Denis O'Regan: 'I just realised I couldn't take it anymore - I need to let my body and brain unwind'
Denis O’Regan professes that in his younger days he was uninterested in schoolwork and untalented at exams, but that’s hard to believe. His powers of recall and depth of analysis of the horses he has piloted in his recently concluded career are so vivid you would fancy him to cruise through on the bridle, pulling double.
His memory of his first winner is a case in point.
“That was on a four-year-old mare called All Honey, in a National Hunt Flat race at Listowel, April 2001," he says. "She was by Fourstars Allstar. I probably fell asleep somewhere in the race, the ground was soft and they’d gone a right gallop. I was still perched turning in, about fifth or sixth. I was lucky really, the others stopped and, when she passed one, she wanted to pass them all.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on 16 December 2023inThe Big Read
Last updated 18:07, 16 December 2023
- 'There's a time to be serious because it's a multi-million-pound business - but you've got to have a laugh'
- Internal unrest and financial blows: is there a crisis brewing at the Jockey Club?
- 'There was a moment of rage - but he's a magnificent horse and it suits me that he's passed under the radar'
- Richard Hannon: 'When you're dead and buried the only things you're remembered by are your Classic winners'
- 'I'd try to join in with the kids playing football and the pain would shoot up my leg - it wasn't a good place to be'
- 'There's a time to be serious because it's a multi-million-pound business - but you've got to have a laugh'
- Internal unrest and financial blows: is there a crisis brewing at the Jockey Club?
- 'There was a moment of rage - but he's a magnificent horse and it suits me that he's passed under the radar'
- Richard Hannon: 'When you're dead and buried the only things you're remembered by are your Classic winners'
- 'I'd try to join in with the kids playing football and the pain would shoot up my leg - it wasn't a good place to be'