What’s Paddy Brennan’s strike rate for Fergal O’Brien?

Nowadays based at Ravenswell Farm in Withington, Gloucestershire, Fergal O’Brien has enjoyed a stellar start to the 2021/22 National Hunt season. Effective from October, 2021, O’Brien joined forces with fellow Gloucestershire trainer Graham McPherson to create O’Brien McPherson Racing, but retained the role of licensed trainer for the new enterprise. He currently leads the Jump Trainers’ Championship with 57 winners and £441,223 in prize money, over £100,000 ahead of his nearest rival, reigning champion trainer Paul Nicholls.

At the time of writing, Paddy Brennan has ridden 150 of the 265 runners that O’Brien has saddled under National Hunt rules so far in 2021, for a return of 40 winners, at a strike rate of 27%. He currently lies third in the Jump Jockeys’ Championship, 29 winners adrift of 2019/20 champion jockey Brian Hughes. Nevertheless, his current strike rate for the yard compares favourably with his overall strike rate over the last five seasons, which stands at 206-1,033 (20%). During that period, he achieved his previous highest strike rate, 21%, in both 2019/20 and 2020/21, but his highest total, 64 winners, in 2020/21.

Interviewed during the latter part of the 2020/21 season, during which O’Brien eventually saddled a career-best 104 winners, Brennan told the ‘Racing Post’, ‘People ask how long this incredible run is going to last and I say this is just the start.’ It appears his optimism was not misplaced.

Which were the only two horses to beat Red Rum in the Grand National?

Racing historians may argue that Manifesto, who ran in the Grand National eight times between 1896 and 1904, was the greatest ‘National’ horse ever. Manifesto won the National twice, including under 12st 7lb in 1899, and finished third three times, including under 12st 8lb, as a 14-year-old, in 1902, so perhaps you can see their point.

However, the greatest National horse of modern times is, undoubtedly, Red Rum, who ran in five consecutive Grand Nationals between 1973 and 1977, winning in 1973, 1974 and 1977 and finishing second in 1975 and 1976. In 1975, attempting an unprecedented hat-trick, Red Rum was sent off 7/2 favourite but, despite jumping the second-last fence upsides the eventual winner L’Escargot, was soon left behind and had to settle for second, 15 lengths behind his old rival. In 1976, Red Red was narrowly ahead jumping the final fence, but was tackled by Rag Trade at the famous ‘Elbow’, halfway up the run-in and, although rallying in the closing stages, went down fighting, by two lengths.

How many winners has Paul Hanagan ridden for Richard Fahey?

Paul Hanagan, who won the Flat Jockeys’ Championship two years running, in 2010 and 2011, has enjoyed two spells with Richard Fahey. Hanagan first became apprenticed to Fahey, who is nowadays based at Musley Bank in Malton, North Yorkshire, in 1999. Three years later, in 2002, he won the Apprentice Jockeys’ Championship with 81 winners, which was the second-highest seasonal total by an apprentice since World War II.

In 2010, Hanagan rode 191 during the championship period, edging out Richard Hughes to win the jockeys’ title on the final day of the season. He defended his title in 2011, with 165 winners, just four ahead of his nearest rival, Silvestre de Sousa. Buoyed by his success, Hanagan replaced Richard Hills as retained rider to the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum in 2012. He was eventually replaced by Jim Crowley at the end of the 2016 season but, reflecting on his time in the famous blue and white colours of Sheikh Hamdan, he said, ‘There’s no regrets, I rode my first Classic winner [Taghrooda], a King George winner [Taghrooda again], rode the champion sprinter in Muhaarar, it was a successful time and I wouldn’t change it for the world.’

Hanagan rejoined Fahey at Musley Bank ahead of the 2017 season, where he has been stable jockey where he was a stable jockey up to his retirement in 2023. All told, in a career spanning four decades, Hanagan has ridden a total of 926 winners from 6,664 rides for Richard Fahey, at a strike rate of 14%.

How many winners had Jonjo O’Neill Jr. Ridden for his father?

A graduate from pony racing, Jonjo O’Neill Jr. was still a pupil at Cheltenham College when he rode his first winner under rules, Temple Lord, trained by his father, Jonjo Snr., in an amateur riders’ handicap at Worcester on July 23, 2015, at the age of 17. Temple Lord was his only winner in the 2015/16 campaign; he rode just four winners in 2016/17 and nine more in 2017/18 before being put forward for his conditional licence.

In 2018/19, O’Neill rode 30 winners, including Early Doors, trained by Joseph O’Brien, in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, 2019. The following December, he took his career total to 75 winners, thereby riding out his 3lb claim, with victory on Adicci, again trained by his father, in a novices’ hurdle at Plumpton.

In the 2019/20 National Hunt season, as a whole, O’Neill rode at total of 61 winners, which was enough to claim the conditional jockeys’ title, 20 winners ahead of his nearest rival, Ben Jones. In his first season as a fully-fledged professional, 2020/21, he improved his seasonal tally again, albeit just by one, and rode several high-profile winners for his father. His victories included his two biggest winners so far, Soaring Glory, in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury in March, 2021, and Time To Get Up, in the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter the following month. All told, in his career to date, Jonjo O’Neill Jr. has ridden 132 winners from 768 rides for his father, at a strike rate of 17%.

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