‘Michael sadly passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning surrounded by his loving family in Cork University Hospital.'
The 20 dread words confirming that Michael O’Sullivan’s short but significant life is over will have come as no shock to those familiar with the melancholy messaging when a jockey goes down hard nowadays.
We knew it was grave in the immediate aftermath of Michael’s heavy fall at Thurles when Andrew Coonan of the Irish Jockeys’ Association said: “It is very sombre. All the riders are upset, spanning right across to Michael’s colleagues that ride on the Flat.
“Everyone is pulling together as best they can,” he added. “But you can imagine there’s a lot of shock, a lot of upset."
I never had the honour of meeting Michael but I know a man who did and Ruby Walsh’s recollection of an early encounter with him, taken from a vivid piece in the Irish Examiner last weekend, provides a clear impression of what this young lad was about.
This is a fantastic piece of writing.. https://t.co/RJaIT7e420
— Maurice O' Mahony (@Mossyom1) February 8, 2025
"On the morning of March 14, 2023, I stood outside the Cheltenham racecourse stable yard in the unloading area, talking to Charlie Swan,” he said.
“A tall, lean figure hovered behind us before approaching, looking for advice. He didn't want to know how he should ride his horse or what we thought of the race; he wanted to know about the track. He wanted any small pointers that he felt he should know.
"Charlie voiced a few ideas, and I chipped in with one or two more. He thanked us for our time and left.
"Five hours later, I joked with Charlie Swan that it was like Micheal O’Sullivan had an earpiece in as his execution of what we suggested was delivered on point. Marine Nationale nailed Facile Vega, and Micheal was a Supreme hero.
"His cleverness to ask, his manners of approach, and the general vibe he exudes have made him a likeable man. He is quiet but confident, mannerly yet cheeky.
"But a roller coaster goes up and down, and his ride is no different. The man in the cart has never changed, even if his circumstances did, and when one job went, all he looked for was the next ticket to get back on board the roller coaster."
Walsh has never been one to sugar the pill of hard news and the essence of his message was inescapable.
In short, young men and women the world over find nothing comes close to the addictive thrill of riding fast horses.
It’s who they are, almost everything they are, and it’s a compulsion that propelled Ruby to more than 2,500 jumps winners including 59 at the Festival.
Few observers can truly relate to that compulsion but most of us have experienced the stress of seeing family, friends or colleagues in extremis.
And the pain that Michael O’Sullivan’s nearest and dearest must be feeling this morning is almost too terrible to comprehend.
Thousands of people from inside and outside the racing community will pay respects in the coming days to a young man who was only in the foothills of what would surely have been a high climbing life.
Ruby ended last week’s piece by inviting readers to “say a prayer for the O’Sullivans and hope they can come away from this ride smiling.”
Ah, those prayers and hopes again.
One way or another, the painful script begins and ends with them when brave young riders fight the hardest battle.
My faith in prayer isn’t what it once was but hope in all its forms underpins every aspect of horse racing.
They say hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, but we were hoping against hope in this instance. And Michael O’Sullivan’s family, friends and colleagues are dealing with the unimaginable.
