Tommy Finn

Irish National Hunt jockey T. V. (Tommy) Finn enjoyed a brief spell at racing’s top table in the early 1980s, thanks to his association with legendary Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny trainer Paddy Mullins.

The younger brother of Co. Meath trainer Suzanne Finn, Tommy’s first five rides for Mullins were all winning ones.

He was catapulted to fame while still a conditional when, on May 1, 1980, he won the prestigious Guinness Handicap Chase at Punchestown for Mullins on 20-1 outsider Kilbricken Money, wearing the colours of Mrs Charmian Hill, subsequently to achieve fame as the owner of Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning mare Dawn Run.

Tommy rode the Mullins-trained Pearlstone to win the 1980 Galway Hurdle. Later that season, on April 20, 1981, he achieved his greatest success when carrying the black-and-amber county colours of Kilkenny farmer John Brophy to victory on 11-1 chance Luska in the Irish Grand National, narrowly withstanding the dramatic late run of Pillar Brae, ridden by Ted Walsh. Future Grand National winner Last Suspect finished a remote third in a race that his dam, Last Link, had won 18 years previously.

In December that year, Tommy won the valuable Benson and Hedges Handicap Hurdle at Fairyhouse on Pearlstone. In November 1982, he rode another Mullins-trained horse, 7-4 favourite Hazy Dawn, to land the even more valuable Troytown Chase at Navan.

However, by then, the emergence of Paddy’s son Tony Mullins as a successful professional – he was leading conditional in 1982 – allied to that of top-class amateur Willie Mullins, signalled the end of what had been a fruitful, if short-lived, association for Tommy Finn.

Tommy Finn’s big winners were:

1980: Guinness Handicap Chase – Kilbricken Money

1980: Galway Handicap Hurdle – Pearlstone

1981: Irish Grand National – Luska

1981: Benson and Hedges Handicap Hurdle – Pearlstone

1982: Troytown Handicap Chase – Hazy Dawn