HorseTracker
Click here to add Jockey to HorseTracker
By Enda McElhinney
Browne McMonagle was a star on the pony racing circuit in Ireland even before he hit his teens, destined to make it in the big league, and he has established himself as a key part of the jigsaw in Joseph O'Brien's yard.
From Letterkenny, County Donegal, Browne McMonagle rode 218 winners on the pony racing circuit.
He was crowned national champion on two occasions and he won the famous Dingle Derby as a 12-year-old in 2015, a record at the time.
A talented sportsman, he was also an All-Ireland boys' boxing champion. His story caught the eye of 20-time champion jumps jockey AP McCoy, who invited the talented teen to spend time with him in England and he visited the British Racing School to further his skills in the saddle.
Browne McMonagle signed up as an apprentice with Joseph O'Brien in the middle of the 2019 Flat season and has gone on to thrive at his Piltown base.
There was no shortage of pressure on the young rider, given he had been seemingly feted for the top from his time riding ponies.
He was just 16 years of age when riding his first winner as an apprentice on the O'Brien-trained Jumellea at Navan in October 2019.
He rode his first Group-race winner when taking the Group 3 Vintage Crop Stakes on the Joseph O'Brien-trained Baron Samedi at Navan in April 2021 ? a sparkling achievement given it was his first time riding in a Group-race.
He rode 48 winners in the 2021 season and was duly crowned champion apprentice, while he was also acknowledged as the winner of the Emerging Talent Award at the annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards that year.
Brown McMonagle's first Group 1 success arrived on board Al Riffa for Joseph O'Brien in the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh in September 2022.
He was still an apprentice at the time, and would retain his championship that year.
He turned professional in 2023 and enjoyed more Group-race success that year for his boss. He also broadened his horizons by going to Australia for the winter months and he kicked home 11 winners Down Under.
In the summer of 2024, his first winner at Royal Ascot arrived as Uxmal took the Queen Alexandra Stakes, again for the O'Brien team.
He added a second win in the National Stakes on Scorthy Champ in the autumn of 2024.
Brown McMonagle is affable in the glare of the media spotlight and has won much praise for his ability to handle the attention that comes his way.
He is a confident speaker, both pre and post-race and when sitting down for a more extensive talk.
This season, Brown McMonagle appears hell-bent on challenging Colin Keane for the jockeys' title in Ireland.
With the six-time winner featuring more abroad in his post as retained rider for Juddmonte, the 22-year-old future champion in the making is making his move.
In August, he landed an 876/1 four-timer at the Curragh that took him to the top of the jockeys' championship standings and his battle with Keane could run right to the end of the season.
