Hear the full interview
From 2:26 in Friday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Two months after a fall at Bellewstown left many fearing the worst, Dylan Browne McMonagle is back to full fitness and about to embark on one of the busiest international schedules of any jockey this autumn.
The reigning Irish champion will start in Saint-Cloud on Sunday, take four rides at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, fly straight on to Flemington to partner Defiantly in the Melbourne Cup, and then head to Bahrain and Hong Kong before the year is out.
“We had a few weeks on the sidelines, but a busy few weeks ahead, which is exactly what every jockey wants,” he told Nick Luck. “We’ve taken it easy since I’ve come back, just slowly warming up into it, and we feel 100% now again. So looking forward to all the big meetings ahead.”
Being forced to stand down after his fall on 25 August was, he admitted, a test of patience. “There’s not much you can do. You just keep an eye on everything, keep interested in the races and keep looking forward,” he said. “Once you’ve got a target and you make it, it makes it all a bit easier. Keeping my head right was the most important thing.”
Ethical Diamond ‘feels super’
Browne McMonagle’s quartet at Keeneland is headed by Ethical Diamond, on whom he won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf for Willie Mullins at Del Mar, breaking the track record in the process.
“It’s always going to be a very competitive race, although we thought that last year as well and he turned up and did what he did,” he said. “If things all fall his way and he gets the right setup, I don’t see why he can’t show his hand again. I rode him yesterday in a little bit of work and he feels super. He’s come out of his last run in America really well, which was very solid.”
He admitted last year’s win was a surprise. “You always have a little bit of hope,” he said. “Realistically, you just need to get him to switch off, and when he switches off he does his best work. We were hopeful, but surprised that he won.”
“He’s got all the right attributes and he’s getting better every day.”
Dylan Browne McMonagle on Folsom Blues
He also rides Joseph O’Brien’s Folsom Blues in the Juvenile Turf, Green Empress in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Ger Lyons’ Red Letter in the Filly & Mare Turf. Asked which excites him most, he picked Folsom Blues, winner of the National Stakes at the Curragh.
“He’s a very exciting colt. He’s gone through the grades well this season and he’s been running at the top level the last few runs,” he said. “I think the race setup in America should suit him fine, with the strong speed usually on. He likes to relax and he’s got a good kick when you need him.”
Green Empress, who Browne McMonagle rode to win the Debutante Stakes, has since won the Prix Marcel Boussac and now faces Sun Goddess and Amusingly in what Jane Mangan, joining Nick on the show, called “the best turf two-year-old fillies race in the world this year”.
Defiantly the pick for Melbourne
From Keeneland he flies to Australia, landing on the Monday afternoon before Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. With several of Joseph O’Brien’s team at weights he could ride, he chose Defiantly, the Prix Kergorlay and Goodwood Handicap winner.
“We had three or four with weights that I could ride, so I just favoured him over the rest,” he said. “It was very tough between them all, because you could put a case for all of them. They’re all very solid horses and they could all be winners. But Defiantly is improving, he’s getting better with each run. He gets the trip well, he’ll handle quick ground, and I think his racing style will suit. It’s a Melbourne Cup at the end of the day, so we’re going to need a little bit of luck on our side. But fingers crossed, I’m on the right one.”
Mangan noted the strength of O’Brien’s Melbourne Cup team, which also includes Sons And Lovers, Trustyourinstinct, last year’s runner-up Goodie Two Shoes and James J Braddock.
Bahrain, then Hong Kong
Browne McMonagle will stay in Australia until the Saturday after the Cup, then return home before travelling to Bahrain for the international meeting, where he partners Galen, beaten three-quarters of a length by Royal Champion in last year’s Bahrain International Trophy.
“He loves it there. He loves going right-handed,” he said. “He’s a very talented horse and hopefully he’s going there in good shape.” A few days after Bahrain, he heads to Hong Kong for a short-term stint.
Before all of that, he rides Aidan O’Brien’s Giant Sequoia in Saturday’s Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, and then has rides at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, including Beset in the 14-furlong Group 3. The filly is likely to get the soft ground she loves. “The ground is really a game changer for her,” he said. “She’s in top shape and everyone seems to be happy, so very much looking forward to it.”
