North Yorkshire trainer David O’Meara’s joy at passing 1,000-winner milestone

The horse’s win in the Pontefract Sports And Education Foundation Handicap at the West Yorkshire track came just over 10 years after O’Meara saddled his first winner in his own name.

And, appropriately, Sudona was ridden to victory by Danny Tudhope who has forged such an effective partnership with O’Meara, who was a modest jump jockey before becoming a very accomplished trainer.

“I’m delighted for him. To do what he’s done in a short amount of time is a great achievement,” enthused Tudhope.

“He’s a fantastic horseman, he’s so good around horses and he sometimes rides out at home still. He’s so good on them. And off them he’s got a great eye. He knows what he’s doing and he’s a very clever guy.”

O’Meara, whose stables are in Upper Helmsley, took out a licence only in 2010 and is the second-fastest to reach the landmark in the UK after Richard Hannon junior.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It’s been 10 years and a month since we first took out a licence.

“When you first start out, you don’t think you’ll get this number at all. Obviously, in the last nine months or a year I knew it was getting close. It’s great.”

O’Meara’s first Group One triumph came with G Force, also ridden by Tudhope, in the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock in September 2014.

Seven more victories at the top level have followed with Suedois (Shadwell Turf Mile), Amazing Maria (Falmouth Stakes and Prix Rothschild), Mondialiste (Arlington Million and Woodbine Mile), Move In Time (Prix de l’Abbaye) and Lord Glitters (Queen Anne Stakes).

The horse that gave O’Meara a first real taste of the big time was Blue Bajan. “He was very special,” said the trainer whose first winner as a licensed trainer came when Simple Jim prevailed at Redcar in June 2010.

“He was a real good horse. He won a Group Two, the Henry II and was just touched off in a Yorkshire Cup.

“On the back of that we’ve had horses like Penitent, G Force, Amazing Maria, Mondialiste, Suedois and Move In Time in the Abbaye. We’ve had a lot of highlights. It’s been a good 10 years. Hopefully the next 10 years will be as good.”

O’Meara, an amateur rider with Philip Hobbs before teaming up with Great Habton trainer Tim Easterby, quickly took his career tally to 1001 when Summerghand (evens favourite) gave him and Tudhope a double in the King Richard II Handicap.

The six-year-old sprinter got a dream run up the rail to lead in the last half-furlong and hold off George Bowen by half a length. Victory provided Summerghand with compensation for his defeat by the narrowest of margins in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot to Kevin Ryan’s Hey Jonesy.

Later Romola gained a Listed success in the Weatherbys TBA Pipalong Stakes at Pontefract for Cheveley Park Racing, jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

Meanwhile Stoute’s exciting colt Highest Ground heads a field of six for tomorrow’s Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes at York.

The son of Frankel won on his only outing at Leicester as a two-year-old, and impressed on his seasonal debut when beating Waldkonig at Haydock. He will be riddien by champion jockey Oisin Murphy who is seeking a third successive Dante win after Roaring Lion and Telecaster.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor