By Dan Walsh
Clonroche born jockey Tom O’Brien, who rode more than 1,076 winners in the UK and spent his entire racing career with trainer Philip Hobbs at Minehead, Somerset, has died of cancer aged 39.
Son of Jim, and nephew of champion trainer Aidan O’Brien, Tom began his career in Ireland as a teenager before moving to the UK in 2004 and became a regular winner over the next two decades.
Paying tribute this morning, Philip Hobbs said; “He came to our yard from Ireland having not ridden in a race, but it soon became obvious he was pretty talented and he was with us from the start of his career until the end.
“He was in the shadow of Richard Johnson for a long time being second jockey and then became first jockey after Richard retired, which went well. His biggest win was Thyme Hill in the Grade One at Aintree and he was always very reliable and a very good bloke.”
O’Brien was a two-time winner of the Welsh National, while he had two Cheltenham Festival successes with Silk Affair in the 2009 Fred Winter and Third Wind in the Pertemps Network Final four years ago.
He also claimed a Liverpool Hurdle under Thyme Hill in 2021. He finished runner-up on McKelvey behind Silver Birch in the 2007 Aintree Grand National.
O’Brien was champion amateur in 2005-’06 and champion conditional jockey the following season, 2006-’07, when he had his best season ever with 105 victories.
O’Brien celebrated his 1,000th win during the 2020-’21 season and rode one winner in his native country for Philip Hobbs at Punchestown in 2008.
He retired in 2023. He would have celebrated his 40th birthday in a few week’s time on November 28th.
He is survived by his wife Hayley and two children, Toby and Archie.
