The opening Cheltenham fixture, the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, has been named after Mr O’Sullivan, and his family, including his girlfriend Charlotte Giles, said it “means the world” to them.
Mr O’Sullivan had been riding Wee Charlie in Thurles early last month before a fall at the last in a two-mile handicap chase. The young jockey sustained catastrophic head injuries.
He was airlifted to Cork University Hospital, but died in the early hours of February 16, five days before his 25th birthday.
A minute’s applause was held for the Cork jockey before yesterday’s opening race, while the famous Cheltenham roar rose up in his memory.
