Jockey Tom O’Brien, Cheltenham Festival winner, dies aged 39

Tom O’Brien, who rode more than 1,000 winners over jumps including five Grade Ones and two at the Cheltenham Festival, has died at the age of 39 after being diagnosed with cancer.

O’Brien, a nephew of trainer Aidan O’Brien, had a close association with Philip Hobbs’s stable near Minehead throughout his 20-year career in the saddle and enjoyed his most prestigious Grade One victories aboard Hobbs’s Thyme Hill in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Aintree in April 2021 and the Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton in December 2022.