Barry Geraghty facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Barry Geraghty
Barry Geraghty & Sprinter Sacre & Sprinter Sacre at Punchestown in 2013
Occupation	Jockey
Born	(1979-09-16) 16 September 1979 (age 45) Pelletstown, County Meath, Ireland
Career wins	1920
Honours
Irish jump racing Champion Jockey 1999/00, 2003/04
Significant horses
Moscow Flyer, Kicking King, Bobs Worth, Sprinter Sacre

Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979) is a retired Irish jockey. A jockey is a person who rides horses in horse races. Barry is known as the second most successful jockey ever at the famous Cheltenham Festival.

Early Career and First Big Wins

Barry Geraghty started his amazing career in January 1997. That's when he rode his very first winning horse! Just three years later, he became the best jump jockey in Ireland for the first time. His first win in England was in 1998 at the Midlands Grand National. He rode a horse named Miss Orchestra for trainer Jessica Harrington.

Barry's first big win at the Cheltenham Festival was in 2002. He rode Moscow Flyer, a horse also trained by Jessica Harrington, in a race called the Arkle Chase. This was just the beginning of his success at Cheltenham.

Grand National and Champion Titles

In 2003, Barry achieved a huge dream for any jockey: he won the Grand National race! He was riding a horse called Monty's Pass. That same year, he had an incredible Cheltenham Festival. He won five races there, including the Queen Mother Champion Chase again with Moscow Flyer. Because of his fantastic year, he was voted the Irish sports personality of the year.

Barry became the Champion Irish jump jockey for a second time in the 2003–04 season. He also won the Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham on a horse named Iris's Gift. In 2005, Barry and Moscow Flyer won their second Champion Chase at Cheltenham. Barry also won the very important Cheltenham Gold Cup that year on Kicking King. In 2008, he became the main jockey for the famous Nicky Henderson racing stable.

More Cheltenham Success and Retirement

Barry continued to win many big races. In 2009, he won the Champion Hurdle on a horse called Punjabi. By winning this race, he became the first jockey to win all four of the biggest races at Cheltenham. These are the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Stayers Hurdle, and Gold Cup. He also won the Grand National.

On 2 November 2009, Barry reached another milestone. He rode his 1000th winner in races held under National Hunt Rules in the UK and Ireland. This happened when a horse trained by Nicky Henderson won at Kempton. He won his fifth Champion Chase at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival with the amazing horse Sprinter Sacre. Barry had at least one winner at every Cheltenham Festival from 2002, except for 2017. At the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, he had five wins for owner J. P. McManus. This included winning the Champion Hurdle for a record-equalling fourth time.

Barry also reached 1000 wins in Ireland on 28 August 2012. By January 2019, he had ridden 1,875 winners in Britain and Ireland. This placed him fourth on the list of all-time winning jockeys.

In July 2020, Barry Geraghty announced that he was retiring from racing. When he retired, he was the fourth most successful jump jockey in Britain and Ireland. He had a total of 1920 career wins.

Cheltenham Festival Wins

Barry Geraghty won 43 races at the Cheltenham Festival. Here are some of his wins:

Grand National Record

Barry Geraghty rode in the Grand National race many times. He rode in every Grand National from 2000 until 2014. He won the race once and finished in the top four on four other occasions. He missed the 2015 Grand National because of an injury to his leg.

See Also

• List of jockeys