Son of legendary Irish jockey to make debut in charity race honouring late father

He will follow in the footsteps of his older sister Hannah who rode in the race last year.

The son of nine-time Irish champion jockey Pat Smullen will make his racing debut on Saturday in the Pat Smullen Charity Race for Cancer Trials.

The memorial race has been held annually since 2019, and has raised more than £2.5 million towards pancreatic cancer research in five years.

Smullen died in September 2020 at the age of 43 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the previous year.

The Offaly native won widespread praise for his stoic attitude and humility in the face of illness, and rode 1,845 winners in Ireland and 47 in Britain throughout his 26-year career.

Now, the racing legend's 17-year-old son Paddy will climb atop the Gordon Elliott-trained last time out winner By Your Side in the last race on Saturday’s Curragh card.

Speaking to JOE's Dan Casey, Paddy opened up on the advice he believes his Dad would give him ahead of tomorrow's race.

"It's hard to know," he said. "It would have been great for him to be here to give me good advice. It's the track he had the most success on. I think he would tell me to stay calm, let the race carry out itself and just enjoy it."

Paddy will follow in his older sister Hannah's footsteps on Saturday, who rode in the final card during last year's event.

Last year alone, the event raised over €175,000 for Cancer Trials Ireland, so its impact and importance can't be understated.

"It's great that we kept it on," Paddy said. "It could have been a one-off thing in 2019 but it's great to keep it going every year because its a problem that a lot of families have experienced and have to deal with.

"There's no solution to it yet. Every euro donated is a step closer to finding a solution to it and helping everyone affected by it."

Paddy has currently raised more than £5,000 on his own fundraising page, and considers it his chance to support and promote Cancer Trials Ireland to research and help prevent other families going through what he went through.

More information about Cancer Trials Ireland can be found here.

The organisation's aim is to be an indispensable all-Ireland hub for cancer trials, globally recognised for excellence in governance, collaboration and innovation in clinical research.

Paddy's race begins at 17:45 on Saturday and has a distance of 1 mile 4 furlongs.