Horse racing is a family affair for promising young jockey Dara McGill
05/03/2025
Horse racing is a family affair for promising young jockey Dara McGill and nothing beats riding winners on his father’s horses.
The son of trainer Gary McGill, Dara made his point-to-point debut in May 2021, riding Justwest - trained by his father - at Broughshane and went one to take his first victory on Warren Ewing’s Bold Reaction at Moira five months later.
The Derry rider, whose brother Oran also rides, has since gone on to claim 36 career victories on the point-to-point scene and claimed the Under-21 title in 2023 – the first Northern Irishman to do so since the award was introduced in 1991.
“That was probably my biggest achievement to date, for sure,” said Dara, who went on to explain what it meant to ride horses with a family connection.
“I get a kick out of riding and winning on my father’s horses. We [him and Oran] are here every morning before we go anywhere. We know the horses inside out whereas if you ride for other people, you do not really know the horses as well.”
A particular moment Dara pointed to was winning aboard Apologise - another horse under Gary’s stewardship - at Limerick in the Roche's Feeds Handicap Hurdle on 27th December 2024.
“I really enjoyed that day,” he said. “To see the local boys getting a winner, and riding a winner for your father, you get a bigger kick out of that because it is closer to home.”
Having had a keen interest in Gaelic football growing up, Dara began to pursue riding as a career aged 14, having previously ridden ponies.
Upon leaving school, Dara honed his craft when he went over to England to spend six months at Olly Murphy’s yard as a 16-year-old.
Growing up on a farm and being around the animals everyday was a factor in his decision to become a jockey, as well as his father’s influence.
“With the horses, my father said, ‘if we are going to do it, we are going to do it right’,” he said.
“I was riding horses every day. I was helping before and after school and it came to the stage where I had start thinking about a job. Horses just became more prominent as we got older.”
Dara’s current campaign has not followed in quite the same vein, largely down to recently suffering two broken legs – the latter of which occurred after a fall from Les Aulmes at Farmacaffley in February.
Returning to full fitness was not the hardest part about his injury lay-off – instead it has been the feelings of frustration at the winners he is missing out on.
He said: “It has been a bit of a disaster this year, but the last two years have been going well.
“The rehab is not the biggest problem of being injured, it is more when you are gone, nobody waits for you. Somebody else must stand in and do your job and then somebody else ends up riding your winners.
“Then when you come back, you have to try and get back on the horses you were riding before, that somebody else has since been riding. When you are not there, you get forgotten about for a while. You have to work your way back into it.”
Dara’s brother Oran was also a keen footballer, reaching the final of an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship as part of a Derry side which his father represented before him.
Both now in the saddle, the pair are close and learn from each other as they make their way through the ranks.
“I would not really see him as a rival,” said Dara. “We go racing most of the time with each other. If there is a horse that I cannot ride but I think it has a chance, I will tell Oran to ride it and vice versa. We look after each other that way.
“But if we are riding a race and we are coming down to the last fence together, there will not be an inch given.”
With most of his career still ahead of him, Dara has not looked too far ahead into the future regarding what he wants to achieve, preferring to focus on his day-to-day riding and letting things take care of themselves after that.
When asked about his career goals, he added: “I have not really thought about it, riding winners is that main thing. If you keep doing that, you never know who will end up ringing you next.”
The George Mernagh Memorial Fund Qualified Rider Subsidy & Bursary offers financial support for jockeys in obtaining their licence. To find out more and to apply, click here.
The son of trainer Gary McGill, Dara made his point-to-point debut in May 2021, riding Justwest - trained by his father - at Broughshane and went one to take his first victory on Warren Ewing’s Bold Reaction at Moira five months later.
The Derry rider, whose brother Oran also rides, has since gone on to claim 36 career victories on the point-to-point scene and claimed the Under-21 title in 2023 – the first Northern Irishman to do so since the award was introduced in 1991.
“That was probably my biggest achievement to date, for sure,” said Dara, who went on to explain what it meant to ride horses with a family connection.
“I get a kick out of riding and winning on my father’s horses. We [him and Oran] are here every morning before we go anywhere. We know the horses inside out whereas if you ride for other people, you do not really know the horses as well.”
A particular moment Dara pointed to was winning aboard Apologise - another horse under Gary’s stewardship - at Limerick in the Roche's Feeds Handicap Hurdle on 27th December 2024.
“I really enjoyed that day,” he said. “To see the local boys getting a winner, and riding a winner for your father, you get a bigger kick out of that because it is closer to home.”
Having had a keen interest in Gaelic football growing up, Dara began to pursue riding as a career aged 14, having previously ridden ponies.
Upon leaving school, Dara honed his craft when he went over to England to spend six months at Olly Murphy’s yard as a 16-year-old.
Growing up on a farm and being around the animals everyday was a factor in his decision to become a jockey, as well as his father’s influence.
“With the horses, my father said, ‘if we are going to do it, we are going to do it right’,” he said.
“I was riding horses every day. I was helping before and after school and it came to the stage where I had start thinking about a job. Horses just became more prominent as we got older.”
Dara’s current campaign has not followed in quite the same vein, largely down to recently suffering two broken legs – the latter of which occurred after a fall from Les Aulmes at Farmacaffley in February.
Returning to full fitness was not the hardest part about his injury lay-off – instead it has been the feelings of frustration at the winners he is missing out on.
He said: “It has been a bit of a disaster this year, but the last two years have been going well.
“The rehab is not the biggest problem of being injured, it is more when you are gone, nobody waits for you. Somebody else must stand in and do your job and then somebody else ends up riding your winners.
“Then when you come back, you have to try and get back on the horses you were riding before, that somebody else has since been riding. When you are not there, you get forgotten about for a while. You have to work your way back into it.”
Dara’s brother Oran was also a keen footballer, reaching the final of an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship as part of a Derry side which his father represented before him.
Both now in the saddle, the pair are close and learn from each other as they make their way through the ranks.
“I would not really see him as a rival,” said Dara. “We go racing most of the time with each other. If there is a horse that I cannot ride but I think it has a chance, I will tell Oran to ride it and vice versa. We look after each other that way.
“But if we are riding a race and we are coming down to the last fence together, there will not be an inch given.”
With most of his career still ahead of him, Dara has not looked too far ahead into the future regarding what he wants to achieve, preferring to focus on his day-to-day riding and letting things take care of themselves after that.
When asked about his career goals, he added: “I have not really thought about it, riding winners is that main thing. If you keep doing that, you never know who will end up ringing you next.”
The George Mernagh Memorial Fund Qualified Rider Subsidy & Bursary offers financial support for jockeys in obtaining their licence. To find out more and to apply, click here.