JIMMY Mullane, otherwise known as ‘Corky’, died in his native Mallow on the eve of the Irish Oaks, a race he had ridden the winner of, Five Spots, in 1952 to complete a notable Irish Derby-Oaks double for owner A L (Henry) Hawkins, Paddy Prendergast and himself.

Apprenticed successively to J E Davis (1946-47) and Peter Higgins (1948-49) – both private trainers for legendary bloodstock agent Bertie Kerr, Jimmy rode half a dozen winners within a month of opening his account in May, 1947. A similar flurry of winners mid-summer in 1948, followed by a blank 1949, would suggest weight problems. The move to complete his time with J M ‘Mickey’ Rogers, who considered him the finest rider of a two-year-old he had ever seen, saw him joint Irish champion apprentice in 1950 with the ill-fated P F ‘Mutt’ Conlon. Over half his 17 winners that year were two-year-olds trained by Rogers.

On the crest of a wave, Jimmy went on to be crowned Irish champion flat jockey in 1951 and 1952, while stable jockey to Prendergast in Rossmore Lodge. Succeeded in that role by Liam Ward, Jimmy found big winners harder to come by, though Mickey Rogers provided him with a third Irish classic win, on Arctic Wind in the 1954 Irish 2000 Guineas. Jimmy’s last major success in Ireland was gained on Farney Fox in the 1959 Naas November Handicap for trainer Charlie Weld.

Moving to the north of England, Jimmy rode mostly as a freelance, though attached to Dick Peacock’s Middleham stable in 1962 and to Jack Fawcus in 1964. Throughout his career Jimmy remained recognisable by his curious technique of restraining the hardest puller with his feet pointing downwards. Injuries sustained in a car smash in 1974 brought Jimmy’s career to an end. .

The former Irish champion jockey was a forgotten man when Michael Clower and Amanda Diamond brought him dramatically back to mind by their Sunday Times piece on Irish Derby day 2003. He was living in penury in a shack in a Hampshire wood, having recently lost both Nancy, his wife of 45 years, and their caravan, home for 18 years. Blaming Winchester council for forcing him to take to the woods, Jimmy nevertheless turned down the council’s offer of a house. He admitted his dread of the coming winter. “It’s so cold in the wood in winter and life is very hard then, but what can I do? I’ll stick it out. I won’t let people walk all over me.”

Happily, thanks to the intercession of fellow Corkonians, Jimmy lived out the rest of his days back in his native Mallow, becoming a daily mass-goer. Only recently did his failing health see him settled in a local nursing home.

G.W.