Just seen this. Shocking news, I hadn't heard that he was ill or anything but will let you all know if I hear anything more this morning.
What a sad day for racing. Without doubt one of the greatest jockeys of all time. Not even a pensioner yet either.
Tragic news indeed...a true legend of the turf. When I first got into racing as a kid I used to have my big 6 jocks..Starkey (Greville not Dan),Piggott,Carson,Cauthen,Mercer and Pat Eddery.
What a shock. A truly great rider, winner of 4 Arcs and 3 Epsom Derbys. His association with Dancing Brave will live long.
too young RIP Pat Eddery i just found out via the BBC sport website.....which rather unbelievably has the story with a picture of Kieren Fallon.....
Very sad news - a great jockey who sadly never managed to soar to the same heights when crossing over to the training ranks. He epitomised however what many of the learned members of this forum like in a jockey in that he made few mistakes and if the horse were good enough Pat would make sure it won, never flash or fantastic but always dependable with great hands and balance. I remember his brother Paul also used to ride and never quite managed to get out of the shadow of Pat even though riding a good few winners in his own right.
Very sad indeed. A shock. Although his rides on Dancing Brave will long be remembered, for me his ride on Pebbles in the 1985 Champion Stakes will live longest in mine. RIP
Truly sad and sudden news. Last time I saw him was a few years ago riding in a Group 1 race at Munich-Riem racecourse. Not on the favourite but lead all the way to win easily. R.I.P Pat, you were a credit to thoroughbred horse racing.
R.I.P. legendary Pat Eddery, taken from us far too young. Irish-born Eddery topped a racing dynasty that saw him win the Champion Jockey title eleven times but sadly his brief training career did not come up to the high standard that he set in the saddle. I was fortunate to be witness to many of the great moments of the second half of his riding career, including the stunning 2000 Guineas victory of Zafonic, winning the 1000 Guineas on Henry Cecil’s Bosra Sham, plus the great miler Warning. I also remember his association with two sprinters, Dowsing and Sheikh Albadou, both of whom started out winning the then Timeform Trophy handicap on Timeform Charity Day at York before subsequently becoming champions. Not many will mention his victory in the 1986 William Hill Futurity on Henry Cecil’s second string Reference Point with Steve Cauthen opting for unplaced Suhailie. No doubt when he is mentioned on the TV news they will show a brief glimpse of his Arc victory on the legendary Dancing Brave or the “Race of the Century” King George win on Grundy. As well as his four Arc victories, he also collected the Derby three times and his 4000th winner was Silver Patriarch in the St Leger, the last of his four wins in the oldest Classic.
I was very surprised by this when I looked at BBC Sport website earlier. My favourite moment of his as a jockey was riding Dancing Brave to victory in one of the best races ever in the 1986 Arc.
My photo collection extends over 30 years and is not very well organised but in one of the first boxes I opened, I found images from a couple of 1996 race days. This is Pat winning the 1996 Champion Stakes on Bosra Sham, a race that featured Halling amongst others. Just to prove it was Pat, there is a picture of him being led in on Henry Cecil’s filly. A few weeks before at Doncaster, he rode Dushyantor in the St Leger for Khalid Abdullah. I have a picture of him being caught in the shadow of the post by Frankie on Shantou, but you cannot see him as Sheikh Mohammed’s horse is near side, so this is him going to post.
Was my fav jockey back in the 80s along with Carson. I remember him and Cauthen having some great battles for the title back then. Eddery, Cauthen, Starkey, Roberts, Mercer, Piggott, great days indeed.
In the 1986 Arc Eddery was asked by someone (can't recall who off the top of my head) in the presence of Guy Harwood what their tactics were for the race. Eddery replied "I am going to be last one to go". Guy Harwood walked off with a look of horror on his face. Seems Eddery as usual got that one spot on.
