Talented Gilligan staying on his chosen path as a jockey
BORN into a racing family, Galway jockey Liam Gilligan never really had any doubts about what career he wanted to pursue.
The 18-year-old was smitten by horses from the start and menial tasks such as mucking out and grooming never led to any negative thoughts about his chosen path.
Growing up in the townland of Cahercrin in Craughwell, Gilligan was surrounded by horses as his father, Paul, is a licensed trainer who became the first handler based in the West of Ireland to saddle a winner at the Cheltenham festival in 2010.
The horse was Berties Dream and the race was the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle. It was a red-letter day for the Gilligan family and though Liam was only nine at the time, the day is locked into his memory.
“Nearly all the family were in Cheltenham, but I was too young to go. My grandmother collected me from National School and I was watched the race in her house. It was some exciting day.”
“Having gained plenty of experience on the pony racing circuit, Gilligan successfully completed his jockey assessment with RACE in Kildare and, all the while, he was helping out in the family’s racing yard.
“From day one, I was always going to do this. I played hurling up to 15 or 16 for Craughwell, but it started getting in the way of racing. I was just mad keen to be a jockey.
Three years ago, he spent a summer with the Denis Hogan stable in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary as a work rider before also picking up more valuable experience when having a stint with champion trainer Willie Mullins for a few months in 2017.
“Ruby Walsh asked me would I be interested in going down there and it was great to get into the Mullins’ yard as a work rider after doing my Leaving Cert.”
Gilligan quickly got an appreciation about what has made Mullins the dominant force in National Hunt racing. “He goes into so much detail and is a great judge. He just knows so much.”
Mullins soon became a fan of Gilligan’s own talent and gave the Galway jockey a major break when offering him the ride on Deal D’eustruval in the Martin Pipe Conditional Hurdle at the 2018 Cheltenham festival.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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