John McGovern

Born in Leixlip, Kildare, on 6 September 1881, John McGovern’s greatest moment in the saddle came in the 1908 Irish Grand National when partnering the mare Exelite, owned by H. S. Whitworth, into second place behind Lord Rivers. 

The race, ran on a beautiful day at the annual reunion of the Ward Hunt on Easter Monday (April 20), attracted six runners and the heavily backed Moorside was made favourite at evens. Its backers soon knew their fate, however, as Moorside crashed out on the far side of the course at halfway. Ardsull Boy made the running for the first two miles before giving way to Lord Rivers and Exelite, both unfancied in the market at 10-1. Coming to the last, Lord Rivers was in front, but John drove his mount up alongside, and they landed side by side. On the run-in, Lord Rivers proved the stronger, going on to win by two lengths under crack amateur rider Mr Reggie Walker, enjoying his first win in the race. He was to ride a second winner in 1912 on Small Polly.

John, one of eight children born to a labourer and his wife, lived with his family in a two-roomed house in Leixlip, situated on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye water and not far from the stud of noted Irish breeder James. J. Maher (1863 -1935). 

It was perhaps the presence of the stud so close by or his own diminutive stature that attracted John. Either way, the 1901 Irish census shows that, aged 18, he was living in a 20-room house at Cloney, Dumboyne, and working as a stable lad for James J. Maher.

In 1897, aged 16, John gained his jockey’s licence.

It is thought that John rode in both Ireland and England between 1895 and 1911 though there is no discovered evidence to substantiate this. Incomplete records make it difficult to track his full riding career.

He did ride at least four winners over jumps in Ireland during this time. They were:

1. Doctor Charlie in the Provincial Plate (a steeplechase) at the Limerick Spring meeting on 12 April 1904, beating four rivals.

2. Gough in the Visitors’ Plate (a steeplechase) at Tralee on 31 May 1906, beating two rivals.

3. Exelite in the Regulation Plate (a steeplechase) at Leopardstown on 12 April 1907.

4. Poulbuoy in the Holiday Plate (a hurdle race) at Limerick on 26 December 1907.

There is some information regarding the victory of Exelite, the 6-4 favourite, in the three-mile Regulation Plate on a bitterly cold afternoon at Leopardstown on Friday 12 April 1907. Here, Exelite had been saddled by the Greenmount stable of Mr Maxwell Arnott in preference to Shay Girl, which had earlier taken part in the Castle Plate. For the first two and a half miles, the headstrong Bloodstone was pulling his jockey, Algy Anthony, out of the saddle but, his energy spent, he quickly dropped away, leaving John to steer Exelite to a well-deserved and comfortable win. This was the second win of the day for the trainer, who had taken the first race with Bonnie Jean, ridden by Paddy Cowley.

There are rumours of John riding at Tarpoley in Cheshire before WW1, but an exhaustive check of the records has failed to prove this. It is also possible that he worked at Hooton Park Racecourse in the Wirral and there’s a hint that he may have been Head Groom at Easton Lodge in Essex.

He had at least one ride in England, when unplaced on Jig-Saw in the Budbrooke Hurdle at Warwick on 16 February 1910.

Immediately before WW1, records show that John was working at Chester Remount Depot No. 1, where horses suffering from post-traumatic stress were nurtured and rehabilitated - only to be sent back onto the battlefield.

John’s 1915 military record shows him signing up as a ‘Driver’ (of big gun six-horse teams) in the Royal Field Artillery, with whom he fought in India and Iraq.

A family story exists revealing that, due to local animosity against Irish men who served in the British Army during WW1, John had to be smuggled back into Leixlip on the back of a hay wagon to attend his mother’s funeral.

On 6 December 1924,  then aged 43 and living in England, John married Winifred Gorman, a lady 20 years his younger. They exchanged vows at Our Lady's Catholic Church, Ellesmere, Port Cheshire He was then working as a painter’s labourer at the Corrugated Ironworks in Ellesmere Port, Wirral. 

Apparently a very unassuming and gentle family man whose past was never really celebrated or shared with the rest of his family, John’s memorabilia from his racing days was lost after he died and his widow moved home. This memorabilia is said to include a photo of him taken with King Edward VII at either Hooton Park or Easton Lodge.

John McGovern died on 7 June 1958 at Ellesmere, Port Cheshire.