Christy Roche: From Champion Jockey to Legendary Trainer Christy Roche was crowned champion jockey seven times in Ireland before enjoying a stellar time as a trainer in a racing career that lasted five decades. About Christy Roche was born in the racing hotbed of County Tipperary, in Bansha, in 1949. He became a four-time champion apprentice, seven-time champion jockey and one of Ireland's greatest Flat jockeys in a career that spanned three decades in the saddle before he hung up his breeches in 1998. He won the Derby and Oaks at Epsom as well three Irish Derbys amongst a tally of 12 Classics on home soil. By 1998, before retiring, he'd taken out a training license and went on to enjoy a 25-year stint as a handler at Curragh View Stables in the Kildare heartland of Irish Flat racing. Upon his retirement in 2018, the three-time Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer handed his training licence over to son, Padraig — then aged 32. Career as a jockey Roche's long and distinguished career in the saddle will probably be remembered most for his thrilling short-head success on Secreto in the 1984 Derby at Epsom, edging out the mighty El Gran Senor after an epic battle up the home straight. He won the Irish Derby three times, the Irish 2000 Guineas on four occasions and the Irish 1000 Guineas three times. His Irish Derby victory on Desert King gave Aidan O'Brien his first success in the race. He won the 1991 Epsom Oaks aboard Jim Bolger's 50-1 outsider Jet Ski Lady and he also landed the French Derby in 1982 on David O'Brien's Assert. His other big-race successes included the Irish Champion Stakes, National Stakes and Matron Stakes on home turf, while on the road he won the Fillies' Mile at Newmarket, the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster, the Yorkshire Oaks, the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp and the Juddmonte International at York. Career as a trainer Roche enjoyed considerable success as a trainer, primarily for his main patron, owner JP McManus. Grimes was the stable flag bearer in the early part of his training career, winning nine races including the 2001 Galway Plate. Roche enjoyed his first Cheltenham Festival success when saddling Khayrawani to land the 1999 Coral Cup and he went on to add to his tally at Cotswolds showpiece with Youlneverwalkalone in the 2003 William Hill Handicap Chase and Like A Butterfly, who won the 2002 Supreme Novices' Hurdle. Youlneverwalkalone went on to be a great servant to the stable, landing ten races in total including the Grade 1 Hatton's Grace Hurdle in 2000 where he defeated Moscow Flyer. He won Cork the Grand National with Streets Of Gold in 2010 and with Sword Fish three years later, while the most valuable pot he collected came when Far From Trouble bagged his second Galway Plate in 2006. Did you know? Like A Butterfly was perhaps the highest-profile horse Roche handled as a trainer. She won 12 of her 17 races overall, with her notable victories including a thrilling success over Limestone Lad in the 2003 Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown. Her biggest day came at the Cheltenham Festival in 2002. Irish winners were far from a regular thing in that era of the three-day Festival, certainly nothing like they are now. Like A Butterfly was the 'Irish banker' that year and duly justified 7-4 favouritism in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle under Charlie Swan, just having enough in the tank to fend off the final challenge from the Martin Pipe-trained Westender under the famous AP McCoy drive.
