Pat Glennon started his career in Melbourne, but in the mid-1940s moved to Adelaide where he linked up with trainer Jim Cummings and his son Bart.
Glennon made an immediate impression in South Australia, and became one of the state's leading apprentices. But weight was becoming a problem for him. He could not ride below 8st 4lb (52.5 kg), and this was to limit opportunities throughout his career.
Glennon's big opportunity came in 1950 when Jack Purtell declined the ride on Comic Court in the Melbourne Cup. Cummings offered the mount to Glennon who brought the horse in a winner by three lengths. A second Melbourne Cup win followed on Macdougal in 1959. He was closely associated with Matrice, South Australia's finest post-war sprinter, and rode him to 26 wins in 42 races. As the Cummings stable jockey he took out many feature races in South Australia and Victoria.
In the 1960s Glennon rode in Ireland where he was Champion Jockey, and then took a riding contract with the Etienne Pollet stable in France. In 1965 the great horse, Sea Bird, ridden by Glennon, burst across the European racing scene, with victories in five Group 1 races, including the Epsom Derby and the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe. It was a fitting climax to his career and he retired soon after.
Glennon was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.
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