Diarmuid Ryan

Article by Alan Trout

The career of Diarmuid Anthony Ryan under National Hunt rules can be summed up fairly briefly. He rode seven winners, all but the last on the same horse, all seven victories were gained at Sedgefield, all of them owned and trained by John Wade, for whom Diarmuid rode as a conditional, and three of the races were sponsored by John Wade himself.  

The horse was named Mr Reiner, who, after finishing second in his first race over jumps had been unplaced seven timers during the 1991/92 season. After two more unsuccessful efforts under jockey Kevin Jones in August 1992, the four-year-old teamed up with Diarmuid for the first time at Sedgefield on September 4, where they made most of the running and, despite hitting the last flight, came home four lengths clear at the end of the John Wade Haulage Conditional Jockeys’ Selling Hurdle. 

Victory in a similar contest 11 days later was followed by further success in a novice hurdle and then a handicap hurdle at the same course. Although Mr Reiner’s form tailed off after that, he came back the next season to secure two more victories in September.

Having had six wins in little over a year, Diarmuid had to wait more than two years for a seventh, and final, success, again wearing John Wade’s familiar colours of maroon with white hooped sleeves. It came on October 9, 1995, when Souson ran on strongly to land the John Wade Haulage Conditional Jockeys’ Selling Handicap Hurdle by a length. He had one more ride on the seven-year-old, finishing second, but did not renew his licence for the following season. 

Diarmuid Ryan’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Mr Reiner, Sedgefield, September 4, 1992

2. Mr Reiner, Sedgefield, September 15, 1992

3. Mr Reiner, Sedgefield, September 30, 1992

4. Mr Reiner, Sedgefield, November 10, 1992

5. Mr Reiner, Sedgefield, September 3, 1993

6. Mr Reiner, Sedgefield, September 29, 1993

7. Souson, Sedgefield, October 9, 1995