Fermoy native David O’Meara recorded a milestone success this week at the Pontefract Sports and Education Foundation Handicap, in West Yorkshire, where Sudona secured the trainer his 1,000th Flat win in Britain.
Sudona was the bookies’ favourite going into the West Yorkshire race, and ridden by stable jockey, Danny Tudhope.
Speaking following the win, David said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It’s been 10 years and a month since we first took out a licence. When you first start out, you don’t think you’ll get this number at all. Obviously, in the last nine months or a year I knew it was getting close. It’s great.”
O’Meara set up his own stables in Upper Hemsley, York just over ten years ago, and following the Pontefract win, is now the second-fastest to achieve 1,000 wins in the UK. His record is bested only by Richard Hannon Jnr.
Regarding his plans for future success, O’Meara told The Racing Post that he intended ‘to keep the whole show on the road and hopefully get another 100 this year, although that will be tough with the hold up for a couple of months’.
David was a National Hunt jockey himself for 13 years before entering the training ranks in 2010. Three years later, he achieved his first season with over 100 winners, a feat that he managed to replicate for 6 seasons following that success. In January 2016, David moved to a new facility on ‘Willow Farm’ located just outside of York.
