CORRIGAN CLUB - Social events supporting the Australian jumps racing community in honour of the late TOMMY CORRIGAN. www.corriganclub.com.au
TOMMY CORRIGAN
Certainly the best known and best loved jumps rider in our history, Corrigan tragically lost his life in a steeplechase fall at Caulfield in 1894 but his name lives on through the Tommy Corrigan Medal which is presented annually to the leading jumps rider from the previous season.
Born in 1854 in County Meath, Ireland, Tommy was only a boy when his family emigrated and took up farming. He was apprenticed in Warrnambool and rode his first winner at the age of eleven at Woodford. At thirteen he had his first Melbourne ride at Flemington and later rode in the Melbourne Cup of 1872 but his skill and success was over obstacles.
A small man with a magnificent moustache, he built a winning record which included seven Grand Nationals, both hurdle and steeple as well as all the feature jumps races in Victoria and New South Wales.
Corrigan’s major patrons were Ballarat owner Martin Loughlin who’s horses were trained by James Scobie. Another loyal supporter was Septimus Miller who became Chairman of the V.R.C.
Tommy was a devout Christian and much loved by all sections of society for his honesty, fearlessness and his abounding generosity to those he considered less fortunate. For these qualities he became a public idol which was evidenced by the enormous attendance at his funeral, said to be the second largest to that time in Melbourne’s history. 150 jockeys and trainers marched before the hearse.
He is immortalised in Banjo Paterson’s poem “Tommy Corrigan”
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