'He was something special' - JP McManus on his great ally Edward O'Grady following legendary trainer's death aged 75

JP McManus has paid a heartfelt tribute to Edward O'Grady, the great totem of Irish jump racing who died on Sunday aged 75, describing his old ally as someone he "always expected to deliver."

Based in Ballynonty, County Tipperary, O'Grady was champion jumps trainer in Ireland for four consecutive seasons from 1977, and he staged a revival in the mid-1990s when horses like Sound Man and Ventana Canyon came to the fore.  

Crucially, he was synonymous with the emergence of McManus as a leading owner. The pair teamed up to win the Galway Plate in 1978 with Shining Flame, and numerous other big-race wins followed. 

Speaking in the Ballybrit winner's enclosure following the victory of his Willie Mullins-trained Davy Crockett in the festival opener on Monday, McManus said: "He was an amazing trainer, something special. The one thing I have to say about Edward, he was always very good to his staff and very kind to everybody. 

"When Edward fancied a horse, and gave you the office, you didn't need to have money, all you needed to have was credit, because you always felt he would deliver. His record was second to none at that time."

JP McManus (left): "The one thing I have to say about Edward, he was always very good to his staff and very kind to everybody"

He added: "I went to him in '78 [with Jack Of Trumps], the first horse I had with him. I remember he won at Punchestown as a five-year-old carrying 12st in the Jameson Gold Cup, which was a handicap. He went on that year, '78, and won the Galway Plate [with Shining Flame] – that seems a long time ago.  

"After Fairyhouse in April, after the National, they used to bring some of their future bumper horses, the four-year-olds, and he'd say, 'We've found one for Christmas' and, true to his word, at Christmas would be when it would next appear.  

"He'll be missed. He was a great judge of a horse and, on top of that, he looked after everybody who loved him so well."

Mullins echoed those sentiments. 

"Edward was a tremendous trainer and set the bar for other Irish trainers at Cheltenham," he said. "He was training winners over there when very few others could."

O'Grady was Ireland's most successful trainer at the Cheltenham Festival, with 18 winners to his name, before Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead arrived on the scene. The Mouse Morris-ridden Mr Midland was his first in the 1974 National Hunt Chase, and Sky's The Limit was his last when running away with the Coral Cup under Barry Geraghty in 2006.

Aidan O'Brien labelled him the ultimate target trainer, saying: "Edward was a great man, a very wise one. He was very helpful to us here in Ballydoyle when we were starting out and was a great man to go to for advice. When he spoke, you listened. 

Aidan O'Brien: "He was very helpful to us here in Ballydoyle when we were starting out and was a great man to go to for advice"

"He was an incredible man to train horses and there was nobody better at laying one out for a race, he was brilliant at it. He'll be very sadly missed by everyone."

O'Grady took over at the family's stables when his father, Willie, died in January 1972 and quickly celebrated his first winner when Vibrax, ridden by his cousin Timmy Hyde, won at Gowran Park that month. 

Golden Cygnet shot to stardom for O'Grady later that decade and scooted away with the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1978, but his exciting career was cruelly cut short the following month when he suffered a fatal fall in the Scottish Champion Hurdle. O'Grady hailed him the "most talented horse he had ever trained". 

Sound Man won back-to-back Tingle Creek Chases at Sandown in 1995 and 1996, while Back In Front followed in the footsteps of Golden Cygnet by winning the Supreme in 2003. 

• Edward O'Grady was a statesman of Irish racing - intelligent, articulate and passionate in his commitment to the sport 

• From Golden Cygnet to Back In Front - five of Edward O'Grady's best horses remembered 

Pizarro was a controversial winner of the Champion Bumper under Jamie Spencer in 2002, when fending off favourite Rhinestone Cowboy by a neck and surviving a lengthy stewards' inquiry. 

O'Grady's final Grade 1 winner was Cash And Go in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at the 2011 Christmas meeting at Leopardstown, while in 2009 Tranquil Sea became the first Irish-trained horse since Bright Highway in 1980 to win the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham – no Irish-trained horse has won it since. 

O'Grady was a colossus at the Galway Races, too. After Shining Flame in 1978, the trainer quickly won two more Plates with Hindhope (1979) and Rugged Lucy (1981). Hard Tarquin's victory in the 1979 Galway Hurdle made him only the fifth trainer to win the Plate and Hurdle in the same year.

Drumlargan's victory in the 1983 Whitbread Gold Cup at Sandown always held a special place in O'Grady's heart, while he won the Irish Grand National in the same year with Bit Of A Skite. 

Other talented horses he trained in more recent years included Ned Kelly and Nick Dundee, who both carried the famous navy Magnier silks and were mostly ridden by his great ally, Norman Williamson.

Ned Kelly won 12 of his 27 starts, including the Irish Champion Hurdle in 2002, while Nick Dundee was blessed with huge talent and was cantering when falling at the third-last in the 1999 Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Chase after being sent off 5-4 favourite.

