Speaking in Dubai, the jockey who once appeared on Group and Graded winners discussed his sudden ‘disappearance’ from weighing rooms worldwide.
In 2018, Colm O’Donoghue was at the very top of his sport.
His CV was filled with top races, including an Irish Derby on Treasure Beach, an Epsom Oaks on Qualify, a Canadian International on Joshua Tree and four Group 1s in one season.
Then it all came crashing down.
In 2019, he disappeared from weighing rooms. To the casual racing fan: he was there and then he wasn’t.
Just before was that remarkable relationship with Alpha Centauri, who seemed unstoppable, annexing the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes and Falmouth Stakes, and beating the colts in the Prix Jacques Le Marois.
Wind the clock forward more than five years and O’Donoghue, now 45, is a happy man again and ready to tell his story.
The reason for the sudden disappearance came to light in 2021 when he was acquitted of two counts of physical assault on his ex-girlfriend. The court found that he had not been in the country at the time the assault was alleged to have occurred and saw evidence of a text message that stated she intended to ruin his life.
She came close.
“I was accused of this and accused of that,” he says, the pain evident on his face. “I didn’t work for two years because I couldn’t. No-one would use me. I just rattled around the house in Ireland. You’d walk into supermarkets and people you know would walk out until you leave.”
It was a “rough, scary period”, says O’Donoghue.
“I rang the sports psychologist when I went through a really bad stage,” he continues. “Even they wouldn’t help me. It was a mad, crazy time but, c’est la vie, I’m here today.”
Almost three decades at Ballydoyle
He’s back in the sun. Literally. He’s spending the winter in Dubai as part of an all-star Charlie Appleby work riding band which also includes Kieren Fallon.
Like Fallon, O’Donoghue is perhaps best known for his association with Aidan O’Brien, which lasted nearly three decades.
The son of a builder, whose mum, he says, had a “tougher job raising five boys”, he learned his skills “crashing around fields on ponies”, with pony racing rivals Jamie Spencer, Davey Russell and Wayne Lordan, after which he applied to be an apprentice with O’Brien.
“He learned his skills ‘crashing around fields on ponies’, with pony racing rivals Jamie Spencer, Davey Russell and Wayne Lordan.”
“That was the summer of 1995,” he explains, “and I stayed there for 27 years. It was a really good time. Great horses and great people. I really enjoyed it.”
Although he never had the first jockey job at Ballydoyle, the O’Brien association brought plenty of success, including in Classics.
“I was lucky to get the rides in those races,” he says. “I suppose a lot of them are probably 50/1 plus, but I nicked a few along the way, which was fun. Ballydoyle would have four or five runners in the race, all with high-quality pedigrees, so it was about how the race unfolded on the day.”
Take Qualify in the Oaks.
“She was 50/1 and the outsider of the four or five runners, and she came and picked them up. She was my first winner of the year. It was June and I’d gone through that part of the season without a winner.”
That, you’d imagine, would really affect a jockey’s confidence.
“What happens is you start second guessing yourself,” he says. “You end up trying too hard and that’s when you make mistakes. I just kind of let the whole thing flow and unfold, and then you’d take your chance after that.”
O’Donoghue says he always watched races back.
“Win, lose or draw,” he says. “Even more so when you win. I think every jockey should look back and say: ‘right, I won, but what could I have done better in the race to make it easier for the horse?’ Always keep learning.”
“I think every jockey should look back and say: ‘right, I won, but what could I have done better in the race to make it easier for the horse?’ Always keep learning.”
It’s solid advice for aspiring jockeys and O’Donoghue feels he learned plenty from those around him.
“When I started, that era of jockeys: they were just different. Pat Eddery, Walter Swinburn, Mick Kinane, Frankie [Dettori]… the list goes on and on. The Hills brothers, Willie Ryan, Kieren Fallon… just phenomenal riders.”
Despite his success with O’Brien, O’Donoghue nominates a different trainer as the best he has ridden for.
“Sir Michael Stoute,” he answers, without hesitation.
“His attention to detail, how fit his horses were, how he placed them, and then he’d leave everything to the jockey. No instructions. It was like: ‘I've done my job, you do yours’, which gives the jockey so much freedom and so much confidence.”
“Probably the best I’ve ridden”
In his current job with Charlie Appleby, O’Donoghue has struck up an association with 2,000 Guineas and Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Notable Speech, who he has travelled with to Canada and the USA.
“I’m glad Notable Speech wasn’t around when Alpha Centauri was running, because he’d have beaten her,” he says. “He’s probably the best I’ve ridden.”
When watching trackside as Notable Speech blazes to success under William Buick, knowing a lot of the fine tuning was down to him, does he consider a comeback?
“I did a few years ago,” he says. “But there weren’t any jobs available and I’d been out of the game for three or four years, so are you going to get the support or ride in competitive races again? The chances are 70/40. I’ve made my peace with it, accepted it and stepped away.”
“Are you going to get the support or ride in competitive races again? The chances are 70/40. I’ve made my peace with it, accepted it and stepped away.”
He’s rightly proud of his career, although somewhat modestly attributes a lot of it to luck.
“I got a good run of things. I never really had a top job, but I took the opportunities I was given, which I’m proud of.”
He has also found happiness in his private life, having been in a relationship with celebrated artist Nichola Eddery – daughter of late jockey Pat – for two years.
“We knew each other years and years ago,” he says, “and just kept in contact ever since. She’s talented. An extremely good artist.”
No-one doubts that O’Donoghue, too, is talented. Perhaps one of the best riders of the recent era.
Now those talents are behind the scenes. But, as he says: “c’est la vie.”
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