Mick Fitzgerald

Michael Anthony Fitzgerald was born in the city of Cork on May 10, 1970, the son of a mechanic. His brother, John, was born a year later: Elizabeth, a sister, in 1972.

His mother – a waitress in Naas restaurant – and father – an army apprentice – were married in Cork in October 1968.

The family then moved to Killarney where Mick spent three years in a convent before moving on to a monastery.

The Fitzgeralds then moved to Camolin in Wexford, principally to care for Mick's ailing grandfather, who died a few months later.

Mick's dad had always had an interest in owning horses: when, that Christmas, a peddler had a pony for sale, he bought him and stabled him in the back garden.

This was the start of Mick's love affair with horses.

Soon he was competing in the Arklow gymkhanas and out hunting with the Island Foxhounds, his local hunt.

It should have been a happy time: instead he fell victim to a bully at school. Constantly picked on by another youth, Mick's school days were, for a year, a time of abject misery.

Then Mick confronted his bully on the football pitch. Something inside Mick just snapped: in a rage built up over the past twelve months, he completely pole-axed him.

Thankfully, after that, the bullying stopped.

One day, while exercising his pony, Mick was spotted by Sean Doyle, a friend of his father's, who worked at the local racing yard of trainer Richard Lister.

Sean, impressed with Mick's handling of the pony, arranged for him to go to the stables on at the weekends.

Mick fell in love with speed – and racing – when they put him up on a filly; Mick had no idea how fast a horse could run, and from that moment was totally hooked.

On April 16, 1986 – at Gowan Park – Mick, aged fifteen, was ready for his racecourse debut. He rode Being Bold for Richard Lister, finishing a very respectable fifth.

Mick had around another twenty rides for the stable before realizing he needed to move on if he was going to make it. He left home at sixteen and joined John Hayden's yard at The Curragh, some sixty miles from his home in Camolin.

Initially staying in a caravan, he moved into John's house to become, virtually, part of the family.

Despite this tranquil setting, Mick still hankered after real success. When Stanley Moore - who worked back in England for Toby Balding - fixed him up with a job at John Jenkins' yard in Royston, Hertfordshire, Mick jumped at the chance.

But it was for trainer Richard Tucker that Mick rode his first winner. On board Lover's Secret at Ludlow on December 11, 1988, Mick was greatly helped when the favourite crashed out at the second last, leaving Mick to come home an easy winner.

He quickly rode a second winner – Corston Springs at Hereford – then...disaster.

18 months passed before he rode his third.

Tucker's stable just wasn't firing: Mick stuck with him as long as he dared then moved to Ron Hodges, but to no avail.

Still he couldn't find that elusive third winner and his disillusionment deepened each day. The future looked somewhat bleak. He seriously considered immigrating to New Zealand in search of greater opportunities.

Things brightened considerably in 1991 when he ran into Ray Callow who trained about ten horses not far from Ron's.

Callow put Mick up on Sunset Sam at Hereford that Easter Monday. Much to Mick's delight and relief, they won, and suddenly all was bright in Mick's world again. The buzz of winning returned, but Mick knew it was still nowhere near enough.

He would, he realized, need a bigger stable to ride for.

Callow knew Gerald Ham, a trainer who regularly had thirty-odd winners a season. Callow put in a good word for Mick: Ham, who trained at Rooks Bridge in Somerset, just twenty miles from Callow's, agreed to take Mick on.

It was then that Mick's life as a jockey properly took off.

He rode a few winners for Ham and, being reasonably close, was able to continue also to ride for Callow.

Mick was grateful to a horse named Duncan Idaho, who won three races on the trot for Mick, helping to put the jockey on the map.

His career stepped up a gear when, on Imperial Cup day at Sandown, he rode Rafiki to a fifteen lengths success in the Bumper. The following Saturday – Midlands Grand National Day at Uttoxeter – he rode old friend Duncan Idaho to victory against the likes of Peter Scudamore and Richard Dunwoody.

Within two years, Mick was offered work by Nicky Henderson.

Then, like so many other top jockeys, he went into the books of top jockey agent Dave Roberts.

Dave made an immediate and telling difference.

Soon Mick was riding for Howard Johnson, Tim Thomson Jones, Henrietta Knight and Nick Gaselee.

Somewhat inevitably, Mick won the conditional riders' title in the 1992//93 season, having booted home 54 winners.

Mick met Nicky Henderson for the first time at the Ascot Sales in July, 1993. They arranged to meet at a later date: they did, and Mick was offered the job of stable jockey. He had no hesitation in accepting.

Henderson sent out horses from his Severn Barrows yard which boasted an illustrious past. Trainers before him there included Garrett Moore, Humphrey Cottrill, Bill Payne, David Hastings and Peter Walwyn.

Famous horses that had set out from there to record history included Grundy, Humble Duty, Zucchero and Polygamy.

Mick was in good company.

Unfortunately, Palm Reader - Mick's first ride for the stable – had not read the script. He charged headlong at a fence in the back straight and, failing to rise, turned a somersault and threw Mick over its head.

Bad start, but Mick quickly bounced back and, in October 1993, steered Billy Bathgate round Kempton's flat circuit to notch his first win for the stable.

Mick was to remain Henderson's stable jockey for 15 years in which he rode and won on some of the best horses of his time. They included his personal favourite, Fondmort, their wins together embracing the Ryanair Chase and the Tripleprint Gold Cup.

The highest-rated horse Mick rode during his career was the Paul Nicholls-trained Kauto Star, on which he won the 2005 Tingle Creek Chase. He also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and King George VI Chase in 1999 for Nicholls on See More Business. His greatest win, however, came on trainer Terry Casey's Rough Quest in the 1996 Grand National.

The following twelve years brought further success at the highest of levels. He went on to ride a total of 1,296 winners, the last of them being on Bring Me Sunshine at Taunton on April 3, 2008. But just two days later, his career was at an end.

It was during the Grand National of 2008, riding L'Ami, that Mick's career in the saddle came, at the second fence, to a shuddering halt. The horse simply did not rise at it and Mick fractured four vertebrae. After spending the next few days in hospital and learning the full extent of his injuries, he knew it was all over.

Now fully recovered, the loquacious Irishman is now gainfully employed by both ITV Racing and Sky Sports Racing as one of their presenters, and has readily adapted to his new career.

Mick Fitzgerald

Grand National winner: Rough Quest (1996)

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner: See More Business (1999)

Other big winners:

1996: Agfa Diamond Chase – Amtrak Express

1966: Imperial Cup – Amancio

1998: Tote Gold Trophy – Sharpical

1999: Queen Mother Champion Chase – Call Equiname

1999: Triumph Hurdle – Katarino

1999: King George VI Chase – See More Business

2000: Tote Gold Trophy – Geos

2000: Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase – Tituchev

2000: National Hunt Handicap Chase – Marlborough

2001: Tote Gold Trophy – Landing Light

2002: Tripleprint Gold Cup – Fondmort

2005: Royal & Sun Alliance Chase – Trabolgan

2005: Hennessy Gold Cup – Trabolgan

2005: Tingle Creek Chase – Kauto Star

2006: Ryanair Chase – Fondmort