MULTIPLE Group 1-winning jockey Shane Crosse has called time on his short but quality-filled career in the saddle at the tender age of 21, with weight difficulties ultimately forcing him to make the “heartbreaking” decision to step away from race-riding.

One of the most talented young riders to emerge on the Irish flat racing scene in the last decade, Crosse has been an important part of Joseph O’Brien’s operation from the beginning of his career and will forever have the distinction of delivering a first win at Royal Ascot for the trainer. He memorably executed a world-class winning ride on State Of Rest in last year’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

The Ballylooby, Co Tipperary native took just eight mounts this season and revealed to The Irish Field on Friday that his pair of rides at Down Royal last Saturday will bring an end to his time in the saddle.

Crosse said: “At the moment it’s a bit of a shock to the system. I still don’t feel 100% with it but at the end of the day, reality hits and it’s just not going to really work out.

“When the season started, I was never really happy with how my weight was. Even with as much work as I did in the pre-season, I found the first two weeks hard and felt it was going to be a long year.

Fresh regime

“I decided to call it early and step out of the game for a few weeks to try and get it right. Not many people would have known but I went to George Wilson in Liverpool John Moores University recently and George was great, testing me from head to toe and devising a plan.

“I went about that for the last six weeks or so, and it worked to a point, but just not to where I needed it to get me. I was fighting a losing battle and I had to come to terms with it.”

This April marked just five years since Crosse’s first success aboard the Adrian Keatley-trained G Force at Naas. The 2018 champion apprentice managed to accumulate an impressive number of big-race victories in a short space of time.

In total, the well-liked, pony racing graduate notched 12 listed race successes and 15 group race victories for Joseph O’Brien, including four in Group 1 company. His first top-level success on Pretty Gorgeous in the 2020 Fillies’ Mile came a month on from cruelly missing out on a winning ride aboard Galileo Chrome in the St Leger when testing positive for Covid-19.

Thundering Nights was another success at the highest level for him a year later in the Pretty Polly Stakes, while State Of Rest, who he also rode to win the 2022 Prix Ganay, proved the most significant horse in his career.

Difficult decision

Crosse said: “I know I was so lucky to have the career I had, but that’s almost the most heartbreaking part of it. To be giving it away. Nearly any jockey in the Irish weighing room would kill for my job, so I’ve been lucky and unlucky.

“It’s sore to be giving that up. It is tough. It’s head-wrecking when you’re going out trying to ride big horses and knowing you’re not 100%.

“I’ve ridden some brilliant horses. Some lads would be waiting their whole lives to ride one like State Of Rest and I appreciate how hard it is to find one of his calibre.”

Crosse has been battling hard with the scales for some time.

He explained: “I’ve always had a bit of an issue with my weight but definitely more so in the last two years; you’re sweating every day. With the saunas gone at the races it has made life tougher. I could be climbing into a bath at 8.30am for an hour or two hours, trying to take off the best part of half a stone every day. It just takes its toll.”

Strong support

Crosse has yet to delve too deeply into what the future may hold for him, but he is appreciative for the backing of colleagues, family and friends, including O’Brien, who called time on his own riding career at the age of 22 after weight challenges.

“I’ve had great support from those close to me,” said Crosse, who finishes up with an even 200 domestic winners.

“Joseph never pushed me or made me feel under pressure. I always wanted to ride. We’re very close and he’s always looked after me very well.

“I’d be lying if I told you what’s next for me because literally up until Friday of last week, I never once thought about pulling the plug. I never had second thoughts and was always coming back. Last week, reality came, though.

“I tried everything and I think I approached it in the right way. Anyone I’ve spoken to has assured me I’m doing the right thing.”

Paying tribute to Crosse, O’Brien said: “Shane has been a huge part of the team, an outstanding rider who has done it on the biggest stage in the world. Obviously it’s terribly disappointing for us and for him, but whatever he turns his hand to, he’ll do it very successfully. He’s still a huge part of our team.”