Irish Point to Point

Derek O’Connor reached another milestone in his point-to-point career when registering his 1300th winner between the flags aboard the Sam Curling trained Longhouse Legacy at one of his local tracks Bellharbour.

The forty-year-old, who is a ten-time leading rider is the most successful Irish point-to-point jockey of all time.

One of the most poignant milestones O’Connor reached was in February 2015, when he became the first rider in Irish point-to-point history to record 1,000 winners between the flags aboard the Pat Doyle trained Death Duty at Cragmore in the familiar colours of Gigginstown House Stud.

The Tubber native has dominated point-to-points in a similar way to A.P. McCoy’s dominance of the British racing scene during his riding career.

When you take into account that McCoy rode well over 4,000 winners in a 22-year period, then it is clear that when O’Connor achieved his 1000th winner after little more than 10 seasons in the saddle, with only approximately 60 days racing per season, it is every bit as impressive.

O’Connor registered his first point-to-point winner in the year 2000 when guiding Rossy Orchestra to victory at Killaloe for County Clare brothers John and Pat Lynch.

The Galwegian has been fortunate to partner many top performers over the years, including Never Compromise, First Down Jets, Missed That, Scotsirish, Wishfull Thinking, Simonsig, Brindisi Breeze, Rule The Word, Footy Facts, Briar Hill, Yorkhill, Ball D’Arc and Death Duty.

He has also proved his ability on the track, with one of his most memorable successes coming in the Grade 1 Irish Gold cup at Leopardstown aboard the Joseph O’Brien trained Edwulf. This success also saw him win Ride of the Year award at the Horse Racing Ireland Awards for the 2018/19 season.

O’Connor has also had success at the Cheltenham Festival, 2019 saw him bring his tally to four when landing the Kim Muir Handicap Chase aboard the Ted Walsh trained Any Second Now.

Milestones Achieved

Date	Milestone	Horse	Track
16/05/2004	100th Winner	Regal Son	Bartlemy
15/01/2006	200th Winner	Royal Ranger	Killeagh
06/05/2007	300th Winner	The Box Player	Dromahane
18/05/2008	400th Winner	Kaitlins Fancy	Bartlemy
26/04/2009	500th Winner	Isle Of Celts	Ballysteen
25/04/2010	600th Winner	Carrigerry	Dromahane
24/04/2011	700th Winner	Vintage Krug	Quakerstown
02/06/2012	800th Winner	Takemetotheisland	Kinsale
16/02/2014	900th Winner	Fiddlers Way	Knockanard
15/02/2015	1000th Winner	Death Duty	Cragmore
22/01/2017	1100th Winner	Staker Wallace	Kilfeacle
30/12/2018	1200th Winner	Nelly’s Money	Dromahane
05/02/2023	1300^th Winner	Longhouse Legacy	Bellharbour

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INHSC Report | 10th November 2024