Smullen, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2018, died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin on Tuesday evening.
His initial treatment had been positive, but he suffered a relapse and was forced to abandon plans to ride in the Pat Smullen Champions Race For Cancer Trials Ireland at the Curragh in September last year – an event that proved an overwhelming success.
Born in Co Offaly, on May 22nd, 1977, Smullen, the son of a farmer and who became involved with horses at the age of 11, went on to form a formidable alliance with master trainer Dermot Weld, taking over in 1999 from another riding great – Mick Kinane.
Among their greatest triumphs was the Derby at Epsom in 2016 with Harzand. The pair went on to secure the Irish Derby and cement the legacy of a rider who enjoyed his first victory at Dundalk on June 11th, 1993.
Smullen leaves wife Frances and their three children – Hannah, Paddy and Sarah.
Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, told the PA news agency: “Pat was one of our greatest stars. He was nine-times champion jockey, but in many ways his greatest achievements were out of the saddle.
“Since his diagnosis, he did wonderful work fund-raising for charity and he battled this disease with great heart and it’s hard to believe he has passed at such a young age. All our thoughts are with Frances and his three children, Hannah, Paddy and Sarah, and all his friends and colleagues in the weighing room.
“It’s a really sad day for Irish racing. Pat was one of the finest men you could hope to meet. There’s been such a reaction around Irish racing and such a degree of shock, which shows the high regard in which Pat was held.
“He was a pleasure to have anything to do with – his achievements in the saddle were one thing, but his qualities outside of it were something else.
“He was a global figure in racing, but his reaction to his diagnosis and the fund-raising he did last year in particular was really wonderful.
“It’s just a sad, sad day.”
The charity race at the Curragh came exactly a year ago and was won by AP McCoy aboard the Sheila Lavery-trained Quizical.
Paying his tribute, McCoy said: “Devastated, there’s no words. It’s hard to believe his amazing charity race was a year ago today. Heartbreaking.
“Thinking about Fran, Hannah, Paddy and Sarah. RIP champ.”
