Tommy Carberry (15 September 1941 – 12 July 2017) was a Irish

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

who rode mostly in

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

races. He was

Irish jump racing Champion Jockey The Champion Jockey of National Hunt racing in Ireland is the jockey who has ridden the most winning horses during a season. The list below shows the Champion Jockey for each year since 1946. The current champion, as of 2023, is Paul Townend. ...

four times. He is best known for winning the

1975 Grand National The 1975 Grand National (officially known as the ''News of the World'' Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 129th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 5 April 1975. The ...

on L'Escargot. He rode a total of 16

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

winners, including L'Escargot in the 1970 and 1971 Gold Cup and Ten Up in the 1975 Gold Cup. After retiring from race riding in 1982 he became a trainer and in 1999 saddled the winner of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

Bobbyjo Bobbyjo (1990 – 2001) was an Irish bred racehorse by Bustineto and Markup, best remembered as the winner of the 1999 Grand National steeplechase at Aintree. Bobbyjo was owned by Bobby Burke Mullaghmore, Co. Galway. Humble Beginnings In 1 ...

Career

At the age of fifteen Carberry was apprenticed to trainer Jimmy Lenehan and rode his first winner on Ben Beoch in 1958. He went on to win the champion apprentice jockey title in 1959. He then moved to the yard of National Hunt trainer Dan Moore, where he remained as stable jockey for the rest of his career. In 1962 he rode his first winner at the Cheltenham Festival on the Moore-trained Tripacer in the

Supreme Novices' Hurdle The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of a ...

. Carberry won the 1970 and 1971 Cheltenham Gold Cup on L'Escargot, trained by Moore and owned by Raymond Guest, former American ambassador to Ireland. In 1972 he partnered L'Escargot in the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

but did not get further than the third fence, where the horse was brought down. In the

1973 Grand National The 1973 Grand National was the 127th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 31 March 1973. The race is best remembered for being the first of Red Rum's three Grand Natio ...

they came third, the following year they came second and in 1975 they won the

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

. Carberry also won the 1975

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5,834 m ...

on Brown Lad and the 1975 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Ten Up, thus becoming the first jockey to win the Aintree and Irish Grand Nationals and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in a season. Carberry won a total of sixteen races at the Cheltenham Festival, his final victory coming in 1982 on The Brockshee, in the

Arkle Challenge Trophy The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a dista ...

. He was Irish champion jump jockey in 1973, 1974, 1975 (joint) and 1976. He also rode on the flat, winning the

Irish Champion Stakes The Irish Champion Stakes (Irish: Curadh-Dhuais na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 ...

on Fordham for trainer

Vincent O'Brien Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish horse racing, race horse horse trainer, trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in ...

in 1979. After retiring as a jockey following injury in a fall in 1982, Carberry began training at

Ratoath Ratoath () is a commuter town in County Meath, Ireland. A branch of the Broad Meadow Water (Broadmeadow River) () flows through the town. The R125 and R155 roads meet in the village. At the 2016 census, there were 9,533 people living in Ratoa ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. He saddled the winner of the

1999 Grand National The 1999 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 152nd official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 10 April 1999. The ra ...

Bobbyjo, ridden by his son

Paul Carberry Paul Carberry is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey. Background He was born on 9 February 1974.Nina Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq * Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, ...

, Mark and Peter John. Paul won the 1998 Irish Grand National and the 1999 Aintree Grand National on Bobbyjo, trained by his father. Philip won the Irish Grand National in 2006 and Nina won in 2011. Mark is the only one of Tommy's children that was not a jockey or trainer. Carberry died on 12 July 2017, aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carberry, Tommy 1941 births 2017 deaths Irish jockeys