MARTIN Molony died peacefully on Monday, just short of his 92nd birthday.

Molony was champion Irish jump jockey from 1946 to 1951 and finished second to his brother Tim in the 1949-'50 British championship.

Molony won three Irish Grand Nationals (Knight's Crest in 1944, Golden View in 1946 and Dominick's Bar in 1950). He also won three classics - the 1947 Irish Oaks on Desert Drive, the Irish 1000 Guineas in 1950 on Princess Trudy and the following year's Irish 2000 Guineas on Signal Box.

His greatest triumph came in 1951 when he rode Silver Fame to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Unfortunately Molony was forced to retire the same year when, at the age of 26, he was injured in a fall at Thurles.

Born in Limerick in 1925, he was apprenticed to Martin Hartigan in England before returning to Ireland when World War II broke out.

He rode his first winner for George Harris at the Curragh and was subsequently retained by Lord Bicester to ride his horses in England. He regularly commuted between the two countries and had a 33% strike rate in England.

In 1949 Molony rode a total of 186 winners (in Ireland, Britain and America), a total which included 94 winners over jumps. That record stood until 1992 when it was broken by Charlie Swan.

After retiring as a jockey, Molony established Rathmore Stud in Kilmallock, which is now run by his son Peter. Martin's wife Julia, a noted horsewoman, died last October.

Martin Molony's funeral details will appear here in due course.

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