Although his successful competitive riding career came to a premature end on Aintree turf in the 2015 Grand National, Davy Condon is still like a coiled spring of talent, style and positivity with much more to do. In that one million-pound event, the Cork-born contender was well up with the leaders coming to the third last but a rub there launched him into that fateful fall.
Although his successful competitive riding career came to a premature end on Aintree turf in the 2015 Grand National, Davy Condon is still like a coiled spring of talent, style and positivity with much more to do.
In that one million-pound event, the Cork-born contender was well up with the leaders coming to the third last but a rub there launched him into that fateful fall.
“I landed on my head which caused spinal concussion.
Although I was fully conscious I just could not move my body.
“Finally, about an hour later, in the ambulance I began to get what was like an electric shock and terrible pain.
"But while all of this signalled the end of my career it still meant that I would not be in a wheel chair for the rest of my life. So, in many ways I was lucky”.
His then girlfriend and now his wife, Louise Maguire of Tara immediately flew over to see him in hospital and the first thing he told her was that his career was finished.
Together, they talked it out and decided that when he had the necessary operation to release pressure on his spinal cord they would go away for a while and “get away from everything”.
Louise Maguire and Davy Condon on their wedding day (FREE image)
Louise Maguire and Davy Condon on their wedding day.
This turned into a long trip through Asia that brought the couple to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and back to Dubai.
Like flashing winning posts in a rear view mirror, glory moments among some 400 firsts during a nine-year career for trainers like Willie Mullins, Noel Meade, Nicky Richards and Gordon Elliot at places like Gowran Park, Punchestown, Kempton, Cheltenham and Peterborough faded into the background as he bravely came to grips with a past that could no longer be his future.
The next adventure
“I had gotten away with what could have paralysed me, got out in one piece and was lucky”, he says with cool realism.
So what next? On his way home from China, he and Louise stopped to visit some of his racing friends in Dubai.
Davy Condon raises his arm with delight after he had won on Ebaziyan in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2007 ( HEALY RACING PHOTO.)
Davy Condon raises his arm with delight after he had won on Ebaziyan in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2007. healyracing.ie
He was offered a job as head lad in the Sheik Hamden Mactoum young horse stables.
Louise got work in promotion with Emirates Airlines. And thus matters stood for the next 18 months until Ireland beckoned again.
When news of Davy’s injury broke back in 2015 Gordon Elliot had said “if we can ever help in any way we will not hesitate”.
In 2017 it happened that Gordon’s assistant trainer Olly Murphy was heading back to England. Davy was offered the job and has been happily at work ever since with some very promising runners like Apple’s Jady, Outlander, Samcro and Farclas.
Davy and Louise were married at Holy Cross Abbey just before Christmas.
They are in the process of building a house in the shadow of Tara at Bective and thus out of the maw of disaster things are looking good for a jockey that has had his share of ill luck.
As to the future, that could be bright as well because as a now active 33-year-old he still has huge possibilities. He looks well, he speaks well, he has oceans of experience behind hm.
In addition to training he makes a wonderful loquacious pundit of a sport he knows so well.
So who knows? He has surprised many times before.
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