Cheltenham Festival Winner Tom O’Brien Dies at 39 After Cancer Battle
Tom O'Brien, who rode more than 1,000 winners over jumps including five Grade Ones and two at the Cheltenham Festival, has died aged 39 after cancer. Trainers, fellow riders and the British Horseracing Authority paid tribute to the retired jockey.
Tom O'Brien, a Cheltenham Festival winning jockey who rode more than 1,000 winners over jumps, has died aged 39 after being diagnosed with cancer, it was announced on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
O'Brien retired from race riding in April 2023. He leaves his wife, Hayley, and two young sons.
Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said O'Brien died surrounded by his loved ones "following a long and courageous battle with cancer". He described the illness as one "which he faced with the steely determination and drive that typified the man so many of us knew".
A career with Philip Hobbs
O'Brien spent his 20-year riding career closely tied to Philip Hobbs's stable near Minehead. He won five Grade One races, the top level of jump racing in Britain.
His best-known wins came on Hobbs's Thyme Hill: the Stayers' Hurdle at Aintree in April 2021 and the Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton in December 2022. He also rode two Grade One winners for Colin Tizzard, Finian's Oscar and Elixir De Nutz, in the Tolworth Hurdle in 2017 and 2019.
At the Cheltenham Festival he won the Pertemps Final on Third Wind in 2022 and the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle on Silk Affair in 2009. He also rode Dream Alliance to victory in the 2009 Welsh Grand National, a story that inspired the film Dream Horse.
After leaving the saddle, O'Brien joined the BHA's stewarding team.
Tributes from racing
Hobbs said O'Brien "came to our yard from Ireland having not ridden in a race" but quickly showed talent. He rode as second jockey in the shadow of Richard Johnson for a long time, then became first jockey when Johnson retired.
"It's very sad, particularly for his wife, Hayley, and two young children," Hobbs said. He added that O'Brien had visited the yard about three weeks ago.
Johnson said: "Tom was an all-round great person and you won't find anyone with a bad word to say about him." He recalled never having "a cross word" with O'Brien during their years riding together.
Johnson White, now co-trainer with Hobbs, called O'Brien a hard-working, "nicer family man". He said Johnson's reaction to the news was that "life is so cruel".
Jockey Harry Cobden wrote on Instagram that O'Brien "was a great friend and a brilliant jockey" and would be "hugely missed by everyone who knew him".
Trainer Christian Williams described O'Brien as "kind, talented, humble and a true gentleman". Racing broadcaster Mike Cattermole called him "just a lovely guy, so gentle and humble".
Dunshea said O'Brien "touched countless lives on both sides of the Irish Sea". "Tom was held in the highest esteem and meant so much to so many people across our sport," he said.
