WHAT a difference a year can make.
It is almost 12 months to the day that Joey Sheridan was legged up for his very first ride for Joseph O’Brien. Fast forward a year and the 24-year-old is having the season of his career - and only champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle has ridden more winners this season for the all-conquering trainer.
Having already flown past his previous best tally of winners for a season (doing so with two months to spare), Sheridan is currently on course for his first top-five finish in an Irish flat jockeys’ championship. The summer’s rewards mean he can also now call himself a Royal Ascot-winning jockey, thanks to a never-say-die triumph aboard Kizlyar in the Ascot Stakes.
If there are two things that stand out from time spent with the Hollyford, Co Tipperary native, it is the rich enthusiasm with which he is embracing this newest chapter of his career, and his determination to continue raising his standards in the saddle. He has been riding like a man on a mission this year.
Those traits have served him well in a campaign that has seen him called into the front line of O’Brien’s riding plans plenty, with Browne McMonagle sidelined twice in 2026 (including at present), as well as being in action for the yard overseas.
Sheridan, generally sharing those deputy duties with former champion jockey Declan McDonogh, has made his opportunities count. He will be eager to do so again this weekend, when seeking to record his first Irish Champions Festival success.
“When I think about it, I’m living my dream being in the situation where I’m working with these people in Joseph’s, and getting the opportunities to ride those horses. It’s a big privilege,” says Sheridan. This weekend, he is out to build on a very healthy 19% strike rate and tally of 31 winners for O’Brien this year.
“One thing I’ve definitely been concentrating on big time is identifying any areas that could make me better at what I do. I’m so lucky to be riding for someone like Joseph and the super team he has around him; they all help you develop and progress. From his wife Tara to his assistant trainer Mark [Power], head man Faisal [Hayat], and the likes of Kevin Blake and Mick Halford working closely with the operation too - two geniuses in their own right - I think if you weren’t learning in that environment, you are the problem.
Confidence boost
“And when you get those opportunities, it’s a massive confidence booster. I’m doing my best in every way to raise my game and be on the ball in every scenario. You do your best not to miss. I’m always trying my best for them and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.”
Sheridan first came to prominence for many at the tender age of 18, when partnering Princess Zoe to a first Group 1 success in the 2020 Prix du Cadran for Tony Mullins. His long-established relationship with Denis Hogan has landed him on some quality stages too.
It was a conversation with the Carriganóg stable jockey, however, that led to this fruitful link-up with O’Brien.
“I got chatting to Dylan one day at Tipperary, after I’d ridden a couple of winners. We were just having a conversation in a general sense, and he suggested I should come in for a morning with him, just to see the place,” says Sheridan, who reached the milestone of 200 winners in Ireland earlier this summer.
“It was always something I wanted to do, even if only to get a look at what everyone knows is one of the most successful training facilities in the world. In fairness to Denis, he’s always been keen to see me do well as a rider and I started off going into Joseph’s one day a week, when I had a free day from Denis.
“I suppose I did have it in my mind that being associated with a stable like Joseph’s would be something that could help me to really kick on in Ireland. In a short space of time, I began to ride a winner or two for Joseph and, straight away, it almost felt like everything kind of clicked. I was lucky to get off to a good start, I think my second ride for him was a winner.”
What is the dual Melbourne Cup and multiple classic-winning trainer like to ride for?
“Take his record and everything else out of the equation, Joseph is a complete gentleman. He’s a pleasure to work for and be around,” Sheridan says.
Staying level
“Something I’ve got a lot better at myself, having learned from him, is that Joseph never gets too high or never ever gets low. He’s the exact same fella 365 days of the year and I think that’s a serious trait. You have to try your best to be like that too, because ultimately it stands to you in this game.”
For all that Browne McMonagle being sidelined from a worrying fall at Bellewstown last month means that Sheridan’s opportunities could be set to multiply, the man who partnered Thundering On to win this season’s Salsabil Stakes is adamant he wants the champion jockey back in action as promptly as anyone.
“Myself and Dylan have known each other for a long time,” explains Sheridan.
“We only got talking about our pony racing recently enough in an interview, and you quickly realise how long we’ve actually been around each other. We’ve been battling on the track since we were 13 years of age, so there’s definitely nothing new when we go out racing every day now!
“We’d all love to see Dylan back in the morning, because it could happen to any of us in the weighing room. It’s not a nice situation to be in, especially with the rides he has. I know that Dylan is always at the other end of the phone to chat about rides. We’re regularly texting, bouncing ideas off each other about horses; whether it’s me or him that’s out of action.”
Browne McMonagle’s background in boxing has been well spoken about before, but Sheridan is said to have been a handy fighter in his youth too.
“We were at opposite ends of the country, so we never came across each other in the ring, but myself and my sister Georgina used to box plenty for a good few years,” he says.
“I think Georgina was a three-time All-Ireland champion in her grade. She’s a prison officer now, so there’s a bit of madness in the two of us! Another sister of mine, Lara, is in college to be a nurse.
“At the start of this year, I actually went back to my old boxing club in Tipperary town, in with Chris Toomey there, to get my fitness sharp for the beginning of the flat season. Horses were always where I was steering towards, but I do feel boxing stood to me.”
