Joe Canty

1895-1971

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish jockeys of all time, Joe Canty was seven times Irish champion. His record of 117 winners in a calendar year (Flat and jumps combined), set in 1925, remained unbeaten for well over half a century until Charlie Swan won 123 races, all over jumps, in 1994. He rode the winners of 17 Irish Classics. 

Joseph Canty was born in 1895 at Knocklong, Co. Limerick, where his family were farmers and shopkeepers. He was the youngest of 18 children, some of whom he never met. 

From an early age he demonstrated natural riding ability and won many Donkey Derbies and flapping races before following his older brother Jimmy and becoming apprenticed to Michael Dawson at Rathbride Manor, the Curragh in 1910. He and rode his first winner on Fairy Music in the Whitefields Nursery Handicap at Phoenix Park on July 6, 1912. By 1914 he had ridden out his claim, 

He became champion jockey for the first time in 1919 with a combined score under both codes of 65 wins. In the long tradition of dual-purpose Irish jockeys, he was equally proficient on the Flat and over hurdles, winning four editions of the Galway Hurdle in the latter sphere. He sometimes rode over fences as well and again proved equally adept, winning the Leopardstown Chase twice.   

When winning his third title in 1925, his record 117 wins from 339 mounts (almost 35%) comprised 82 races on the Flat and 35 over jumps, only one fewer than Gordon Richards’ tally in Britain the same year. What made the achievement even more remarkable was that the lightest he could ride at was 8st 4lb. Interestingly, only three of those 117 first prizes were worth as much as £300 – the Marble Hill Stakes on Mascot, and the Baldoyle Foal Plate and the Anglesey Stakes on Ardsallagh. 

Not long after he had won his fourth Galway Hurdle on Shrewd King in 1929, Joe suffered a serious back injury in a fall. While it curtailed his career over jumps, his injury caused him to lose sufficient weight to pursue a full-time career on the Flat.  

His first three Irish Derby winners were Haine (1924, dead-heat), Sea Serpent (1931) and the latter’s son Mondragon (1939), who was trained by his brother Jimmy Canty. His fourth and last Irish Derby winner, The Phoenix (1943), owned and trained by Fred Myerscough, was the best horse he ever rode. Ireland’s champion two-year-old of 1942, The Phoenix won the Irish Two Thousand Guineas on his reappearance before landing the Irish Derby. The colt would have won the Irish Triple Crown and remained undefeated had he not been beaten, at odds of 8-1 on, by Solferino in the St Leger. 

Joe rode regularly for trainer Hubert Hartigan, who provided him with six of his Classic victories, two of them courtesy of Majideh. The Aga Khan’s filly won the Irish One Thousand Guineas and Irish Oaks in 1942, and subsequently became the dam of 1948 English Oaks winner Masaka. In 1946, Joe and Hubert combined to win both Irish Guineas, landing the Two Thousand with the Aga Khan’s colt Claro and the One Thousand with Mr Joseph McLean’s filly Ella Retford.

During Joe’s career, Ireland was regarded as a racing backwater and its best horses were well below top international standard. Even the most dominant jockey in Ireland was seen as no more than a big fish in a very small pond. Nevertheless, Joe was one of three jockeys, along with Morny Wing and Tommy Burns, who dominated Irish racing between 1920 and 1950. 

Joe scored his biggest success in Britain when leading all the way on Knight’s Caprice to win the 1939 Stewards’ Cup on his first ride at Goodwood. On one of his other occasional trips across the Irish Sea, he won the Gloucestershire Hurdle on Rathnally at the 1928 Cheltenham National Hunt meeting for trainer Frank Hartigan, brother of Hubert. 

Joe’s carefree lifestyle began to take its toll in post-war years. When he realised that his that even his ‘reviver’ – a flask of black coffee and brandy – was no longer having the required effect, he announced his retirement in 1952. He had won 1,437 races in Ireland, a record which stood until Christy Roche broke it in 1994. He turned his hand to training but had little success. 

Joe Canty died on March 7, 1971, aged 78.

His 17 Irish Classic winners were: 

1924 Derby: Haine (dead-heat)

1931 Derby: Sea Serpent

1934 Two Thousand Guineas: Cariff

1935 Two Thousand Guineas: Hocus Pocus

1939 One Thousand Guineas: Serpent Star

1939 Derby: Mondragon 

1941 St Leger: Etoile de Lyons

1942 One Thousand Guineas: Majideh

1942 Oaks: Majideh

1943 Two Thousand Guineas: The Phoenix

1943 Derby: The Phoenix

1943 Oaks: Suntop

1944 One Thousand Guineas: Annetta

1944 St Leger: Water Street

1946 Two Thousand Guineas: Claro

1946 Two Thousand Guineas: Ella Retford

1948 Two Thousand Guineas: Morning Wings