Like many jockeys that hail from Ireland, Pat Eddery had horse racing in his blood from an early age and, indeed, it was his father, Jimmy Eddery whose footsteps he followed in.
Eddery senior was a successful jockey in his own right; perhaps remembered best for finishing second in the Epsom Derby.
Born in 1952 in county Kildare, Ireland, Eddery junior apprenticed at the age of 14 to Seamus McGrath prior to moving to England where he worked under the legendary Freddie Nicholson; the mentor of jockeys.
Tough Start And Rigorous Apprenticeship
Eddery struggled to adapt in England during his first few months and was often homesick, missing his mother’s cooking, while his living conditions left a lot to be desired on a wage of 10 shillings per week and just one day off every three weeks.
It took Eddery 390 days and 69 attempts before getting his first win in the saddle. Upon asking trainer Michael Pope how to ride Alvaro at Epsom in 1969, he simply told him: “Just guide him. He’ll win”. The duo won six consecutive races that season.
Nicholson was a tough taskmaster, though gave Eddery the tools he needed to be successful; once famously pinning the teenager up against the wall and reminding him that even after he began winning, he still had everything to learn. It was however, discipline and tough love like this that turned Eddery into a balanced, tactical genius.
This prepared him for what was to come and during the 1970s, he burst onto the scene winning four consecutive titles between 1974 and 1977, including his first Derby on Grundy. Fellow jockey, Joe Mercer once described him as the “Pollyfilla” of the racing world because he filled every hole on the racecourse.
The Payoff
He returned to Ireland in the early 1980s, where he took up residence at the renowned Ballydoyle, under the excellent stewardship of Vincent O’Brien and partnering with Golden Fleece; the “best horse he ever rode”, striking up a fruitful accord.
His time in Ireland was one of the high points of his career and it was this that significantly elevated his profile, moving back to England in the late 1980s as the retained rider of Prince Khalid Abduall where his commercial peak exploded, winning his final seven championships, while piloting the world’s best horses all over the world.
At this point, he was a rockstar of racing; the gruelling hours in his early days under the watchful Nicholson paying dividends.
During his time with the Prince at Juddmonte, nearly everything turned to gold for Eddery and he had the opportunity to ride top class horses. Indeed, it was the 1988 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood where he rode Warning to victory as he tracked the leaders and quickened a furlong out to win comfortably.
Eddery also provided the Prince with his first homebred Epsom Derby win, in 1990 with Quest For Fame, sent off at 7/1 winning by three lengths. In what was a week to remember, Eddery then flew to France to secure a double derby win, steering Sanglamore to victory in the Prix du Jockey Club.
During the summer of 2003 at Windsor, Eddery announced his retirement, effectively giving him a farewell tour and chance for fans to see him one last time in the saddle. He ended the chapter as a jockey aged 51 with 4,632 British winners though passed away in 2015 aged 63 with much of the racing community coming together to pay tribute to a jockey who is remembered as one of the best.