A new target of 50 winners for the season is now in sight for the experienced young rider, who only needs a single victory at Tramore to complete the full set of Irish tracks where flat racing is held.
Finding balance
Sheridan has already reached a seasonal tally of 42, four higher than his previous career best achieved last year. However, he is also frank about his ambition to avoid missing an unnecessary time from the track going forward.
“Something I do need to learn from this year is staying out of the stewards’ room a bit better,” says Sheridan.
“I had actually got on very well on that front and was without a suspension for nearly two years, but I probably ended up missing the guts of a month with suspension this year and that has chipped away at me. Maybe it’s because I’m having a lot more rides and have been more competitive on the rides I’m getting, but it’s definitely something I’m working on to get better.”
One of his recent breaches resulted in an eight-day penalty, when lifting home John Nallen’s Minella Rockett at the Galway Festival. It was a ride that demonstrated all of the Healy Racing-sponsored jockey’s strength, but ultimately highlighted the challenging reality of current suspension structures.
“With the totting-up system, I think it can be quite harsh at times, but ultimately it’s up to me to keep improving my riding. There’s no point in complaining. I have to be better.”
Sheridan’s teenage brother, Mel, has now followed him down the racing path. From a limited number of rides thus far, he recently reduced his 10lb claim to 7lb, thanks to a summer brace.
“We have him in Denis’ and he’s working away flat out,” says the older brother.
“He’s serving his apprenticeship, which I did there, and it’s important that he does the same stint as all the good lads who have been there before; the likes of Seanie Bowen, Dan King and more. You won’t get a better grounding than Denis’ in every way. He’s old fashioned and there’s a lot to pick up on from being in there.
Family involvement
“Mel is improving the whole time and I think in the next year or two, you’ll see a lot better rider to come. He didn’t do pony racing, so he’s going to have a lot of improvement in him.”
Their father Mel was a jockey in his own right, apprenticed to John Oxx, and is rightly taking major satisfaction in seeing his sons in action on the track. The siblings are certainly doing their late mother, Helen, proud after her untimely passing in December 2023.
“Of course, we think about her a good bit, and I’m sure she’d have enjoyed watching what’s going on for us - especially some of the bigger winners this year,” says Sheridan.
“I suppose it makes up for me leaving school when I did. Having a bit of success at the pony racing allowed me to get the free pass to leave school, so I think she’d have got a lot out of what’s been happening in the last year or so. She had no background in racing, but I have to say, my mother and father were so good to all of us to help us pursue whatever it was that we had a passion for all the way along. They gave us a great leg up and I’m always going to be grateful for that.
“It’s great for my father to have something to look towards all the time with myself and Mel racing. Dad doesn’t miss a race and is the first person on WhatsApp to me after I come in, whatever the result may be.”
Sheridan admits there was more than one attractive offer in his inbox to relocate to Britain in recent years, but he is clearly relishing the position he has built towards this term on home soil.
“I’m absolutely loving it,” he beams. “Even aside from getting rides and winners for Joseph, I actually love the process of being around the yard in a general sense.
“From the start, I wanted to be a part of the team, rather than just being in there. I like going back in to do stalls work with the two-year-olds in the evenings, any time I’m not racing and around, and being there on a Sunday to get to know everyone. Hopefully, that’s something that can continue to evolve with time.”
With an evident ambition to progress, and more seasons like the current one behind him, there’s every chance it will.
What he’s listening to while on the road between race meetings
“I’m big into music and listen to a lot of the oldie stuff. Oasis would be a favourite of mine. Aside from that, I listen to The 2 Johnnies Podcast plenty - two good men from Tipperary!”
The most talented horse he’s ridden
“From a sprinting perspective, I’ll go with Sceptical. He was such a high-class horse. At middle distances, I was lucky enough to win a Group 3 on Thundering On before she won the Oaks this year. She’s obviously got a lot of ability. And I’ll have to mention Princess Zoe as a stayer. She could keep a high tempo going over an extreme distance; that’s something I hadn’t experienced at that stage of my career before getting to ride her.”
What he’d like to see change in the sport
“I’d be very keen to see saunas come back to racecourses. Personally, I have three or four memberships for saunas up and down the country that I use day to day. When I’m in Joseph’s, Dylan is very good at letting me use the sauna and jacuzzi that he has built. When I get my own house sorted, it’ll be the first thing I put in my own place. Reopening saunas at tracks would make life a lot easier. It’s not like we’ve stopped sweating; we’re just having to sweat elsewhere.”
His favourite track to ride at
“I love riding at the Curragh, although Gowran Park has been very good to me this year. I don’t think I’ve been to Gowran this year without riding a winner [13 winners in total, including five doubles]. Getting to win on Banbridge was very cool around there recently, he’s a bit of a legend. There wouldn’t be a day throughout the winter that I’m not watching National Hunt racing, so I have a real appreciation for getting to ride one like him with his class. I actually got to ride out Talk The Talk a nice bit through the winter at Joseph’s last season, and got to sit on Home By The Lee, Jordans and others. It’s very cool to get to do that.”
His biggest ambition in racing
“I’d love to ride an Irish Group 1 winner. I know it’s a big dream and I have to see what opportunities come my way, but I hope I’ll be ready for that chance when it comes some day.”