Jockey Kevin Manning announces retirement at Galway

Manning, 55, has ridden throughout most of his illustrious career for legendary trainer Jim Bolger, who is also his father-in-law.

Together the pair have won a huge haul of major races across Ireland, the United Kingdom and France, as well as a Hong Kong Cup with Alexander Goldrun.

Perhaps Manning’s most famous success came in the 2008 Derby at Epsom on New Approach, a horse on whom he also won an Irish Champion Stakes and a Dewhurst. Manning and Bolger won the latter contest a further four times with Teofilo, Intense Focus, Parish Hall and Dawn Approach in a golden spell between 2006 and 2012.

Upon dismounting having won the Corrib Food Products Maiden, Manning said: “I’ve had a great career, I can’t complain, things have gone well and I’ve enjoyed some great days.

“I have been very lucky to ride some very good horses along the way and owe Jim and Jackie (Bolger) everything.

“I was suspended for this weekend, which is the end of the grass season, and I had some good rides today and said to myself it is time to call it quits if one of these wins.”

Manning partnered his first winner, Keynes, in 1983 before being crowned champion apprentice in 1984 and 1987 – the latter being the year he really made a breakthrough thanks to the exploits of Bolger’s Noora Abu, who won seven races including the Ballycorus Stakes.

Manning succeeded Christy Roche as Bolger’s number one in 1993 and rode alongside the likes of Willie Carson, Pat Eddery, Johnny Murtagh, Mick Kinane and Pat Smullen.

His first Group One came in the following year’s National Stakes on Eva Luna but Bolger’s fortunes then went through a bit of a lull until the turn of the decade.

However, his support of Galileo as a stallion saw the glory days return and Manning was there every step of the way.

While Teofilo was denied the chance to back up his champion juvenile season because of injury, the likes of Finsceal Beo, New Approach, Alexander Goldrun, Lush Lashes and his most recent Classic and Royal Ascot winner Poetic Flare in 2021 ensured Manning will be remembered as one of the best of his profession.

“I have been with Jim for a very long time, he has stuck by me through thick and thin and owe him everything. It has been a great career,” added Manning.

“I don’t think it would be right to pick any one winner as being extra special as they are all great memories with all those good winners, but also the smaller ones were special.”

Bolger pays tribute

Jim Bolger led the tributes to his jockey and son-in-law Kevin Manning, after announcing his immediate retirement. Having partnered Bolger’s Vocal Studies to victory, 55-year-old Manning called time on an illustrious career, meaning one of the longest standing partnerships in racing has come to an end.

Having first come across each other in 1982, Manning succeeded Christy Roche as Bolger’s number one pilot in 1993.

“He has been a top jockey for the past 40 years and has given great service to me and my family. Obviously we wish him very well,” said Bolger.

“He rode a lot of good horses and gave us some great days. He has had a great career and I’ve no doubt he will be very happy with him himself.

“In the pantheon of jockeys, he is right up there with the very best. I had the satisfaction of knowing that he was never beaten on one that he should have won on. He rarely made mistakes and and that is very important.”

Bolger’s daughter and Manning’s wife, Una, said: “Kevin said to me the other day ‘maybe I’ll finish up this year’. He was trying to decide when and he loves to do a bit of rough shooting (with hunting dogs), that’s his thing, and that season starts tomorrow, so it was nice to go out on a winner today.

“It is good to have him out in one piece as he had a bad fall here last year when he broke his collarbone. It had to be pinned so was nasty, but it hasn’t given him trouble since. He has had to do light weights through the years, before the weights increased in recent times, and is 40 years doing it. He won’t be stepping on the scales every morning, but he never really spoke about it or complained.”

She added: “I suppose Trading Leather winning the Irish Derby was a highlight for me as it was owned, bred and trained by the family and all his and our families were there on the day. It was a huge day.

“He will find plenty to keep himself busy.”

One of Manning’s former weighing room colleagues Johnny Murtagh took to Twitter and said: “Congratulations to Kevin Manning on a wonderful career. Never gave an inch or looked for an inch on the track. Ultimate professional. Happy Retirement Kevin! #gentleman.”

