Sha Tin Diary: Graham Cuningham talks to Dylan Browne McMonagle

Times they are a changin’ as Dylan reaches for HKIR high notes

No major sports career is complete nowadays without video clips of the star in question excelling at a tender age.

A two-tear-old Tiger swinging a driver on an American chat show; a smiling elf called Rory chipping balls into his mum’s washing machine on Irish telly at nine; Venus and Serena giggling on Trans World Sport aged 12 and 11; and an earnest young Londoner called David doing keepy-ups on a kids show called ‘It’s Wicked.’

It was clear from an early stage that Woods, McIlroy, the Williams sisters and Beckham were destined for big things, but none of them got the early cinematic treatment that introduced a tiny twelve-year-old to the world.

‘Five Stone of Lead’ is the film in question.

Jonny Madderson’s beguiling feature blends spectacular images of pony racing on Ireland’s wild west coast with moody shots of an ambitious youngster working a heavy bag and doing the hard yards as part of his training for an illustrious amateur boxing career.

And ten years on, the bold young boy pounding the dark streets of Donegal doesn’t hesitate when asked to recall the opening line of that 2015 piece.

“The dream is to be a champion jockey, that’s it,” says Dylan Browne McMonagle, who turned fantasy into reality last month and has gone on to conquer America ahead of another landmark opportunity on Al Riffa in the LONGINES Hong Vase this Sunday.

“The feeling of being champion is even better than I hoped,” says the 22-year-old who ended Colin Keane’s five-year grip on the Irish title. “The number of messages has been crazy but doing it so young is very special and hopefully it’s the first of many.”

Age is just a number

Achieving big things at a young age is nothing new for Browne McMonagle.

Becoming the first twelve-year-old to win the historic Dingle Derby – run on an improvised track in front of a passionate County Kerry crowd – was his first notable milestone.

An All-Ireland boxing championship had been secured by the time he rode his first winner under Rules for Joseph O’Brien aged 16 and Al Riffa’s progress has been the golden thread that has stitched that partnership together over the last few years.

“The fact that Joseph was a top rider at a very young age makes him a great man to have in your corner and he’s never rushed me, only giving me opportunities when I was ready and letting me go to Australia last winter for a spell with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace,” he says.

Browne McMonagle couldn’t emulate his boss – who rode his first G1 winner aged just 17 – but a first top-level success came his way at 19 when Al Riffa won the National Stakes at the Curragh and a debut Classic success followed this year when the powerful son of Wootton Bassett bounded clear in the Irish St Leger.

“Al Riffa is a huge horse, one of those very athletic sons of Wootton Bassett, but his biggest asset is his temperament as you can put him where you want in a race and you just know he’ll be there when you need him.

“He’s a jockey’s dream in that respect and that Leger win on Champions Weekend was my most special day so far. All my family were there and he demolished a good field - it doesn’t get much better than that.”

California dreaming

Or maybe it does.

Browne McMonagle took another step towards the centre of the global stage when bringing 28-1 outsider Ethical Diamond with a dramatic charge from the rear to beat the globetrotting Rebel’s Romance in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on November 1st.

Al Riffa’s Aussie owners opted to use Mark Zahra for their Melbourne Cup bid a few days later, but Browne McMonagle is thrilled to be back aboard for Sunday’s HK$ 26m Vase.

“I was disappointed to lose the ride, of course, but getting replaced by Mark Zahra wasn’t the end of the world as he’s been there and done it.

“But the way the race was run wasn’t ideal, as Al Riffa was drawn 19 in a race where the tempo wasn’t quick, but he came home strongly for seventh, giving plenty of weight to the horses ahead of him, and there were lots of positives to take from the run.”

“The Hong Kong Vase is a top-quality race, you wouldn’t expect anything less, but Al Riffa felt happy and content when I rode him back at home again last week and I do believe we go there with a very live chance.”

This year’s Vase features several high-class European raiders, notably Sosie, Goliath, Los Angeles and last year’s winner Giavellotto, but Al Riffa has the chance to launch his rider’s Hong Kong adventure in style.

“I’m starting a three-month contract on January 1st and it’s going to be a real challenge,” he adds.

“Hong Kong is up there with the fastest racing in the world and it’s a bit like Australia, blitzing from the get-go with closely matched horses and some great riders who don’t give an inch.

“I’ve watched Zac Purton a lot he’s nearly always in the right position, letting the race unfold like all the top jockeys do, and if we can do a few of things he’s doing then we won’t go far wrong.”

“Hong Kong city life is going to be very different from Owning Hill in Kilkenny, and Happy Valley is something else, but we have plenty of tight tracks in Ireland and the target is to adapt as quickly as possible and get in the mix.”

Reaching for the sky

The HKJC’s latest jockey signing spent his first night in Hong Kong watching the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at the Valley on Wednesday as Ryan Moore delivered two typically dynamic winning rides to beat off a stellar line-up

It’s safe to assume he smiled as he thought of the Irish pal who reflected on those pony racing days and joked that the Valley is “like Dingle with skyscrapers.”

As a new kid in town, he could have been forgiven for scanning the list of world-class riders and feeling a little nervous about what’s to come.

But time waits for no man.

Fiftysomething Frankie Dettori will ride off into the sunset after a final farewell in South America next year, while Lemaire, Bowman, Purton, Moreira and Moore are 46, 45 and 42 respectively.

In short, the next decade could be even more significant than the last for Dylan Browne McMonagle, who aims to copy Moore, Keane and William Buick “not just in what they’ve achieved but also in the way they handle themselves.”

“A lot has happened in the last ten years, and I have to keep improving because getting these opportunities is one thing and taking them is another,” adds Al Riffa’s main partner.

But time on his side.

Try as they might, the old guard can’t stay Forever Young.

And as another famous 22-year-old called Dylan once said: ‘The Times They Are a Changin’.

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