Murphy, O'Brien, Russell and Townend among nominees for Sportsperson of the Year

Four jockeys have been nominated for the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 Sportsperson of the Year, which will be held on Saturday, December 14.

New British champion Flat jockey Oisin Murphy, a native of Killarney, is among the 26 nominees for the first time, while the recently-retired Donnacha O'Brien also makes the list after securing a second Irish title earlier this month.

Ireland's champion jumps jockey Paul Townend also makes the list after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Al Boum Photo, as does Davy Russell, who guided Tiger Roll to victory in the Grand National at Aintree in April.

The quartet face stiff competition as it has been a terrific year for Irish sport and Shane Lowry, winner of the British Open at Royal Portrush, is sure to be among the front-runners.

The last racing personality to win the coveted award was Sir Anthony McCoy in 2013, while Barry Geraghty won it in 2003.

Darragh Maloney and Joanne Cantwell will present the RTÉ Sport Awards 2019 live on RTÉ One on Saturday, December 14 at 9.30pm.

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