Jump Jockey Legends: Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty was born on the 16th of September 1979 and is from Drumree, County Meath. He rode his first winner aboard Stagalier at Down Royal for Noel Meade in January 1997. That was to be the first of many and he had a glittering career. He first became champion jockey in Ireland during the 1999/2000 season and went on to repeat the feat in 2003/2004. Geraghty was also crowned as the Cheltenham Festival’s leading rider in 2003 and 2012. Forging a very successful partnership with Jessica Harrington in the early days, the likes of Moscow Flyer (pictured above) and Kicking King put his career on the right trajectory. Mick Fitzgerald retired in 2008 and Barry Geraghty was the man chosen to succeed him by Nicky Henderson. A thoroughly successful partnership was formed from then on and the pair went on to win lots of big races together. JP McManus’ main man AP McCoy retired upon the conclusion of the 2014/2015 season and there was no one better than Geraghty to fill the void. Announcing his retirement in July 2020, his distinguished 23-year career was a testament to his coolness, strength and ability to judge pace. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest jockeys of all time. Career Highlights Every jockey wants to ride winners at Cheltenham and Geraghty’s natural abilities in the saddle led to him riding 43 Cheltenham Festival winners. Not many jockeys can hold a candle to that and he went out with a bang, riding five winners at his last ever Festival. Winning all four of Cheltenham’s ‘Championship’ races is also a very rare feat, which Geraghty achieved. He won the Stayers’ Hurdle and Gold Cup twice, as well as four Champion Hurdle successes and a whopping five in the Champion Chase. The County Meath-born rider announced his retirement in July 2020 after he had ridden 1,920 winners in Britain and Ireland, which put him fourth on the all-time list. It’s also worth noting that he won the 2003 Grand National on Monty’s Pass. We won’t see many more like Geraghty and he goes down as one of the best riders of his generation, alongside the likes of Ruby Walsh and AP McCoy. Notable horses For racing fans of a certain vintage, only one horse will come to mind here, and that is the great Moscow Flyer. The Jessica Harrington-trained chaser won a host of Grade 1 chases, including two Champion Chases and two Tingle Creek’s. His 2004 success at Sandown has long been celebrated as one of the greatest ever races. Geraghty rode for Henderson for a significant portion of his career and Sprinter Sacre stands out as potentially the best horse he ever rode for Seven Barrows. The star two-miler ran in five Grade 1s during the 2012-13 season and won all of them, including at the Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown festivals. Bob’s Worth won the Albert Bartlett, RSA Chase and the Gold Cup in successive seasons for Geraghty and that is a massive achievement. Small, but possessing the heart of a lion, this very popular horse was hugely talented. The Tom Taaffe-trained Kicking King was Geraghty’s first Gold Cup winner in 2005, winning the Arkle the season before, and he also won the King George twice before injury curtailed his career.