After winning the Grade 2 Dr PJ Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown the month before Cheltenham, O'Grady said he was the "most exciting novice chaser I have trained".

His final runner proved to be Sovereign Banter, who finished down the field in a sprint handicap on the Flat at Cork last Friday. His last winner was Our Soldier in a handicap hurdle at Bellewstown this month. 

O'Grady's main rival, especially in the 1990s, was Noel Meade, with the pair fighting out many trainers' titles.

Eight-time champion jumps trainer Meade said: "The first thing to say is he was a very good trainer. We had our ups and downs – he had his own opinions about things and they weren't always the same as mine, let's just say! But we sorted out our differences in recent years and were good friends. He'll be sadly missed by everyone."

Jessica Harrington's friendship with O'Grady stretched all the way back to the 1960s. 

She said: "I'd known him for a very long time – from pony clubs back in the 60s. Those were great days. 

"He was a great trainer and so successful. He knew how to get horses ready for the big day and that showed with his Cheltenham record. He got winners over there when the Irish struggled for any. He knew what he had to do to get a horse to peak for a big occasion and that's the sign of a really good trainer."

Jessica Harrington: "He was a great trainer and so successful"Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Suzanne Eade, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said: "Along with everyone at HRI, I'd like to offer my condolences to Edward O'Grady's family, friends and colleagues. Edward has been intertwined with Irish racing for more than five decades and was a wonderful ambassador for racing. May he rest in peace."

O'Grady is survived by wife Kay and children Mimi, Rosie Mae, Jonathan, Amber and Lucy. 

He will repose at his home on Thursday from 3pm to 7pm, with the funeral mass on Friday at 11.30am at St Joseph the Worker Church, Moyglass, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. The funeral mass can be watched online here.

Edward O'Grady 1949-2025:

Edward O'Grady was a statesman of Irish racing - intelligent, articulate and passionate in his commitment to the sport 

From Golden Cygnet to Back In Front - five of Edward O'Grady's best horses remembered 

Edward O'Grady CV

Full name Edward Joseph O'Grady

Born September 27, 1949

Father Willie O'Grady (three-time champion jump jockey; trainer of Solfen, Kinloch Brae)

Stables Killeens, Ballynonty, Thurles, County Tipperary 1972-2025

First winner as trainer Vibrax (ridden by Timmy Hyde) handicap hurdle, Gowran Park, January 27, 1972

Highest-rated horse Golden Cygnet (176 in Chasers & Hurdlers 1977/78)

Stayers' Hurdle winners Flame Gun (1978), Mountrivers (1980)

Irish Champion Hurdle winner (Leopardstown) Ned Kelly (2002)

Irish Grand National winner Bit Of A Skite (1983)

Whitbread Gold Cup winner Drumlargan (1983)

Paddy Power Gold Cup winner Tranquil Sea (2009)

Tingle Creek Chase winner Sound Man (1995, 1996)

Victor Chandler (Clarence House) Chase winner Blitzkreig (1991)

Comet (Ascot) Chase winner Sound Man (1996)

Punchestown Chase winners Jack Of Trumps (1978, 1979), Tranquil Sea (2010)

Galway Plate winners Shining Flame (1978), Hindhope (1979), Rugged Lucy (1981)

Galway Hurdle winner Hard Tarquin (1979)

Aintree Hurdle winner Sacundai (2003)

Arkle Chase winner Ventana Canyon (1996)

Supreme Novices' Hurdle winners Golden Cygnet (1978), Back In Front (2003)

Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle winners Drumlargan (1980), Mister Donovan (1982, JP McManus's first Cheltenham Festival winner)

Triumph Hurdle winner Northern Game (1984)

Other Cheltenham Festival winners Mr Midland (1974 National Hunt Chase), Prolan (1976 Kim Muir Memorial Chase), Rusty Tears (1977 Cathcart Champion Hunters' Chase), Staplestown (1981 County Hurdle), Bit Of A Skite (1983 National Hunt Chase), Time For A Run (1994 Coral Cup), Mucklemeg (1994 Festival Bumper), Loving Around (1996 National Hunt Chase), Pizarro (2002 Champion Bumper), Sky's The Limit (2006 Coral Cup)

Pattern winners on Flat Cooleen Jack (1981 Ballyogan Stakes), Grey Goddess (1986 Matron Stakes, 1987 Gladness Stakes)

Placed horse in Cheltenham Gold Cup Drumlargan (3rd in 1984)

Last winner Our Soldier, handicap hurdle, Bellewstown, July 5, 2025

Cheltenham Festival wins 18

Champion jumps trainer in Ireland 4 times: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980

Leading trainer in Ireland (most wins, Flat/jumps combined) 1979 (82 wins)

Compiled by John Randall