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Irish Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Oisin Murphy can learn from wasted life of Kerry jockey Bernard Dillon
While Oisin's life is no where near as chaotic as Bernard Dillon's was, there are some uncomfortable parallels between the presence of alcohol and the slow digression it can inflict on people's lives. Oisin pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates' Court this week to drink driving on April 27 adding another smudge to his CV involving alcohol. There are many who genuinely wish Oisin well (this writer included) and that he can stay clear of alcohol and focus on doing what he does best. For others, the sole focus will undoubtedly be to pile on the criticism, regardless of whether Oisin succeeds or fails. That Oisin can look to the past and the devastatingly swift fall of Bernard Dillon for guidance is not an unrealistic option. By observing Dillon's decline during the hedonistic days of Edwardian England, Oisin can assess the decline of Dillon's life in slow motion while restructuring his own relationship with alcohol. Towards the end of his life, Dillon had more demons than friends. A sad situation caused in large part by his chronic alcohol abuse. Oisin Murphy is his own man. He is affable and engaging with the most magnetic personality one can find in the sport of horse racing today. The plain truth of the matter is racing needs Oisin Murphy more than Oisin needs racing. This does not mean Oisin is above the law. It simply means his value to the sport often goes under appreciated by the very powers that spend hours upon hours wondering how best to promote horse racing. This might well ring hollow in light of recent events, but Oisin is an ambassador for the sport. For all his personal woes, he continues to be the best at what he does – a fact that has always irritated his detractors. Bernard Dillon was the same. He balanced his life and career precariously close to the edge due to alcohol. And yet, somehow, he rode winners better than any jockey while notching some of horse racing's biggest races. Sadly, Bernard lost his battle with alcohol, which is why Oisin must learn from his fellow Kerry man when navigating his way clear of this trouble. As with many of life's challenges, hope and inspiration can come from the unlikeliest sources. If this includes studying the life of Bernard Dillon – 115 years later – so be it. For all the pressures faced by Oisin in his profession, Dillon faced them just the same. It boils down to a question of coping. It's why Bernard's decline, because of alcohol, makes him a ready-made template for what Oisin must avoid. In 1901, Bernard left Tralee to become an apprentice jockey in Sailsbury. Within four years he had caught the eye of racing's most influential owners and trainers as the best jockey of his generation – similar to Oisin's own meteoric rise. Dillon's Epsom Derby win in 1910 is the centrepiece of his career. This is bookended by wins in the 1000 Guineas, the Grand Prix de Paris, Coronation Cup, and Cesarewitch, to name a few. Such was the preciousness of Bernard Dillon, it's said that he never had a childhood but was fast-tracked to being a successful jockey. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more He spent his teenage years travelling in first class rail carriages and staying in the most expensive hotels courtesy of the wealthiest owners whose horses Bernard was winning races with. He started his career with hard work that soon transformed him into an icon for whom a high life drenched in champagne would be his undoing. Victims of alcohol often endure a lifetime of self-delusion that they can control it. It's usually too late before the sobering realisation hits home that alcohol has won. This was Bernard Dillon's life. He battled with weight and would often survive on a diet of soda water and grapes. Drinking was a means of escaping the pressures of his job. Bernard's personality changed. He grew more aggressive, irritable, and distant from the sport and people within his circle. Bernard's dealings with the law are numerous and practically all caused by his misuse of alcohol. In Paris, in 1909, Bernard punched the window of a taxi in a dispute with a driver. He lost so much blood that he fainted in a Parisian pharmacy. In October 1917, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a waiter, Antoine Prete, at the Café Royal in Regent's Street. He approached a table in the café when the waiter told him it was engaged. Dillon picked up a soda water bottle and struck Prete on the head. A more sinister side to Bernard's character when drinking is his domestic abuse. He appeared repeatedly in court for assaulting his wife – the famous Marie