise: On Cool Ground (right), beating the Fellow in 1992 Gold Cup

The jockey himself was already a firm favourite with punters and rapidly becoming a household name as he narrowly missed out on the champion jockey title to Richard Dunwoody.

Then Maguire was struck by a cruel run of luck as injuries and family bereavement saw him miss three consecutive Cheltenham Festivals.

Eventually, the strain told, and in 1998, the rider and trainer split.

Despite the blow, Maguire triumphed that year in the Whitbread Gold Cup (Call It A Day) and Scottish Grand National (Baronet).

He remained a respected freelance and his career was soon back on track when an offer came in from the north of England.

Ferdy Murphy, based at West Witton in North Yorkshire, snapped him up on a three-year deal.

And the partnership quickly bore fruit with Paris Pike claiming the Scottish Grand National in 2000.

Adrian Maguire and Barton Bank after falling at the last in the 1994 King George Vi Chase
The fall: Maguire and Barton Bank after 1994 King George

In November of last year, Maguire rode his 1,000th winner, becoming only the seventh jump jockey to reach the milestone.

His final big race win came in the 2001 King George VI Chase, when he partnered Florida Pearl, another fine Irish ambassador, to victory.

Maguire's fortunes seemed back on the up and he approached Cheltenham 2002 on a high.

But his festival curse struck again when he badly injured his neck in a fall at Warwick just days before the big meeting.

That injury put him in a neck brace for several months and has finally forced him to retire.

Maguire's achievements have been overshadowed by his record-breaking contemporary Tony McCoy.

But his place in racing's history books is assured.


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