Image © INPHO/HRI
Eoin Staples came out on top in the battle of the former point-to-point riders to secure the champion conditional jockey title honours.
The Duncormick native only made the switch to the paid ranks last July, but a whirlwind nine months saw him get the better of Michael Kenneally by just three winners.
It proved to be an anxious wait for the 22-year-old, who was forced to spend the final three days of the season on the sidelines after suffering an arm injury in fall on day three of the Punchestown Festival.
That left Staples in Tallaght Hospital from where he was only discharged on Saturday morning, hours before he was crowned champion.
“Unfortunately, I got hurt at the end of the season, but thankfully it was only on Thursday, so I was able to hang on to the conditional jockeys title,” Staples admitted.
“I’m delighted to get there, I had a fantastic season. Paul Nolan and Gavin Cromwell were my main supporters, and they have been fantastic for me all season.
“You hope and dream about these things, but you never actually think that it could happen to you. Thankfully, all my dreams came true. It’s a proud moment to stand up and get the trophy today.”
Joined in the Punchestown winner’s enclosure by his family, including older brother and fellow rider Sean, who has spent the past year in Australia, Staples rode 33 winners after making his decision to join the paid ranks following his point-to-point grounding, with the Thyestes triumph aboard Cromwell’s Now Is The Hour proving to be an undoubted highlight.
“Winning that in front of the local crowd was definitely a highlight. To get a day like that could be the highlight of my career, and to get it so early was brilliant. It was a day that I will never forget.”
“To get the title is a very proud moment, especially to have all my family here. They drove me around the whole country with ponies and point-to-pointing before this. To bring them up to Punchestown and to collect the trophy with them there, it is special.
Staples rode 13 winners between the flags, with the Paul Pierce-trained Getaway Theatre at Rathcannon in April 2023 the first of them, and the Pierce brothers Paul and Andy, alongside the 13-time champion handler Colin Bowe, were big supporters of him during his time point-to-pointing, which also saw him secure a share of the INHSC novice rider series in 2025 prior to his decision to go pro.
It was another former point-to-point rider, Michael Kenneally, who kept him honest. That Dungourney native also only made the switch from the amateur ranks last season, and a Tramore hat-trick for him just under two weeks out from the season ending added real excitement to the closing weeks of the season.
“I think I rode six winners in a week, but I look around again soon after and Mike was only two behind me,” Staples acknowledged. “
He threw everything at me and fair play to him. He has been riding out of his skin the last couple of weeks and never let up, so fair play to him.”
Staples becomes the latest point-to-point graduate to secure the conditional jockey’s title, as he follows on 12 months after Tiernan Power’s 2025 triumph, whilst the late Michael O’Sullivan was the 2023 champion.