Lloyd. This unsettling behaviour accelerated in the years after when he stopped riding due to allegations of gambling and because he had put on too much weight. It's clear from studying Bernard Dillon's life that alcohol was major part in his demise. The more charges brought against him, the more ostracised he became from the sport he loved. He died penniless in 1941 in London after a life shaped by racing and defined by drinking. Oisin Murphy has achieved too much to throw it all away. Bernard lives on as a reminder of the disasters awaiting sporting personalities who resort to alcohol – a perilous example of how ruthlessly it brought down horse racing's famous poster boy over a century ago. Stephen Fernane is the author of 'The Life and Times of Bernard Dillon: The Narie that Won the Derby'. To find out more visit:
Irish Independent
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
The Irish jockey whose story refuses to fade as old paintings found in boot of UK motor
When I published my book on Bernard in 2024, his story needed to be told. For over 100 years, Bernard's reputation as the most successful jockey in Edwardian England – an Epsom Derby winner in 1910 – passed unknown to generations in his native County Kerry and Ireland. Kate Dillon, from Epsom in the UK, is Bernard's grandniece and has also researched her famous relative's glittering career and turbulent lifestyle. Having completed her history dissertation on Bernard in the past, one can only imagine Kate's surprise when a friend phoned her up recently to ask if she had an uncle named Bernard who was a famous jockey. Said friend, Trudi Jackson, was relocating from Kent some years ago to her new home in west Wales where Kate now lives. Prior to moving, Trudi and her husband, Nick, bought a second-hand car from an old man in Kent. In the boot were four paintings by S J Anderton depicting Bernard Dillon winning the Cesarewitch, Jockey Club Cup, Jubilee, and Queen's Prize. Trudi stored the paintings in the garden shed where they lay forgotten for years. That such personalised paintings should come to light less than a year on from Bernard's story being published – and 84 years after his death – adds weight to the opinion within the Dillon family that Bernard is determined to be remembered. Kate's family research was an invaluable source to me when writing Bernard's book. Ironically, she and I would often joke about something in Bernard's personality and character that led us to believe he never wanted his name to fade from history. The discovery of these paintings is serendipity for Kate who feels finding a friend – in all of the UK – who just happened to have paintings of her great uncle is beyond surreal. The paintings now take pride of place on Kate's wall in her home. 'Although I am not spiritual at all, I do believe that Bernard is looking down and saying, 'come on, cut me some slack people. I was brilliant and worth remembering even though I say so myself,'' Kate said. The story starts when Kate hosted a cinema night at her house and invited Trudie along with some friends from the village for an evening of fun and cocktails. 'We had a couple of drinks and I got out my scrapbook of photographs of dad because I knew Trudie is a horsey woman as her son worked for Mark Johnson [trainer] in Yorkshire. The next day my phone pinged and I had a message from Trudie, who only lived a few doors away: 'Do you have a relative called B Dillon?' 'Yes, I do.' 'Did he win the Cesarewitch on Hammerkop in 1905?' 'Yes, Trudie, what's this about?' 'I've just found some paintings in the garage, come round.' 'I was stunned when I went to Trudie's kitchen because there on her kitchen island was a collection of four very old, very dirty and damaged water colours about 18' x 14', mounted but unframed. Despite the bird poo they were very clearly racing scenes of Bernard's early successes,' Kate said. The paintings are in the style of sporting postcards and cigarette cards that were fashionable in the 1900s. Despite the depictions appearing crude in places, Kate instantly fell in love with them. Trudie was kind enough to gift them to her. 'We could not get over the coincidence or reason these paintings ended up with Trudie and therefore me. They were preparing to move house again and were sorting the garage when they rediscovered the paintings, again! Her husband noticed the name of the subject and Trudie knew there was something odd so she sent me a message,' Kate said. 