Emotional moment as late Sean Cleary’s son wins first race
It was an emotional occasion for the Cleary family of Carrickobrien, Athlone, on Saturday when Sean Cleary Farrell, son of the late jockey Sean Cleary, rode his first winner.
18-year-old Cleary Farrell was born just two days before the passing of his father, Sean, in hospital six days after a fall from a horse in a flat race in Galway in 2003.
The Willie Mullins-trained Dani Barcelona provided Cleary Farrell with his first winner at Downpatrick, where coincidentally his grandfather Tom Cleary also enjoyed his first winner as a trainer.
Cleary Farrell, who is a 7lb claimer, steered the four-year-old to a comfortable ten lengths triumph in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Maiden Hurdle on Saturday.
Cleary Farrell had ridden as an apprentice on the flat during the 2021 season, and had earned prize money on his first ride, for his grandfather, Tom, when Nightly Wailing came in third in February 2021 in Dundalk.
However, he has since switched to the jumps and experienced his breakthrough win on Saturday on what was his first ride over jumps for Willie Mullins.
Speaking after the race, he said: “I’m over the moon! The only worry I really had is that she can be very keen. The plan was to race in behind on the first circuit. As soon as she hit the front, she settled a bit better, so I just let her go.
“I had two rides for my grandfather Tom Cleary when I first got my conditional licence. It is great to get one for Willie Mullins. The weight just got a bit to me so I decided I wanted to go jump racing. It was time to change and I'm very happy that I did. I always said I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the staff in Willie's. They’ve been great.”
Cleary Farrell is based in Carlow where his mother, Maggie, resides.
He is also the nephew of Classic-winning flat jockey, Rory.
His grandfather Tom told the Westmeath Independent that the win was a big occasion for the Cleary family.
“It meant a lot to us. It was something Sean always wanted to do, to go on a be a jockey.
“It was something we left entirely to himself. He was quite good in school and we through maybe he might go down another route.”
He was full of praise for Willie Mullins, whom he described as “a pure gentleman”, revealing that the champion trainer had rang both himself and Sean's mother, Maggie, in the wake of the race in Downpatrick to tell them the news of the win.