Jonjo O’Neill Jr

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If a jockey was ever weighted down with expectations due to his name, then Jonjo O’Neill Jr is certainly that jockey. Son of former jockey and current trainer Jonjo O’Neill, since a very young age, there have been many eyes on O’Neill Jr, and expectations have come with that.

During the 1980s, O’Neill senior won many big races, and since retiring as a jockey and moving into training, he’s won even more. Now working alongside his father, O’Neill Jr is trying to emulate his father, and that includes having a massive say in the yard, how it works and where runners will head next.

In 2021, O’Neill Jr landed his first Grade One win on board Champ, trained by Nicky Henderson. The horse was owned by JP McManus, who O’Neill senior has been associated with for many years and remains to be his lead trainer.

A couple of years before that, O’Neill Jr won his first race at the Cheltenham Festival, riding for Joseph O’Brien, but again on a horse that JP McManus owned. Used as a conditional jockey in a race specifically for those, O’Neill Jr was handpicked to ride JP McManus’s best horse for the race, a sign that he was trusted to deliver at a very young age.

Just four years after riding his first winner as a 17-year-old, in 2015, O’Neill Jr was winning at the Cheltenham Festival and being handpicked to do so.

One of the biggest reasons we’ve seen behind the acceleration of O’Neill Jr’s career has been the fact that he’s able to go out and get good rides from other trainers. He’s proving that his career isn’t based on just receiving rides on horses trained by his dad, which is an easy thing to throw at him.

His first Grade One success came as an outside ride on a Nicky Henderson runner, even though JP McManus owned the horse, while other big names, including Colin Tizzard, have given O’Neill Jr the chance to ride some of their biggest stars. That trust from others has certainly seen him grow as a jockey.

Grand National Debut in 2021

In 2021, Jonjo O’Neill Jr would take his first ride in the Aintree Grand National, and this was also an outside ride for him. He would take the mount on board Mister Malarky, trained by Colin Tizzard.

The race didn’t go to plan for O’Neill Jr, even though he was on an outsider, and the pair would eventually depart the race at the start of the second circuit. After struggling for a few furlongs, O’Neill Jr took his mount out of the race at the 17^th fence.

One thing is for sure, given the fact that his father always has an eye on the Grand National, has won the race before, and often targets it with horses owned by JP McManus, we are likely to see O’Neill Jr presented with plenty more opportunities to ride in the race in the coming years.