The death of the outstanding champion jockey has left a deep sense of shock and loss across the racing community
Pat Smullen was an outstanding champion jockey and multiple Classic-winner who, less than 18 months ago, seemed to have prevailed in the most difficult battle of his life. The news on Tuesday evening that pancreatic
cancer had returned to take Smullen’s life at just 43 years of age left a deep sense of shock and loss across the racing community, and arrived a year to the day after a charity race which he organised at the Curragh raised more than €2.5m (£1.9m) for Cancer Trials
Ireland.
The race, and the afternoon at the Curragh which was built around it, typified Smullen’s reaction to his initial diagnosis in March 2018: to fight his disease in any and every way possible. The same competitive instincts made him one of the outstanding Flat jockeys of the last 20 years.