Des Kavanagh
Article by Chris Pitt
Article by Chris Pitt
It’s funny how some childhood memories stick with you throughout your life. Among mine is a meeting at Uttoxeter on Easter Monday 1965. I was twelve years old and went with my dad. He had raging toothache – he was in the dentist’s chair the following morning having several teeth removed. The going was so heavy that the water jump, situated in front of the stands, was omitted for all the chases because of the waterlogged ground.
It’s funny how some childhood memories stick with you throughout your life. Among mine is a meeting at Uttoxeter on Easter Monday 1965. I was twelve years old and went with my dad. He had raging toothache – he was in the dentist’s chair the following morning having several teeth removed. The going was so heavy that the water jump, situated in front of the stands, was omitted for all the chases because of the waterlogged ground.
For the first race, the Checkley Selling Handicap Hurdle, my dad and I stood on the outside of the track adjacent to the final flight. Eight horses negotiated it successfully and battled their way up the run-in. The ninth, the tailed off Hurry, running at a speed that belied his name, jumped the hurdle, stumbled on landing, half recovered but then turned over. He got up and ran off. The jockey, wearing black, white striped sleeves, green cap, slowly rose to his feet. I can still remember it as though it was yesterday.
For the first race, the Checkley Selling Handicap Hurdle, my dad and I stood on the outside of the track adjacent to the final flight. Eight horses negotiated it successfully and battled their way up the run-in. The ninth, the tailed off Hurry, running at a speed that belied his name, jumped the hurdle, stumbled on landing, half recovered but then turned over. He got up and ran off. The jockey, wearing black, white striped sleeves, green cap, slowly rose to his feet. I can still remember it as though it was yesterday.
I glanced down at my race card where I’d entered the names of the riders in appallingly scruffy schoolboy scrawl – the jockeys weren’t listed in those days – and found it was ‘D. Kavanagh’, claiming 5lb. I noticed he also trained the horse. I’d never heard of him.
I glanced down at my race card where I’d entered the names of the riders in appallingly scruffy schoolboy scrawl – the jockeys weren’t listed in those days – and found it was ‘D. Kavanagh’, claiming 5lb. I noticed he also trained the horse. I’d never heard of him.
The rider removed his helmet. Instead of a youthful 5lb claimer I might have expected, there stood an aged, grey-haired, ashen-faced, wrinkled old man, looking 65 if he was a day. He was shaking from the effects of the fall. My dad offered him a cigarette to calm his nerves. He gratefully accepted it before slowly trudging his way back towards the finish.
The rider removed his helmet. Instead of a youthful 5lb claimer I might have expected, there stood an aged, grey-haired, ashen-faced, wrinkled old man, looking 65 if he was a day. He was shaking from the effects of the fall. My dad offered him a cigarette to calm his nerves. He gratefully accepted it before slowly trudging his way back towards the finish.
That turned out to be his last ride. ‘D. Kavanagh’ never rode in public again. When Hurry reappeared at Fontwell seven weeks later on Whit Monday, he was partnered by another 5lb claimer, Dick Walker.
That turned out to be his last ride. ‘D. Kavanagh’ never rode in public again. When Hurry reappeared at Fontwell seven weeks later on Whit Monday, he was partnered by another 5lb claimer, Dick Walker.
The image has remained with me always, yet it was only recently, almost five decades later, that I decided I should find out more about D. Kavanagh, claiming five.
The image has remained with me always, yet it was only recently, almost five decades later, that I decided I should find out more about D. Kavanagh, claiming five.
It was easy enough to trace that his Christian name was Desmond, that he’d taken out a jump jockey’s licence in 1952/53 and held it until 1964/65, and that he’d initially been attached to the Reigate stable of Jack O’Donoghue, who’d sent out Nickel Coin to win the 1951 Grand National. A trawl through the form books revealed that, in November/December 1958, he’d scored three wins in the space of a fortnight on O’Donoghue’s selling chaser Trapeze II, from eleven rides that season. The following season, 1958/59, Trapeze II won in non-selling company at Fontwell to give Des Kavanagh his sole success of the campaign from just eight rides.
It was easy enough to trace that his Christian name was Desmond, that he’d taken out a jump jockey’s licence in 1952/53 and held it until 1964/65, and that he’d initially been attached to the Reigate stable of Jack O’Donoghue, who’d sent out Nickel Coin to win the 1951 Grand National. A trawl through the form books revealed that, in November/December 1958, he’d scored three wins in the space of a fortnight on O’Donoghue’s selling chaser Trapeze II, from eleven rides that season. The following season, 1958/59, Trapeze II won in non-selling company at Fontwell to give Des Kavanagh his sole success of the campaign from just eight rides.
