by Alan Jacques
LIMERICK cancer survivor Olive Murphy has been selected as one of the 12 riders to take part in the St Patrick’s Derby on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival next March.
Olive (nee O’Brien) from Patrickswell, and originally from Clarina, has been selected from over 100 applicants. The mother-of-two said she is “thrilled” to be selected. She also admitted that along with her extensive riding experience she has a number of strong personal motivations to participate.
In it’s sixth year in 2015, the Cheltenham race has raised over £1million for cancer research and next year will see the race being run in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) for the first time.
Following the birth of her second child in 2013, Olive was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and feels very blessed to have subsequently made a full recovery after surgery and treatment. She is also very happy to have returned to work with the Aer Lingus Cabin Crew, based in Shannon.
Her late dad, Donal O’Brien also passed away on December 26, 2010. As an owner and breeder, Donal was a very active member of the racing community in both Ireland and the UK and Olive says that she would like to ride in the race to celebrate his memory.
Her strongest motivation, however, is rooted in her life-long friendship with injured jockey, JT McNamara. From their earliest days riding as children, Olive and JT hunted ponies together, going to compete together as a pair in Hunter Trials and finally competing against one another on the Point to Point field.
The charity race will take place almost two years to the day that JT had his tragic accident at the festival so riding in the race will be particularly significant for Olive.
Participation in the race also offers Olive a very rare opportunity to fulfil her longtime dream of riding at Cheltenham. The race is run over a mile and five furlongs with 12 amateur riders. Each rider must now raise at least £5,000 (€6,500).
Olive has since secured the partnership of Conor O’Neill and his team at Limerick Racecourse to host a fund raising event as part of their forthcoming Christmas racing festival on St Stephen’s Day. A ‘monster draw’ is planned as part of the festivities at the festival offering lots of great prizes.
