Patrick Gilligan

Patrick Gilligan

Article by Alan Trout

Patrick Gilligan rode half a dozen winners in Ireland before coming to Britain, where he rode 23 more between 1907 and 1915. 

His first British wins came at Cardiff’s Easter meeting on the first two days of April 1907, beginning with a 20-length romp for Flax Field in the Llandaff Hurdle. The four-year-old had only run once before over jumps, when unplaced at Baldoyle on New Year’s Day, and Patrick was aboard him for the first time. The following day saw him score a neck victory on the five-year-old Chaperon on the Penarth Handicap Chase, the only occasion on which he rode the horse. 

He had to be content with just one win in 1908, but after that, his scores began to improve, with five in both 1909 and 1910. He finished second in the 1910 Welsh Grand National on Fiddler’s Pride, on whom he had already won four times, beaten eight lengths by Caubeen, ridden by ‘Tich’ Mason.

Three years then elapsed without a winner, and then just one in 1913, but that was followed by a career-best tally of eight, which would have been nine had he not been disqualified for ‘bumping and boring’ after finishing first past the post on Irish Lord in the Moderate Hurdle at Newton Abbot in May. 

His last win was at Shirley Park on March 29, 1915, when Trebizond won the Earlswood Selling Handicap Chase by three lengths. He held a licence for several more seasons after the war, having his final ride on Lucky Prince, who finished fifth in the February Four-Year-Old Maiden Hurdle at Sandown Park on February 5, 1921. 

Patrick Gilligan’s British winners were, in chronological order:

1. Flax Field, Cardiff, April 1, 1907

2. Chaperon, Cardiff, April 2, 1907

3. Comrade, Wye, December 7, 1908

4. Babylon, Monmouth, October 13, 1909

5. Fetlar’s Pride, Newport, November 11, 1909

6. Poulbuoy, Kempton Park, December 4, 1909

7. Fetlar’s Pride, Folkestone, December 20, 1909

8. Fetlar’s Pride, Manchester, December 31, 1909

9. Curby, Wye, January 4, 1910

10. Fetlar’s Pride, Manchester, January 17, 1910

11. Prince Dulwich, Cambridge (Cottenham), February 3, 1910

12. King’s Cure, Ipswich, April 15, 1910

13. King’s Cure, Bungay, April 21, 1910

14. The Decoit, Monmouth, October 10, 1913

15. Cheery Boy, Wye, January 5, 1914

16. Prospect, Gatwick, January 7, 1914

17. Mount Felix, Nottingham, January 26, 1914

18, Prospect, Hurst Park, February 14, 1914

19. Trebizond, Bridgnorth, April 21, 1914

20. Glen Falloch, Worcester, April 28, 1914

21. Irish Lord, Cardiff, June 1, 1914

22. MacMerry, Sandown Park, October 24, 1914

23. Trebizond, Shirley Park, March 29, 1915