The son of a Tipperary farmer, David Crosse’s enthusiasm for horses was fired when a riding school opened up just down the road when he was thirteen. Initially believing that horses were for girls, he did not trouble the new riding establishment until his sister, already enrolled, dared him to come along.
His visits soon became weekly, they got a pony on the farm and, when he grew out of that, a potential purchaser who turned up had worked for Edward O’Grady and suggested he go there. From the first moment he arrived at O’Grady’s he was determined to be a jockey, and to further that ambition he went to Willie Mullins for the summer.
But the dream of becoming Mullins’ stable jockey ended abruptly when he found there were 16 wannabe riders ahead of him in the queue. At the suggestion of former amateur rider Gavin Wragg, who reckoned his good friend Charlie Mann might have a job for him in England, David crossed the Irish Sea in search of greater opportunities, joined Charlie’s Lambourn stable and rode as an amateur.
He burst on to the scene at the turn of the century, riding 19 winners in the 2001/02 season and becoming champion amateur. That same season he tasted Cheltenham Festival glory for what would be the only time aboard the Nicky Henderson-trained The Bushkeeper in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Chase.
As a professional, he enjoyed his best season in 2006/07 with 21 winners. Thereafter, however, his career was at times dogged by injury. He twice came back from career-threatening injuries – a broken leg at Plumpton in 2009 and a serious shoulder injury suffered in a schooling accident in 2018, the latter necessitating two plates and 12 screws being inserted, after which he was told he may never ride again.
Other injuries necessitating spells on the sidelines included injuring ribs and an ankle in a fall from Haatefina in a Leicester selling hurdle in December 2015, and, in May 2018; fracturing his right thumb at Huntingdon when unseated close home in a bumper by his mount, Edabean, who veered right and jumped over the rails and onto the chase course. In July 2020, a fortnight after jump racing had resumed following its enforced shutdown, he was in the wars again when taking a fall from Knockmaole Boy at the third-last fence in a two-mile handicap chase at Southwell.
In addition to the injuries, for the last 15 years of his riding career, David had also battled diabetes, a diagnosis he kept hidden for all but the last two years of his career, believing it would have been “professional suicide” to disclose the information. Speaking to the Racing Post, he paid tribute to racecourse doctor Philip Pritchard and the BHA’s Jerry Hill for their help in prolonging his career.
“I need to especially thank Dr Philip Pritchard and Dr Jerry Hill,” he said. “I’ve ridden for the last 15 years as a diabetic and Philip looked after me brilliantly for so long.
"He went above and beyond what he needed to do and if it wasn’t for him I’d have had to retire 15 years ago. Jerry Hill has been immense at looking after me and changing the rules on diabetics when the BHA found out.”
David announced his retirement, aged 38, on December 27, 2020. He had his last two rides at Kempton Park that day, being treated to a guard of honour by his weighing-room colleagues prior to his final mount. Alas, there was no fairytale ending, finishing ninth on the Ian Williams-trained Always Resolute in the two-mile handicap hurdle.
He ended his career with 207 winners in Britain and Ireland, the last of which came on the Linda Jewell-trained Hab Sab in the Nick Embericos Memorial 2020 Handicap Chase at Plumpton on October 19, 2020.
While no longer seen in the saddle, he remains in racing. He has his own hospitality business and has long been a popular entertainer at race meetings, giving talks before racing and escorting parties of racegoers down to the last fence or hurdle. He has also become a partner in Noel Fehily’s syndication business. In addition, he is racing manager to owner Andy Bell and is a fully qualified jockey coach.
