Steve Donoghue (8 November 188423 March 1945) was a leading English flat-race

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 ...

in the 1910s and 1920s. He was Champion Jockey 10 times between 1914 and 1923 and was one of the most celebrated

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

sportsmen after Fred Archer, with only Sir Gordon Richards and Sir Tony McCoy eclipsing him.

Background

Stephen Donoghue was born in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. His father was a steel-worker and the family had no racing connections. At the age of twelve he left home and decided to become a jockey after winning a prize for riding a

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

at a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. Donoghue was apprenticed to John Porter when he was 14 years old, but ran away after being beaten for allowing a horse to get loose on the gallops. After working as an apprentice and work rider at two other British stables he accepted an offer to ride in France. In 1905 he rode his first winner at

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

, before moving to Ireland in 1907 and returning to England in 1911.

Career

Donoghue accepted the post of stable jockey to Henry Seymour "Atty" Persse at

Stockbridge, Hampshire Stockbridge is a town and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. It had a population of 592 at the 2011 census. It sits astride the River Test and at the foot of Stockbridge Down. Description The town is situated on th ...

and had his first major successes in 1913 on the outstanding two-year-old

The Tetrarch The Tetrarch (1911–1935) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. He was undefeated in a racing career of seven starts and was voted the best British-trained two-year-old of the 20th century according to the Na ...

. In the following year he rode 129 winners to claim the first of ten consecutive jockeys' championships. His greatest triumphs came in The Derby which he won six times. The three consecutive wins in the early 1920s – on

Humorist A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...

(1921), Captain Cuttle (1922) and

Papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

(1923) – were the high points. He was also associated with the horse Brown Jack – who he rode to six consecutive wins in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...

. In 1915 and 1917, he rode the horses Pommern and Gay Crusader to the English Triple Crown. In its more than two-hundred-year history, of the jockeys aboard the fifteen winners, Steve Donoghue is the only one to have ever won the Triple Crown twice. Always popular with the public and his fellow professionals, Donoghue was never called up by the stewards. He was less popular with owners and trainers because of his tendency to switch allegiance when he had the opportunity of a winning ride.

Retirement

He retired from riding at the age of 52 in 1937, a year in which he won two classics on the filly Exhibitionnist. Also in 1937, he appeared as himself in '' Wings of the Morning'', Britain's first Technicolour film. Despite earning a great deal during his career his "impulsive generosity" and lack of business acumen led to financial difficulties. He took up training at

Blewbury Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs about south of Didcot, south of Oxford and west of London. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it t ...

but had little success. Donoghue died in London on 23 March 1945 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. In 1999, the ''

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing, and sports betting publisher published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 ...

'' ranked Donoghue as fourth in their list of the Top 50 jockeys of the 20th century.

Classic Race Victories

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 ...

winners – 1915: '' Pommern'', 1917: '' Gay Crusader'', 1921: ''

'', 1922: '' Captain Cuttle'', 1923: ''

'', 1925: ''

Manna Manna (, ; ), sometimes or archaically spelled Mahna or Mana, is described in the Bible and the Quran as an edible substance that God in Abrahamic religions, God bestowed upon the Israelites while they were wandering the desert during the 40-year ...

'' * 1,000 Guineas winners – 1937: '' Exhibitionnist'' *

2,000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

winners – 1915: ''Pommern'', 1917: ''Gay Crusader'', 1925: ''Manna'' *

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 ...

winners – 1918: ''My Dear'', 1937: ''Exhibitionnist'' * St. Leger Stakes winners – 1915: ''Pommern'', 1917: ''Gay Crusader''

Interests

Away from his career he was an owner of greyhounds and was one of the first to enter them at the new Ensbury Park Racecourse.

References