Having grown up in Banbridge, County Down, Pat Cosgrave was winning on horseraces from an early age. Riding on the pony racing circuit, the proving ground for young and upcoming jockeys, he rode his first winner in late 1999 at the tender age of 17.
Champion Apprentice
Before moving to Britain in late 2004, Patrick hit another major milestone in his development by becoming Ireland’s Champion apprentice under the tutelage of Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle stables.
Cosgrave showed real aptitude at sprint riding and he went on to fulfill his obvious potential by riding Borderlescott, owned and trained by Robin Bastimann, first over the line in the 2008 Nunthorpe Stakes and achieved the same result, partnering Markab to victory in the 2010 Haydock Sprint Cup.
Ascot Success
Society Rock (foal of celebrated champion racehorse – Rock of Gibraltar, part-owned by former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson) landed him his first major Ascot prize and his 3rd Group One sprint success in the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2011.
Adversity
Pat Cosgrave’s career was to take something of a backwards step at the beginning of 2014, when he was found guilty of employing team tactics in the Jebel Hatta, a group 1 race in Dubai. By wilfully allowing stable companion Vercingetorix, being ridden by Christophe Soumillon at the time, to pass him and his mount (Anaerobio) by easing up and letting him through, he was adjudged to have broken race rules, which landed him a 6 month ban.
This didn’t stop him racing however, as the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) didn’t uphold the ban, leaving him free to continue racing in the UK. Cosgrave would go on to appeal the decision, resulting in a reduced 4 month term.
Illustrious Career
Since this unfortunate event, Pat Cosgrave has gone on to record a further 225+ wins, giving him a career total of almost 700 wins and total prize money earnings of over £4m.
Whilst it was difficult to hit the highest heights with top british jump jockeys like A.P. McCoy on the race scene, he still has an impressive win record and has had to overcome a fair amount of adversity to do so, dusting himself down and very much proving the truth behind the adage – ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’.
