After a record-breaking year for a conditional in 2019-20, where he rode 48 winners in Ireland in a season curtailed by the pandemic, you would think things couldn’t get too much better for jockey Darragh O’Keeffe.
But that upward curve has kept on rising. He’s already got another 30 winners on the board this campaign, despite not having the advantage of his claim, and in a season of firsts he’s eyeing further landmarks.
His first Cheltenham victory came in December – it was also his first win in the UK – aboard Chatham Street Lad who won the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup by an incredible 15 lengths. Some way to ride your first Cheltenham winner.
It was only his seventh ride at Cheltenham and it came just six days after his first Graded race winner, on Sayce Gold, who landed the Grade Three Kerry Group Stayers Novice Hurdle at Cork. Both horses were trained by Mick Winters.
But if all that was good, the best was yet to come on December 28, at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival and in the feature of the whole meeting; the Grade One Savills Chase. Won by fantastic horses like Rince Ri, Beef Or Salmon, Best Mate, Denman and Synchronised in the past, ridden by brilliant jockeys like Ruby Walsh, Paul Carberry and Tony McCoy.
For O’Keeffe it was a first ever ride in a Grade One. And he made it a winning one. A Plus Tard was the horse, trained by Henry De Bromhead, and he’s now second favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But how did the ride come about?
“I just started riding out for Henry De Bromhead before Christmas for one day a week, not with any expectation but just hoping to pick up a ride somewhere," O’Keeffe said.
"So I had ridden out A Plus Tard a couple of weeks before the race, but I didn’t take any notice of it, and when I saw the declaration with my name down next to him it was brilliant. To get a ride in the Savills Chase and such a high-profile one, it’s one of the highlights of Christmas, was a dream come true, it was brilliant to be part of it.
“Then to come out of it with the win was unbelievable."
It’s quite a daunting experience riding in your first Grade One as a jockey, but there was no time for O’Keeffe to think about that.
He went on: “It was my first ride in a Grade One and I was looking around thinking, are we actually flying here, is this a normal pace for a Grade One? We went a very strong gallop, we never slowed down, we were always going.
“He’s a lovely horse to ride, very easy. He jumps great and he saw out the trip very well. Some people said beforehand he didn’t stay, but the last time he tried it was after a long season. He definitely stayed at Christmas anyway!"
While it’s unlikely O’Keeffe will be on A Plus Tard at the Cheltenham Festival in the Gold Cup with Rachael Blackmore De Bromhead’s de facto number one, he is eyeing up a reunion with one of his big winner’s this season.
That is Chatham Street Lad, who has several entries in the Grade Ones but could just as likely be aimed at a handicap following on from his superb success there in December.
O’Keeffe said: “He was brilliant at Cheltenham, my first winner at the home of jumps racing – and actually my first winner in the UK, as well.
“He’s a good horse and was very impressive on the day, all being well he goes back in March with a bit of luck.”
It won’t be his only ride at the meeting. In fact, it’s unlikely to be his only ride for Mick Winters at the meeting, with Sayce Gold another potential runner for him following on from three victories already this campaign.
“She’s owned by Trevor Hemmings and is a nice mare,” O’Keeffe said.
“She won three times in the space of five weeks, she’s progressive and she did it well when we won the Grade Three at Cork, my first graded victory.
“We were probably taking a chance running her at Thurles last time, over two miles, as it was her fourth run in a short space of time. Every time we ran there was a chance it was a run too much, and although it was two miles I don’t think the distance would’ve mattered on her previous form.
“She’s freshened up now and she could run in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival."
It has been a rapid ascent for O’Keeffe, who doesn’t turn 21 until March 21.
He started off in pony racing, his father trained point-to-pointers and he says that racing is in his blood. His big break, though, came three years ago when he moved to Enda Bolger’s.
"I wouldn’t be where I am without Enda," says O’Keeffe. “He’s been brilliant for me on and off the track. He watches what I do very closely and tells me where I’m going wrong, what I can improve on.
“It’s a great set-up, riding the banks and schooling the horses, it’s a great place for a jockey to work. Just up the road there’s some lovely woods with a couple of jumps so there’s plenty of variety."
After achieving so much in such a short space of time, I ask O’Keefe what’s next for him.
"Tom Gibney has been brilliant to me and he backs me as much as he can. I’d love to get a nice big pot for him this season if I could. And it would be great to have a good run on something at Cheltenham. Chatham Street Lad will definitely have a chance, but it will be another level from December."
Another level is something O’Keeffe copes with very well indeed.