Sean Kirrane's Live In The Dream at York's Ebor meet with first Group One ride

23 August 2023 , 09:15

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Sean Kirrane's Live In The Dream at York's Ebor meet with first Group One ride

Winners are like buses, you wait ages for one and then two come along at once.

The saying rang true for Sean Kirrane when he was paired with York record-holder Copper Knight. Tim Easterby's evergreen sprinter covered his favourite five furlongs in 58 seconds, to top the charts for the most wins at the track.

"Copper Knight was my first winner at York in July, which was a massive thrill," said Kirrane, who rode out his claim two weeks ago. "I then made it a double on his stablemate Gibside. It has been great to finally get some momentum up this season."

As soon as he was ready to give his career a good go, the lights flicked back to red for Malton-based Kirrane. Regular injuries stopped him in his tracks, but the apprentice, hooked on being a jockey after work experience with Willie Mullins, was determined.

"I have dislocated my shoulders five times and won two races with one of them out of place," said the 23-year-old, currently seeking a sponsor. It kept happening, so I had keyhole surgery to repair each socket, which meant I was off for four months at a time. But the operations were a turning point. Not riding through the pain barrier any more, I'm on track for my best-ever season."

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Sean Kirrane gained his first win at York on admirable course specialist Copper Knight (Mick Atkins/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)

Back at peak fitness since March, the winners have kept rolling for the Irishman, who first moved to England aged 18. He rode ponies from the age of six and jumped at the chance to spend three weeks with Mullins in his teenage years.

"It was my first real introduction to a racing stable and I was a bit starstruck riding out with Ruby Walsh," he said, recalling a time when superstars Hurricane Fly and Douvan were at Closutton.

Kirrane, whose family home is a ten-minute walk from Leopardstown Racecourse, moved to Easterby's stable last year. The trainer has given him more than 100 rides this season, while others have also noticed his talents.

Kirrane was entrusted with getting the fractions right on Live In The Dream, another bold front runner like Copper Knight. Adam West's stable star has graduated from handicaps to give the sportsman his first shot at Group race glory. They reach a huge milestone together in this week's Nunthorpe, when a clash with mighty mare Highfield Princess awaits.

"I'm blessed with fast sprinters at the moment," he added. "It's a bit surreal – wanting to be a jockey for as long as I can remember and being given the chance to ride such nice horses. It's fitting one of them is called Live In The Dream, because that's what I'm doing."

Melissa Jones