Dylan Browne McMonagle among 2021 Horse Racing Ireland Awards winners

Champion apprentice Dylan Browne McMonagle was among the winners at the 2021 Horse Racing Ireland Awards which were broadcast last night.

The Letterkenny man crowned a terrific year as the winner of the Emerging Talent Award.

He rode an impressive 48 winners during the 2021 Flat season and his highlights included a first Group race success on Baron Samedi and a first win at Listed level with Mighty Blue, two of the 24 winners he rode during the season for Joseph O'Brien.

Browne-McMonagle has ridden winners for some of the country’s top trainers and regularly saddles fore O’Brien.

History makers Henry de Bromhead and Colin Keane were also honoured. For her tireless work in ensuring that racing continued to run smoothly and safely during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Jennifer Pugh, Senior Medical Officer of the IHRB, has been honoured with the Contribution to the Industry Award while Rachael Blackmore was previously announced this year’s Racing Hero Award winner.

Henry de Bromhead is the winner of the National Hunt Award. In March, he broke new ground when becoming the first trainer to win the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in the same year. He again rewrote the record books a matter of weeks later when becoming only the second trainer, and the first since 1908, to saddle the first two horses home in the Aintree Grand National.

The Flat Award goes to champion jockey Colin Keane. Colin was the star performer of the 2021 Irish Flat Season, dominating from a jockeys point of view as he captured a third riders’ title. He notched up the fastest century of winners, bettered Joseph O’Brien’s 2013 total of 126 and then set a new record of 141 winners with a final day double at Naas.