Former champion National Hunt jockey Davy Russell told Racing TV: “He’s nearly as bad as me! God we feared him when we were younger, I used to work at Jim’s and Kevin would come in and ride work and we just respected him so much. He was the utmost professional.

“A great man to have in the weighing room, you could ask Kevin anything. Throughout the winter I can remember him riding work on Nickname for Martin Brassil, he was a real team player. We used to have mixed meetings and Kevin was always a quiet, hardworking man, we all looked up to him because that’s what you needed to get to if you wanted to be successful.

“He was great for all the young lads. If you wanted to see how it was done right, you watched Kevin Manning. He was the utmost professional and I learnt a lot from him, I never really spoke to him much as a young lad but just watched him from a distance, the way he’d approach a day’s racing.

“We used to go racing a lot with the mixed meetings. He might not have realised it but we were getting nuggets of information off him. I looked up to him something wicked, he was a hell of a man.

“What he put his body through over the last couple of years was beyond most sportspeople, I’d like to delve into the hardship he had over the years.”

Five of the best for Kevin Manning

After Kevin Manning called time on his long and successful career at Galway, we look back at five of the best horses he rode – all trained by his father-in-law and master handler Jim Bolger.

New Approach

Manning rode this son of Galileo in each of his 11 career starts, with the colt winning on eight occasions and placed the other three times. Having enjoyed the perfect juvenile campaign, which culminated with a victory in the Dewhurst at Newmarket, New Approach found Henrythenavigator too good in both the English and Irish 2000 Guineas. Bolger indicated the colt would not run in the Derby but after an administrative error saw the colt left in at Epsom, connections changed tack and the rest is history, as they say. While he was third in the Juddmonte International after that, he ended his career with victories in the Irish Champion Stakes and the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, by six lengths. He retired as a five-time Group One winner and has proven himself top-class at stud.

Teofilo

Sporting the famous Jackie Bolger colours, Teofilo enjoyed a fleeting but brilliant career for the Manning-Bolger axis. He did not appear until July when he won a Curragh maiden, stepped up to Listed company two weeks later, won the Futurity a month after that and three weeks later took the National Stakes. The last race of his career saw him win the Dewhurst, once again beating Holy Roman Emperor. Guineas and Derby favourite through the winter, an injury forced his premature retirement.

Dawn Approach

Bred by Bolger himself, he was ultimately bought by Sheikh Mohammed for Godolphin after winning the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot – which was already the fourth run of his career. Manning was given the leg up for each of his 12 career starts, landing the National Stakes and the Dewhurst to end 2012 as the undisputed champion juvenile. His Classic campaign was quite extraordinary. He won the Guineas at Newmarket and Bolger fancied a crack at the Derby. Unfortunately Dawn Approach gave himself no chance of seeing out the trip, racing extremely keenly for Manning and trailing home in last place. In what was a contentious decision at the time, Bolger brought him back to a mile just 17 days later for the St James’s Palace Stakes which he won narrowly from Toronado.

Poetic Flare

A son of Dawn Approach, it transpired that Poetic Flare would be a final Classic winner for Manning. He went into 2021 slightly under the radar, despite winning two of his three starts, partly because he was well beaten in the Dewhurst. He won a Guineas trial at Leopardstown suggesting he was going to be a major player and confirmed that when winning the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Unsuited by soft ground when only sixth in the French version, he was then beaten just a short head by stablemate Mac Swiney in the Irish equivalent. He then produced his best display at Royal Ascot when demolishing a good field in the St James’s Palace Stakes before finishing second in the Sussex Stakes and the Jacques le Marois. His final run saw him finish an honourable third to St Mark’s Basilica over 10 furlongs in the Irish Champion Stakes.

Finsceal Beo

Manning enjoyed 17 outings with this hardy filly, highlighted by glory in both the English and Irish 1000 Guineas in 2007. Sandwiched between those runs was a head defeat in the French equivalent, with three Classic runs in a month proving the peak of her powers. Finsceal Beo was also a juvenile Group One scorer, but following her Classic wins, she struggled to regain her very best and could not prevail again in nine subsequent runs.

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