Irish jockey Tadhg O’Shea has revealed how his Dubai World Cup win earlier this year allowed him to pay off his mortgage entirely. The Cork native struck glory in the world’s richest flat race aboard Juddmonte colt Laurel River to land a staggering $12m (€11.38m).
O’Shea has enjoyed incredible success and longevity out east, having been crowned the UAE’s Champion Jockey for a 12th time in 2024. His rich vein of form on the track has seen him rake in substantial earnings – and he told of how his World Cup win meant he could eliminate his mortgage in double-quick time. Having been a back-to-back Champion Apprentice in Ireland in 2000 and 2001, O’Shea then earned a scholarship to go to Dubai to ply his trade – and the 42-year-old explained he had “never looked back” since then.
‘There’s a big Irish population there [Dubai], everyone from the stall handlers to the lads riding out and the jockeys, there’s a real community of us, which makes it feel like a home from home and I probably spend more time there than I do in Ireland now. ‘To have a Group One double on Dubai World Cup night was something special, and Laurel River topped off 21 years of hard work and I had the luxury of steering him around.’ Despite over two decades of graft in Dubai, O’Shea’s World Cup win came in what was just his third entry in the race – and it was certainly the charm, as he struck riches beyond his wildest dreams.
‘It’s the biggest race day around the world and.
