Full Results

Sean Flanagan began life as a jockey riding in amateur races in Ireland, though that would only last a year. He rode his first winner in 2006, the first of four amateur wins he bagged, before turning professional in January 2007.

An opportunity to ride in America came to give Flanagan an experience that few jockeys get, and he would link up with leading trainer Jack Fisher during this period. For two and a half years, Flanagan would have success in America but then decided to return home and try to continue his career on home soil.

When top jockey Paul Carberry retired from riding in 2016, he left an opening for someone to become stable jockey to Noel Meade, and Flanagan was ultimately the man to be offered that job. He was able to ride a good string of horses, and in February 2017, Flanagan rode his first Grade One winner on Disko in a novice chase at Leopardstown.

Flanagan also had his partnership with Meade to thank for his first Cheltenham Festival win, which came in 2021 and was certainly one that made a big splash. He rode Jeff Kidder to victory in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, and it was the starting price that caught the eye. The horse won at 80/1, the biggest priced winner at the festival since 1990, giving Flanagan plenty of attention.

You have to go way back before Noel Meade and his trip to the USA to find where Sean Flanagan had his first Grand National ride. This was in 2010, on a horse called Conna Castle for James Joseph Mangan. He almost made it around Aintree but pulled the horse up at the 29^th fence, one from home. Flanagan would then wait seven years before getting another Grand National ride, mainly due to his time in America.