Ciarán Gethings Dedicates Aintree Win to Battling Former Jockey Tom O’Brien

Ciarán Gethings dedicates Aintree win to Tom O’Brien, Digi Mart USA News (Aintree, Liverpool, England): Jockey Ciarán Gethings has dedicated his win at Aintree on Saturday to a close friend and former weighing room colleague who is battling cancer. Gethings partnered Javert Allen to victory in the 2m Handicap Chase at the Liverpool venue.

Afterwards, Gethings said he hoped the win “brought a smile” to his close friend Tom O’Brien. Wexford-born O’Brien was a successful jockey for over 20 years in Britain, having arrived as a teenager in the early 2000s after riding in point-to-points in Ireland.

O’Brien retired in 2023 with two Cheltenham Festival wins, five Grade One wins and two Welsh National successes. His career also saw him crowned champion amateur and champion conditional jockey.

Wicklow native Gethings revealed in a post-race interview on ITV Racing that the 40-year-old O’Brien is battling serious illness after being diagnosed with cancer. “A very special friend of ours and mine and in the weighing room, Tom O’Brien, is going through a tough time at the minute and I said if I won today, I would mention him,” said Gethings.

“Hopefully he’s sat at home with the fire, looking at that win, and it’s brought a smile to his face.”

O’Brien, a nephew of trainer Aidan O’Brien, had a highly successful career as a jockey, based mostly in the UK. In 2021 he reached the milestone of riding 1,000 winners after a victory at Worcester.

His father, Jim O’Brien, is Aidan’s older brother and works at his son Joseph’s yard in Kilkenny.

O’Brien rode his first winner aged 18 in 2004 and was champion amateur rider the following season. He turned professional the subsequent year and took the champion conditional title.

Much of his success came while riding as second jockey to trainer Philip Hobbs, behind four-time champion Richard Johnson.

After Johnson’s retirement, O’Brien had more opportunities and built a strong partnership with Thyme Hill, winning the Grade One Liverpool Hurdle in 2021. He also enjoyed two Welsh Grand National victories and was the rider when Dream Alliance won the race in 2009, a success that has since become the subject of a documentary and a film.