'Weirdly, the Antiques Road Show was visiting nearby Carmarthen at the time so we took them. The expert was nothing short of not an expert and didn't know what to say so he valued them at £0. Trudie gifted them to me and I had them restored, which cost an arm and a leg,' she added. Kate has since tried researching the artist – S J Anderton – but without luck. She did locate a piece of his/hers for sale in America but could find no biography of the artist. Then a painting popped up on Google one day from the artist that was at auction in late 2020. The painting is in the same style, artist, and period. When scanning the 1921 census, Kate found a name 'Cecilia SJ Anderton' but she remains unsure if this is the artist. "It's just lovely to finally have them. To think these paintings existed all this time – unloved and uncared for – to suddenly being pride of place on my wall is a special feeling. I often think Bernard is trying to tell us something. When something like this happens, it makes you wonder,' Kate said. To discover more on Bernard Dillon, see 'The Life and Times of Bernard Dillon: The Narie that Won the Derby' available at:
The Independent
12-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Cheltenham Placepot Tips: Day Three Placepot Selections For £750,000 Prize Pool
A huge field for the Ryanair Mares Novices' Hurdle (Cheltenham, 1.20pm) provides a stiff early test for placepot players with just three places available to aim at on betting sites. Sixandahalf has only tackled hurdles once, but it resulted in a smooth 12-length success at Fairyhouse, and she can at least call on the experience of an excellent summer on the level which saw her win a nice flat race at Newmarket and finish placed in the Irish Cesarewitch. Given that Joseph O'Brien has a stellar record at this meeting and Galileo Dame has been rerouted from the Triumph Hurdle, she is hugely respected, while Jubilee Alpha is also shortlisted following some impressive performances at Taunton and Windsor. There is another sizeable field for this Novices' Handicap Chase (2.00pm), but Springwell Bay boasts experience of the track courtesy of his impressive win on New Year's Day and, although saddled with plenty of weight, looks a class act. The lightly-raced chaser Nurburgring and Caldwell Potter – third to Arkle winner Jango Baie here in December (Springwell Bay second) – are others to add to the perm. The full complement of runners line up for the Pertemps Final (2.40pm) and Feet Of A Dancer should appreciate both the ground and test that this fiercely competitive handicap offers. Jeriko Du Reponet has also been aimed at this race all season and the cheekpieces may help him focus on the job in hand, while stablemate Doddiethegreat is also equipped with headgear and may surprise at a price on horse racing betting sites. It will be hugely disappointing if Fact To File doesn't at least place in the Ryanair Chase (3.20pm) as he has some front-runners in the race to ensure he has a generous pace to aim at. He has already beaten Galopin Des Champs at this intermediate trip this term, so he should take all the beating. For the placepot to pay well, it is the nature of the beast that some strongly fancied runners must underperform so, with that in mind, it could be worth trying to take on Teahupoo in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle at a very short price. The ante-post favourite in the Cheltenham odds faces a raft of new blood in this year's renewal with the likes of Lucky Place and The Wallpark fancied to be involved at the business end. The closing amateur jockeys' handicap chase is a tough riddle to solve but the front-running Midnight Our Fred, Johnnywho (gamble of the race) and Walking On Air look three likely types. Cheltenham Placepot Perm - Day Three 1.20 9 Jubilee Alpha 21 Sixandahalf 22 Galileo Dame 2.00 1 Springwell Bay 3 Caldwell Potter 8 Nurburgring 2.40 8 Feet Of A Dancer 10 Jeriko Du Reponet 19 Doddiethegreat 3.20 3 Fact To File 4.00 9 Lucky Place 15 The Wallpark 4.40 4 Johnnywho 13 Midnight Our Fred 23 Walking On air 3x3x3x1x2x3 = 162 lines Bettors should always gamble responsibly, especially during Cheltenham Festival when the number of offers and betting markets widely available increase. You should always stick to a budget and never exceed it. When using gambling sites be aware that sports betting can be addictive so please take steps to remain in control of your time and budget. The same applies whether you're using new betting sites, slot sites, casino sites, casino apps, or any other gambling medium. It's particularly important not to get carried if you receive a casino bonus or any free bets, which are available in abundance before and during the Cheltenham Festival, but must be approached with caution. You can stay in control by making use of the responsible gambling tools offered, such as deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion and time-outs. You may also want to visit the following free organisations to discuss any issues with gambling you might be having:
