Mouse Morris: His Extraordinary Racing Life

‘This is no surprise, we certainly weren’t here for the beer.’ Mouse’s reaction to Hear the Echo’s Irish Grand National Victory in March 2008. Horse racing is renowned for colour, characters and wealth. Michael ‘Mouse’ Morris, third son of Michael and Sheila Morris, better known as Lord and Lady Killanin, is one of the most colourful characters in Irish horse racing today. Mouse’s formal education ended when he was diagnosed as dyslexic aged fifteen. After working at a racing stables, he joined Willie O'Grady’s yard in Tipperary as its amateur jockey. He teamed up with Edward O'Grady to win the Foxhunter’s Chase at Cheltenham, the first of many successes for both at the festival. Mouse turned professional in 1975 and his many wins included two Champion Chases at Cheltenham and the Irish Grand National. His career as a jockey unravelled on a chilly November day in 1977 in Carolina when he suffered a crushing fall riding in the Colonial Cup. However, it propelled him into training where he has been prominent ever since. Despite little money or business skill, and a preference to train quality rather than quantity, Mouse has trained an impressive list of big-race winners, most notably Michael O'Leary’s War Of Attrition in the 2006 Gold Cup (now back in action!) and Hear The Echo, a long-odds winner of the 2008 Irish Grand National. Jockeys, trainers, owners and stable lads express a rare fondness and respect for Mouse. Mouse himself speaks frankly of his wild ride on the racing rollercoaster, of days as a jockey, as a trainer, of financial hurdles (most notably, his part in the infamous Gay Futures affair), personal crises and tragedy. He remains one of Irish racing’s truly unique characters.