Steve Donoghue

Steve Donoghue (8 November 188423 March 1945) was a leading English flat-race jockey in the 1910s and 1920s. He was Champion Jockey 10 times between 1914 and 1923 and was one of the most celebrated horse racing sportsmen after Fred Archer, with only Sir Gordon Richards and Sir Tony McCoy eclipsing him.

Background Stephen Donoghue was born in Warrington, Lancashire. 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 at a circus. 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, 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 and had his first major successes in 1913 on the outstanding two-year-old The Tetrarch. In the following year he rode 129 winners to claim the first of ten consecutive jockeys' championships. 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"

In 1999, the Racing Post ranked Donoghue as fourth in their list of the Top 50 jockeys of the 20th century.

Classic Race Victories Epsom Derby winners – 1915: Pommern, 1917: Gay Crusader, 1921: Humorist, 1922: Captain Cuttle, 1923: Papyrus, 1925: Manna 1,000 Guineas winners – 1937: Exhibitionnist 2,000 Guineas winners – 1915: Pommern, 1917: Gay Crusader, 1925: Manna Epsom Oaks 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.