A flight commander waiting in the wings

Updated: Thursday, 18th March, 2010 8:59am

Jason Maguire at home in Kilmessan last week with his fiancée Lauren Kitchen.

Last Sunday week, Jason Maguire was leading out a children's hunt in his home village of Kilmessan. It was one of the upsides of his enforced break from National Hunt racing across the water, and brought him back to his juvenile days when he took part in children's hunts and pony racing around the country.

He was midway through a 12-day ban received for taking the wrong course in a race at Newcastle, bringing the four pursuing jockeys with him. But the ban offered him a rare break away from the hectic racing around of the British National Hunt scene, where he is lying in third place in the jockeys' championship, behind the great Tony McCoy, and Richard Johnson, and a trip home to parents Ann and Michael.

He was back to his roots, leading out over 100 young riders, many of whom harbour ambitions to be where he is today, in the event organised as a fundraiser for the local senior citizens club by his father and the Ward Union Hunt.

"I owe a lot to my father," Maguire, whose family surname is synonymous with both racing and Kilmessan, told the Meath Chronicle. "He did everything for me, driving ponies around the country to races and hunts."

Maguire (29) has been in the saddle for as long as he can remember, from messing around on ponies at his grandfather Joe's in Bective, to riding out for trainer Pat Beirne at Kilcock, whom his father worked for. He went pony racing for two or three seasons, and was All-Ireland pony racing champion for two years in-a-row, 1992 and '93. "I always had good ponies - my first, Flight Commander, was by In The Wings," he recalled.

And as a young lad of around 10, he was in Fairyhouse to see his uncle, Adrian, win the Irish Grand National on Omerta, the same horse which had provided him with his first Cheltenham win only weeks earlier. "That's one of my earliest memories of racing. I suppose, at the time, you would only be watching the big races as a young lad."

As Adrian went on to greater things in the racing world, winning a Gold Cup and fighting out a championship battle with Richard Dunwoody, Jason started riding out with the Kilcock trainer. He took out his apprentice licence while working with Joanna Morgan, who provided him with his first race ride.

The Kilmessan man rode his first winner over hurdles for Beirne while his first winner on the flat was at Dundalk, Green Patriot. Michael Halford provided the ammunition and he added another 24 winners on the flat.

"Michael Halford was very good to me, as were Pat and Joanna. The weight began to catch up with me, and I went jumping. Petitioner for Pat was my first winner over jumps, at Limerick. That was great, especially as my father was there to see it."

Others he rode for included Tony Martin, Pat Hughes, and Mouse Morris, and he notched up around 50 winners before he decided to go to England. He was second in the conditional jockeys' championship to Paul Hourican. "The opportunities were drying up for me in Ireland.

"My claim was going - I was only claiming three pounds and there were more racing opportunities over there. I wasn't riding as much at home. I first started riding a bit for Ginger McCain, through his friend Sean Byrne from Dunboyne."

Agent Tom O'Mahony organised a job for him with Tom George, in Stroud, near Cheltenham, where Maguire still lives, with his fiancée, Lauren Kitchen.

He started from scratch, working in the yard, Rupert Wakley was the number one rider.

A conditional jockey, Maguire took whatever rides he could get, and as time went on he was getting more. In 2002, just a decade after his uncle won a Gold Cup, Maguire the younger had his first Cheltenham festival winner with Galileo for George in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle.

He spent seven years with George, and his second Cheltenham Festival winner, White Oak in the inaugural David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle, was for his new boss, Donald McCain. It was a special win for him as it was the late trainer (Nicholson) who had given Adrian Maguire so much of his rides in his glory days.

In 2007, there was a Midlands Grand National win at Uttoxeter for Nigel Twiston-Davis on Baron Windrush. "I first started riding a bit for Ginger McCain, through his friend Sean Byrne from Dunboyne," Maguire explained. "Then, the operation got bigger when Donald took over, and I ended up going up there as stable jockey."

He travels twice a week to the McCain stable in Cheshire, not far from Liverpool, and is enjoying working with him. Trainer and jockey have a good relationship, and Maguire describes McCain as very positive towards his horses, which in turn rubs off on him.

McCain has said that Maguire has not been given the recognition he deserves for his achievements. The Meath man also rides for Kim Bailey, Jim Old and Ian Williams, as well as old friend Gordon Elliott, and covers up to 80,000 miles a year. The support of Elliott, who regularly brings horses over to England from his Trim base, means a lot to Maguire, as it adds to his tally on the championship table, particularly when facing into winter racing.

"If you're not getting the winners over the summer, you are playing catch up in the winter, and you're not going to pick up spare rides as easily. It's a great help to be up in the championship table come winter."

And riding high on the table he is at the moment. While McCoy and Johnson, at the time of writing, have 180 and 135 winners respectively, and are miles ahead, Maguire with 83, despite his 12-day break, was still 18 winners ahead of the next man, Tom Scudamore.

"They're two very big names, who have been racing for years with great success, and to be third to them is something incredible." However, like his recent ban, it's hard to tell what's around the corner. "That was a blow, but I hope to hold onto third place, particularly as there is only a few months of the season left.

But he was looking forward to getting back into action at the weekend, with a good book of rides for Cheltenham, including Peddlers Cross from the McCain stable, which has produced such greats as Red Rum and Amberleigh House in the past.