28 seasons. Two major falls. One Group 1 comeback
Mdmar – Dubai
Jockeys are tough, and Richie Mullen is as tough as they come.
The 50-year-old rode his first Dubai winner in 2000. After two serious falls in as many years, including a 2025 Abu Dhabi spill that left him with a fractured wrist, dislocated elbow, ruptured ligaments, a fractured ankle and a broken thumb, he came back to ride 28 winners last season. One of them was a Group 1.
“It certainly gets you thinking when you’re sitting in a hospital bed after several operations. ‘Is it worth carrying on?’ But I’ve got an amazing family who were by my side throughout. And hearing people say I should retire gave me a burning desire to get back and prove I could still do it.”
That Group 1 was Imperial Emperor’s win in the Maktoum Challenge, after Mullen had finished second in the race for Bhupat Seemar in each of the two previous years. “At the latter part of your career, you’re thinking those Group 1s are a thing of the past.”
This winter he’s back at Charlie Appleby’s Marmoom Stable, riding freelance in the afternoons and teaming up with Eric Legrix on the Arabian front.
He’s now the oldest jockey in the weighing room, but his motivation is as strong as ever:
“28 seasons is a number I’m extremely proud of. To be part of a magnificent racing jurisdiction and to have raised my family in such a wonderful country. I’ve ridden all around the world but I don’t think you’ll find a better track or facilities anywhere than at Meydan Racecourse.”
The Dubai Racing Carnival begins 6 November. Welcome back, Richie!
“Mdmar” website for horse racing and equestrian News
The “Mdmar” website which was Founded by Khaled Makhlouf in 2007 for horse and equestrian races is keen to cover and follow all competitions related to horses, from show jumping, Horseracing, speed and endurance races, and purebred Arabian horse beauty shows, which belong to the Arab Gulf countries at home and abroad in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
