Kevin Manning, the multiple Classic winning jockey, and longest-serving stable rider in Ireland or Britain, retired on Monday.
The 55-year-old veteran decided to hang up his boots after guiding 4-6 favourite Vocal Studies to victory at Galway’s Bank Holiday fixture.
Vocal Studies is trained by Manning’s father-in-law Jim Bolger, who the rider has worked for throughout his career, including his first winner on Keynes at the Curragh in 1983.
Manning, champion apprentice in 1984 and 1987, took over as Bolger’s No 1 rider in 1993.
On a long list of top-class winners through the years, pride of place perhaps goes to the world champion New Approach, who in 2008 gave the partnership their sole Epsom Derby success as well as landing the Champion Stakes in both Ireland and England.
Alexander Goldrun was another major talent whose victories included the Hong Kong Cup in 2005. Just last year he recorded a second success in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket aboard Poetic Flare. Trading Leather landed the Irish Derby in 2013.
“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,” said Manning.
“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.
“It was a great way to finish riding one for the boss and in Jackie’s colours. They’ve been supporters my whole career and Jim has been unbelievable to me. I started out with him and finished with him.
“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,” Manning added.
Tall for a jockey, not far from six feet in height, Manning was renowned for the discipline with which he kept his weight under control.
No less than Tony McCoy, another graduate of the Bolger academy, once described Manning as the most dedicated jockey he’s ever known.
The Co Dublin native was well-known too for his unassuming approach and wariness of the spotlight.
Married to Bolger’s daughter, Una, with whom he has two children, Clare and James, he was often reluctant to speak of his relationship with Bolger, the man who moulded much of his career.
“I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of Jim, that he’s very tough and hard to work for. It’s actually simple. He wants things done 110 per cent right and to the best of your ability. Once you do that, he’s fine. If you don’t then he’ll find someone else,” Manning once explained.
The partnership stood the test of time, although the physical demands from the jockey’s point of view were considerable. Even when not riding he rarely let his weight rise above nine stone.
He once commented: “I don’t have a set routine. I just know what I can and can’t have. If there is a craving for something now, I just have a small amount of it, whereas before I tried so many diets.
“I also do a lot of walking and there’s no doubt the weights going up in the last couple of years has made things a little easier.
“But the bottom line is that this is a way of life. You either deal with it or you don’t. And as you get older you do start to mentally deal with it better. It doesn’t get easier. You just handle it better.
“What I’ve found over the years is that it is definitely more of a mental struggle than a physical one.”
Getting the better of that struggle helped make Manning a hugely admired figure among his colleagues.
“Never gave an inch or looked for an inch on the track. Ultimate professional,” trainer and former champion jockey Johnny Murtagh tweeted on Monday.
Former rider and Racing TV pundit Fran Berry called him “the pro’s pro”, something echoed by top jumps jockey Davy Russell who said Manning had been an example for young jockeys for many years.
