Article by Chris Pitt
Born in Kilmogany, Co. Kildare, John Joseph Cuddihy was a northern National Hunt jockey who rode between 1948 and 1964 and amassed a career total of 45 winners. His first of them came on selling hurdler Fox Wood at Carlisle on October 18, 1948.
He had to wait more than three years for his next, another selling hurdler named Ormolu, at Ayr on March 24, 1952. Ormolu was trained by John Dixon at Lockerbie, and it was another Lockerbie-based trainer, Hugh Barclay, who was responsible for John’s third winner, yet another selling hurdler, Gorilla, at Hexham on Whit Monday 1952.
Consular, trained by Wilf Crawford at East Lothian, became John’s first winner over fences when winning at Perth in April 1953. The following month, at Sedgefield on May 16, he won a two-mile novices’ chase on a horse that would become the best he ever rode, John Dixon’s Victory Morn, who followed up that Sedgefield win by justifying odds-on at Hexham seven days later.
John kicked off the 1953/54 campaign at Perth by winning a selling chase and a selling hurdle on consecutive days on Dixon’s Joyful Light, who also won for him again at Hexham later in the season. As for Victory Morn, John rode him a dozen times that season, including in several high profile races such as the Wetherby Grand National Trial (fourth), Eider Chase (fifth), Catterick Grand National Trial (second) and the Scottish Grand National (fifth). Although their only victory together came in a minor race at Carlisle over Easter, they made the frame on nine occasions in good company, notably when finishing third, beaten a neck and three-quarters of a length by Little Yid and Cock Feathers in the Topham Trophy over the Grand National fences.
The 1954/55 season was numerically John’s best with ten winners from 86 rides, all those victories coming on horses trained by John Dixon, who was by then based at Wigton, Cumberland. Victory Morn set the ball rolling by winning at Hexham, Carlisle and Ayr in October and at Catterick in November.
Joyful Light gave John the perfect start to 1955 when winning at Catterick on New Year’s Day, going on to win twice more that season, while novice hurdler Royal Performance won for him at Haydock and Sedgefield. Sadly, Victory Morn, having won those four races in quick succession, was then sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Given time to recover, he ran consistently enough during the next two years and was placed many times but never won again.
All of John’s six winners in 1955/56 were for Dixon. Novice chaser Easter Royal won twice within five days in October; old friend Joyful Light scored twice, and a grey four-year-old hurdler named Herdlaw won two within 48 hours at Perth and Hexham in April. It was a similar story for 56/57, six winners, all for Dixon, including two on juvenile hurdler Union Mist. Dixon provided John with three of his five successes in 57/58, the highlight being Joyful Light’s victory in the George Mulcaster Memorial Cup Chase at Sedgefield.
Thereafter, however, John Cuddihy’s fortunes waned. Just one winner in 1958/59, then two the one after, one in each of the next three, all of them achieved late in the season and all supplied by J. Craig Brown, who trained at Bonnytoun, Linlithgow.
It appeared that things may have been looking up when John made a good start to the 1963/64 campaign riding a winner on both days of the Perth September fixture, the second of them being Bavington in the three-mile Luncarty Novices’ Chase. But it proved a false dawn and John went into Ayr’s two-day March fixture with no more winners to show. He finished second on Craig Brown’s Rockdaw on the first day but the following day, March 16, 1964, he was badly concussed when novice chaser Garryrichard’s fall at the sixth fence. John was taken to Ayr County Hospital. He had no more rides after that and relinquished his licence at the end of the season.
He died on June 19, 2006, at Southern Cross Nursing Home, Linlithgow, Scotland.
John Cuddihy’s winners in chronological order were:
1. Fox Wood, Carlisle, October 18, 1948
2. Ormolu, Ayr, March 24, 1952
3. Gorilla, Hexham, May 31, 1952
4. Consular, Perth, April 23, 1953
5. Victory Morn, May 16, 1953
6. Victory Morn, May 23, 1953
7. Joyful Light, Perth, September 23, 1953
8. Joyful Light, Perth, September 24, 1953
9. Victory Morn, Carlisle, April 17, 1954
10. Joyful Light, Hexham, June 5, 1954
11. Victory Morn, Hexham, October 4, 1954
12. Victory Morn, Carlisle, October 11, 1954
13. Victory Morn, Ayr, October 16, 1954
14. Victory Morn, Catterick, November 6, 1954
15. Joyful Light, Catterick, January 1, 1955
16. Royal Performance, Haydock, January 7, 1955
17. Joyful Light, Catterick, January 29, 1955
18. Royal Performance, Sedgefield, February 3, 1955
19. Irish Gift, Cartmel, May 28, 1965
20. Joyful Light, Hexham, May 30, 1955
21. Easter Royal, Hexham, October 3, 1955
22. Easter Royal, Carlisle, October 8, 1955
23. Joyful Light, Kelso, October 21, 1955
24. Joyful Light, Catterick, December 31, 1955
25. Herdlaw, Perth, April 26, 1956
26. Herdlaw, Hexham, April 28, 1956
27. Union Mist, Sedgefield, September 12, 1956
28. Union Mist, Hexham, October 1, 1956
29. Nitriphar, Ayr, October 13, 1956
30. Herdlaw, Catterick, January 26, 1957
31. Easter Royal, Kelso, March 2, 1957
32. Bay Brother, Hexham, May 6, 1957
33. West Croft, Hexham, September 28, 1957
34. Young Turk, Kelso, October 19, 1957
35. Easter Royal, Sedgefield, February 1, 1958
36. Northmayne, Kelso, March 1, 1958
37. Repeat, Perth, April 23, 1958
38. Own Time, Ayr, March 14, 1959
39. Storey Cracker, Kelso, May 5, 1960
40. Lovers Nook, Hexham, June 6, 1960
41. Lovers Nook, Hexham, May 22, 1961
42. Gogol, Kelso, May 5, 1962
43. Exchange Material, April 15, 1963
44. Bonnytoun, Perth, September 25, 1963
45. Bavington, Perth, September 26, 1963
