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Derby hero Ronan Whelan pays emotional tribute to his parents for supporting him through thick and thin

The 33-year-old was enjoying the biggest success of his career on the well-backed 7-1 shot Christmas Day

[Ronan Whelan celebrates his Derby success on Christmas Day with his parents Tom and Kathleen and Aidan and Annmarie O'Brien after victory in The Betfred Derby during The Betfred Derby Day at Epsom Downs Racecourse on June 06, 2026 in Epsom, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)]

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Ronan Whelan celebrates his Derby success on Christmas Day with his parents Tom and Kathleen and Aidan and Annmarie O'Brien(Image: 2026 Getty Images)

Derby winning jockey Ronan Whelan has paid a touching tribute to his parents after his sensational success at Epsom on Saturday.

33-year-old Whelan partnered the Aidan OBrien-trained Christmas Day to a famous victory in one of the most dramatic and controversial renewals in the 250-year old Classics history.

Favourite Benvenuto Cellini was declared a non-runner, despite finishing the race, after stewards deemed he had been denied a fair start after an incident in the stalls.

But for Whelan it was a day of celebration and jubilation as he captured the biggest victory of his career in the 2 million race having suffered some ups and downs since riding his first winner as a 16-year-old in 2009.

Champion Apprentice in 2012 under the tutelage of Jim Bolger, he had found himself without a stable to ride for, following the decision of Michael Halford to hand in his trainers licence and retire in 2025.

The unassuming Monasterevin native showed huge gratitude to his dad Tom and mother Kathleen in the aftermath of Saturdays win, for inspiring him to keep going as jockey though the good times and bad times.

Dad has been my best friend since I don't know how long. He's been through thick and thin with me, he's had to put up with a lot with me too," an emotional Whelan told TDN.

These are good days, but there's a lot of bad days too, and him and mum and a lot of other people have always stuck by me, and to have him lead me in was everything.

I said to him, 'Dad, you're leading in your son winning the Derby.' It's special. We do all the sales together and I guarantee there'll be no prouder man going around the sales this season than Big Tom.

Christmas Day had been heavily backed into 7-1 from 25-1 following a surge of money for the son of Camelot, but he was very much the Ballydoyle third string behind Benvenuto Cellini and Pierre Bonaad.

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Christmas Day ridden by Ronan Whelan (second right) on their way to winning the Betfred Derby (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

Whelans dad Tom, who was invited to lead in the horse by Ballydoyle head lad Pat Keating, revealed that his son had phoned the Ballydoyle stable looking for work last year following Halfords decision to quit training.

Ronan was stable jockey to Mick Halford until he handed in his licence, said Tom.

I think he then rang up Chris (Armstrong) in the office at Ballydoyle to see if there was a job going, riding out as much, because there weren't that many yards left on the Curragh. And they said 'Come on down', and, sure, the rest is history.

Christmas Days Derby win was the third Group 1 that Whelan has now won for OBrien and Ballydoyle, having captured Group 1 races on Precise and Hawk Mountain since joining the Tipperary operation.

Whelan had smooth passage throughout the 1m4f contest and his horse really enjoyed the soft ground.

He added: The race couldn't have really gone any smoother, and obviously when you're riding the lesser-fancied ones, if things don't work out, it's not the end of the world, so there's not as much pressure on you.

I can't thank everyone enough who's been dealing with the horse. They had him in great condition, and everyone who's been behind me as well, I can't thank them enough.

The more rain that fell, the more confidence I got in him, and he's such an uncomplicated horse. It's Christmas Day in June for me.

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