Slevin now in the front rank
Caim rider has already ticked many career milestones
JJ (JAMES JOSEPH) Slevin has been around horses for most of his life, and it was almost inevitable that he would make a career working with them.
He has been on an upward curve as a jockey and he has already had a few notable milestones, including two Cheltenham Festival winners and success in the Irish Grand National.
He is son of Shay and Elizabeth, and, at 27 years of age, he has built up a wealth of experience. There were always horses around the home place at Kiltrea, Caim, when he was growing up, and his dad has for years been prominent on the point-to-point scene.
Mother, Elizabeth, is sister to the Ballydoyle maestro, Aidan O’Brien, and the family link is being maintained as JJ does most of his work for Aidan’s son, Joseph, his first cousin and former champion flat jockey, and now a leading trainer.
When JJ came of age he rode many of his father’s horses in points meetings around the country, collecting 34 winners. His first big milestone was at the Island Hunt meeting at Ballydarragh, Craanford, on November 14, 2010, when he had his first winner on Herecomestherain, trained by his dad.
His brother, Mark, also did a bit of point-to-point riding but now concentrates on his successful career as a vet. Both of them still help out with the horses at the home place when available. JJ also has another string to his bow as he has a degree in journalism from Griffith College in Dublin.
His first winner on the racecourse proper came on the John Clifford-trained Chapel Garden in the Curaheen INH Flat Race at Thurles on December 22, 2013, and it was not before time as it was his 112th ride!
In all, he rode eleven winners as an amateur, including two for trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies during a year spent in Britain.
JJ was still an amateur when enjoying a notable success on Moylisha Tim, trained by Richie Rath in Screen, Castlebridge, in a Grade 3 novice hurdle at Cork in November, 2015
His first success as a professional came on his first ride after switching from amateur when he dead-heated on the Seán Doyle (Ballindaggin)-trained Craig Star with Liam Cusack’s Lasoscar in the Tote Handicap Hurdle at Roscommon on August 29, 2016.
Just four days later, he enjoyed his first outright success when Doyle’s Crosshue Boy landed the Martinstown Opportunity Handicap Hurdle at Kilbeggan.
A higher profile success came his way at the Cheltenham Festival in March, 2017, only nine months after turning pro., when he landed the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle on the Gordon Elliott-trained Champagne Classic, a horse famously described by owner Michael O’Leary as the worst one he owned! That win clinched the Festival champion trainer’s title for Elliott for the first time, pipping Willie Mullins.
He rode a second Cheltenham Festival winner in 2019 when he won the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle on the Joseph O’Brientrained Band of Outlaws, Joseph’s first Festival winner in his own name. He puts this down as his most memorable career win.
This year he had three rides for Joseph O’Brien on the final day at Cheltenham and made a good show to get two thirds and a sixth in very big fields. He was third of 24 on Embittered (14/1) for Gigginstown in the £100,000 County Hurdle, just pipped by a head for second, and he was also third of 18 in the £110,000 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual on Us and Them (10/1), and sixth of 18 on Sempo (12/1) in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett.
He had his first Grade 1 winner on Joseph’s Tower Bridge on the opening day of the inaugural Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in February, 2018. It was his first ride in a top-level contest.
He pulled off a marvellous success in the BoyleSports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday, 2018, getting up on the line to win this three-mile five-furlong marathon by a head on General Principle (20/1) to give Gordon Elliott his first win in the race, and earn €270,000 for Michael O’Leary of Gigginstown and Ryanair.
General Principle was one of 13 Elliott trained horses in the field and was not to the forefront of the trainer’s considerations. ‘He wasn’t one of my leading horses but it’s great to win. He ran very well in the race last year and JJ gave him a great ride and it worked out great.’ The horse has not won again in the past two years.
In his career JJ has ridden 116 winners, and he has won nearly €2.4 million for his connections. The breakthrough came after he turned professional in 2016, and he rode 25 winners by season’s end at Punchestown on 2017.
He followed up with 32 winners in 2017-’18, 27 last year, and then 29 in the curtailed season ended on March 24, 23 of them for Joseph O’Brien.
JJ Slevin is most certainly in the front rank of Irish national hunt jockeys now and, given reasonable luck with injuries, he should go on to enhance his reputation in the years ahead.
Not only is he allied to the powerful Joseph O’Brien yard, he is sure to pick up many attractive ‘spares’ from other astute connections.