Dennis Fitzpatrick (1764–1806) was an Irish, five-times

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winning

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

. He was the first Irish professional jockey to ride in

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and competed in some of the most notable

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams cons ...

s of the 19th century versus fellow jockey Frank Buckle.

Career

Fitzpatrick grew up in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, where his father was a tenant farmer of Lord Clermont, and began his riding career there. It was Lord Clermont who brought Fitzpatrick to ride in England, although he would achieve greater success for Lord Egremont, for whom he won the 1805

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

Cardinal Beaufort Henry Beaufort (c. 1375 – 11 April 1447) was an English Catholic prelate and statesman who held the offices of Bishop of Lincoln (1398), Bishop of Winchester (1404) and cardinal (1426). He served three times as Lord Chancellor and played an ...

, and three Oaks with

Nightshade Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

(1788),

Platina Platina is a municipality ''( município)'' in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. As of 2020 the population is estimated to be 3,578 inside an area of 326.73 km². The elevation of the municipality is 466 meters. Media In telecommunications, th ...

(1795) and

Ephemera Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'. The word is both plural and singular. On ...

(1800). His first victory in the race came on Annette in 1787. He was also the favourite rider of Mr Cookson and George Watson. He was a noted rider of match races, in 1803 famously riding Gaoler to beat Derby winner

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, ridden by Frank Buckle, over the Rowley Mile. The pair were the two best mile horses of their day and the defeat was one of only two Orlando faced in twelve races. Another famous match versus Buckle took place at the Newmarket Craven meeting of 1799. Fitzpatrick on Diamond took on Hambletonian, ridden by Buckle, over four miles, one

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

and 138

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s of the Beacon Course, with every vacant room in the town booked up weeks in advance and an unprecedented amount of betting activity, estimated at 250,000 guineas. Diamond went down by half a neck to his opponent for the 3,000

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prize. He also met Buckle in a match between Timothy and Warter, Fitzpatrick riding the former in "one of the best races ever rode ic. For his own part, Buckle considered Fitzpatrick to be a superior jockey, who along with Sam Chifney Sr. was a "model of perfection". However, Fitzpatrick's career and life were cut short in their prime. Only one year after his Derby success, the

wasting In medicine, wasting, also known as wasting syndrome, refers to the process by which a debilitating disease causes muscle and fat tissue to "waste" away. Wasting is sometimes referred to as "acute malnutrition" because it is believed that epis ...

regime he undertook to control his riding weight brought on a

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjectivity, subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute t ...

that killed him.

Major wins

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Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...

- ''

(1805)'' *

Epsom Oaks The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 ya ...

- (4) - '' Annette (1787)'', ''

(1788)'', ''

(1795)'', ''

(1800)''

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Dennis 1764 births 1806 deaths Irish jockeys