Robert Whearty: “I started out with ponies and then one Christmas I got a simulator when I was around 12 or 13 and spent the entire school holiday riding out on that" Jockey Robert Whearty (22) has mixed it with the big boys since emerging from the pony circuit. Brought up near Bellewstown in a house where horses were part of everyday life and riding out for local trainers during his teenage years, Whearty has held his own since turning pro. “My father Thomas had horses at home and got me into it really,” he reflects. “I started out with ponies and then one Christmas I got a simulator when I was around 12 or 13 and spent the entire school holiday riding out on that. “The pony circuit was a great learning curve and while I didn’t rider a whole pile of winners I gained loads of experience along with riding out for the likes of local trainers’ Peter Cluskey and David Dunne. I probably started that when I was around 13 and did that for a couple of years but then COVID came.” “He’s been a brilliant horse to me having ridden him to win four times” The Meathman, who acquired his riding licence in May 2021 while studying for the leaving certificate, enjoyed one of his best days aboard the Charles O’Brien-trained Big Gossey over three years ago. The pair landed the Bold Lad Sprint at odds of 16/1, the first of four winning rides aboard the now nine-year-old grey. Whearty was reunited with the nine-year-old when he finished second in the Renaissance Stakes at the Curragh last month but failed to make the frame in fifth place behind King Cuan when teaming up again in the Concorde Stakes at the same venue last weekend. “Big Gossey has been a brilliant horse to me having ridden him to win four times and I’ve a lot to thank Charles (O’Brien) and his owners (Gary O’Brien’s Allegro Syndicate) for putting me up over the last few years. “We had a few good days with him alright with the Bold Lad win in 2023 probably standing out for me. I had ridden him a few weeks earlier to finish third also at the Curragh but to get that win meant a lot.” Attached to the Gavin Cromwell yard it didn’t take much time for Whearty to make an impression. His first winner came at his local course when he partnered Pretty Little Liar for David Dunne in July 2021. “I had about 12 or 13 rides on the track before that first winner and I remember David, who was one of the local trainers in the area at that time, saying he had planned out a campaign where he wanted to go to Bellewstown with Pretty Little Loar and he had decided to claim the ten pounds off him by using me. It was a brilliant day.” Later that same month, he enjoyed another important success when Dazzling Darren, trained by his boss Cromwell, won at the Galway festival. It was an early indication that Whearty could make the most of his opportunities on a big stage. 100% strike rate at Listowel last month Last month he travelled to Listowel for just one ride over the entire week and made most of the running aboard Platino Bianco for trainer Conor Maxwell in a 7f handicap, his second time to win on the grey. Another day that stands out for Whearty came last December when he racked up his 100th winner in the saddle on another grey during a successful stint away from home last winter with the powerful Ciaron Maher stable in Victoria. “I rode nine winners in Australia when I was there including Saint George who won in Cranbourne (Dec 27), my hundredth, and that was nice milestone to hit. I went on to win another one on him after, and he's been aimed at the Melbourne Cup again (22nd in 2024) so it was nice to get on a horse like that.” One rider Whearty singles out for ‘great advice’ is Shane Foley who spent time in Australia when Whearty was down there earlier this year. “Shane came out in January time and I was only kind of getting into the swing of things down there and getting to know people, but when he came over it made life a little bit easier. I was able to go to him as he was there a couple of times so knew how things worked and gave me great advice which was nice to get.” Plans to return Down Under are undecided. “I do plan to go back sometime but have to cross my T’s and dot my I’s before I go back over. We’ll finish up the rest of the season here and then see where it brings us.” His trip to the southern hemisphere has broadened his experience with emphasis very much on the clock. “They go hard big time over there and you have to be very much on the ball out of the gates to get your position or you can be fairly left behind. “Things are always done by time over there, all the work and that, so it really sharpens you up when you must take all that in.” These days Whearty mixes his time with two prominent trainers. “I’m in with Gavin (Cromwell) for four days and with Ger (Lyons) for two so it’s nice riding for two nice people.” Runner-up to Wayne Hassett in the 2025 apprentice championship, that year also saw Whearty ride out his claim having passed the 95-winner mark and travelled down to Australia with 98 wins behind him. Since returning it’s been tougher to gather momentum as a fully fledge jockey but last May he scored on Cromwell’s Londonofficecallin from a wide draw to land the Cork Derby, another valuable Premier Handicap success. “He was drawn very wide that day in Cork and he’s a horse who likes to be ridden forward but thankfully it all worked out that day and I was delighted to get that win for the connections.” For flat jockeys keeping their weight in trim is a constant battle but Whearty regards himself as ‘very lucky’ when it comes to the scales. “My weight is very good now, probably compared to some people, so I’m very lucky. I’m in and around 8st 12lb to 9st and I try to keep it to that level as much as I can which is grand, but some people are a bit unlucky with the weight.” Whearty is a young man who has proved around the world he can get the job done given the opportunity to showcase his skills.