In 1961 he took out a trainer’s licence, based at Milton Stables, Westcott, near Dorking, beginning with a string of seven horses. They included Hurry, who gave him his first winner as a trainer and his tenth as a jockey when landing a Lingfield selling hurdle on February 24, 1962. That victory meant that Des had his claim cut from 7lb to 5lb.
In 1961 he took out a trainer’s licence, based at Milton Stables, Westcott, near Dorking, beginning with a string of seven horses. They included Hurry, who gave him his first winner as a trainer and his tenth as a jockey when landing a Lingfield selling hurdle on February 24, 1962. That victory meant that Des had his claim cut from 7lb to 5lb.
Hurry missed the next two seasons, reappearing as a nine-year-old at Plumpton in February 1965, ridden by his trainer, then came the aforementioned Easter Monday fall at Uttoxeter.
Hurry missed the next two seasons, reappearing as a nine-year-old at Plumpton in February 1965, ridden by his trainer, then came the aforementioned Easter Monday fall at Uttoxeter.
But if Hurry had been Des Kavanagh’s tenth winner when scoring in 1962 and Trapeze II’s quartet had been his only others in Britain, what about his first five?
But if Hurry had been Des Kavanagh’s tenth winner when scoring in 1962 and Trapeze II’s quartet had been his only others in Britain, what about his first five?
The form books record that Des Kavanagh rode five winners as an apprentice on the Flat in Ireland, four of them coming in 1948, the first being on Fanny’s Way in a mile-and-a-half handicap at Naas on June 21, 1948. The other three wins that year were gained in apprentice races, on Lake Tanganyika at Leopardstown on August 23; Happy Meeting at Phoenix Park on September 25; and Woodsprite at the Curragh on November 6. He came close on four occasions in 1949, finishing second each time, and ended the season with a ride in the Irish Cesarewitch.
The form books record that Des Kavanagh rode five winners as an apprentice on the Flat in Ireland, four of them coming in 1948, the first being on Fanny’s Way in a mile-and-a-half handicap at Naas on June 21, 1948. The other three wins that year were gained in apprentice races, on Lake Tanganyika at Leopardstown on August 23; Happy Meeting at Phoenix Park on September 25; and Woodsprite at the Curragh on November 6. He came close on four occasions in 1949, finishing second each time, and ended the season with a ride in the Irish Cesarewitch.
He had ridden occasionally over jumps between 1950 and 1952, invariably on no-hopers and more often than not ending up on the floor, before heading to Britain in search of greater opportunities.
He had ridden occasionally over jumps between 1950 and 1952, invariably on no-hopers and more often than not ending up on the floor, before heading to Britain in search of greater opportunities.
Des Kavanagh relinquished his trainer’s licence at the end of 1965 and from then on all trace is lost. By my calculations, assuming he was still a teenager, or at most early twenties, when winning those Irish apprentice races, he’d have been no more than mid- to late-thirties when taking that fall at Uttoxeter on Easter Monday 1965, but to my eyes he looked so much older. I suppose people over thirty did look much older in those days, at least to a young lad growing up in the mid-1960s.
Des Kavanagh relinquished his trainer’s licence at the end of 1965 and from then on all trace is lost. By my calculations, assuming he was still a teenager, or at most early twenties, when winning those Irish apprentice races, he’d have been no more than mid- to late-thirties when taking that fall at Uttoxeter on Easter Monday 1965, but to my eyes he looked so much older. I suppose people over thirty did look much older in those days, at least to a young lad growing up in the mid-1960s.
I later found out that Des was indeed about 33 years old at the time of the fall at Uttoxeter. After relinquishing his trainer's licence at the end of 1965, he continued to live and work in Surrey until sadly, he died in 1999, aged 67, leaving behind one son.
I later found out that Des was indeed about 33 years old at the time of the fall at Uttoxeter. After relinquishing his trainer's licence at the end of 1965, he continued to live and work in Surrey until sadly, he died in 1999, aged 67, leaving behind one son.
Des Kavanagh’s five British National Hunt winners were in chronological order:
Des Kavanagh’s five British National Hunt winners were in chronological order:
1. Trapeze II, Windsor, November 28, 1957
1. Trapeze II, Windsor, November 28, 1957
2. Trapeze II, Lingfield, December 6, 1957
2. Trapeze II, Lingfield, December 6, 1957
3. Trapeze II, Sandown, December 12, 1957
3. Trapeze II, Sandown, December 12, 1957
4. Trapeze II, Fontwell, October 7, 1958
4. Trapeze II, Fontwell, October 7, 1958
5. Hurry, Lingfield, February 24, 1962
5. Hurry, Lingfield, February 24, 1962