Shay Barry has established himself as one of the most consistent jump jockeys in the country. He has also proved that he is not fazed by the big occasion having prevailed at the highest level on a number of occasions. Success hasn’t come easily to Barry and he has had to travel a long road to get where he is today.
Name: Shay Barry
Principal Trainer: Eoin Doyle
Notable Wins: Kevin McManus Bookmaker Grimes Hurdle (Bahrain Storm 2010), Leopardstown Handicap Chase (Anothercoppercoast 2010), Waterford & Tramore Racecourse Supporters Chase (The Fonze 2010), Gowran Park Champion Chase (The Fonze 2009), Murphys Handicap Hurdle (Ray Boy 2007, Patsy Veale 2002), Craddockstown Novice Chase (Justified 2005), Total Events Rental Novice Chase (Justified 2005), Kerrygold Champion Chase (Rathgar Beau 2005), Menolly Homes Novice Hurdle (Justified 2005), Red Mills Chase (Rathgar Beau 2005), Kinloch Brae Chase (Rathgar Beau 2005), Hilly Way Chase (Rathgar Beau 2004), INH Stallion Owners European Breeders Fund Novice Hurdle (Justified 2004), Clonmel Oil Chase (Rathgar Beau 2004), An Uaimh Chase (Rathgar Beau 2004), Byrne Group Plc Novice Hurdle (Kahuna 2004), Bar-One Racing Ten Up Novice Chase (Satco Express 2004), Woodlands Park 100 Slaney Novice Hurdle (McGruders Cross 2004), Irish Field Novice Chase (Satco Express 2003), Ballymore Properties Champion Stayers Hurdle (Holy Orders 2003), Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase (Back On Top 2003), Intervet Trophy Handicap Chase (Foxchapel King 2000), Troytown Handicap Chase (Foxchapel King 1999), Dan Moore Handicap Chase (Space Trucker 1999), Grand Annual Chase Challenge Cup (Space Trucker 1999), Baileys Arkle Perpetual Challenge Cup Chase (His Song 1999), Denny Gold Medal Novice Chase (His Song 1998)
Shay Barry has established himself as one of the most consistent jump jockeys in the country. He has also proved that he is not fazed by the big occasion having prevailed at the highest level on a number of occasions. Success hasn’t come easily to Barry and he has had to travel a long road to get where he is today.
Early Days
Barry was initially associated with the Paddy Mullins yard and rode his share of winners on the level over the next six seasons. He then became affiliated with the Pat Flynn yard and began to concentrate on riding over jumps in the 1994/5 season. He rode a steady stream of winners in the years that followed, but perhaps one of the highlights of that period came when he finished second in the Cheltenham Bumper on the hugely talented Aries Girl in 1994. The likes of Prince Ole, Gallopen Garry and Collon Leader provided him with plenty of wins during that time, but it wasn’t until the 1998/99 season that his career well and truly took off.
Climbing The Ladder
In November 1998, Barry began what would prove to be a profitable partnership with James Bowe-trained Limestone Lad, winning three handicap hurdles in succession in the space of five weeks. Soon after that, he got the call to ride the Mouse Morris-trained His Song in the Grade 1 Denny Gold Medal Novice Chase and Barry made no mistake, riding the five-year-old to an impressive eight lengths success. Five weeks later he was back on-board the same horse in the Baileys Arkle Perpetual Challenge Cup Chase and again, he proved equal to the task, showing abundant strength in the saddle to come home a neck in front of Padre Mio. The season also saw Barry gain his first win at the Cheltenham Festival, riding the Jessica Harrington-trained Space Trucker to success in the Grand Annual Chase Challenge Cup, before following up on the same horse in the Dan Moore Handicap Chase at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival.
The years surrounding the turn of the millennium saw further successes for Barry, winning the Troytown Handicap Chase on the Mouse Morris-trained Foxchapel King in 1999 and that horse provided him with another big win a year later when winning the Intervet Trophy Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham November meeting. While he continued to ride winners through the remainder of 2000 and 2001, the big-race winners dried up somewhat, but he returned to feature race form when winning the Murphys Handicap Hurdle at Killarney on the John Queally-trained Patsy Veale in 2002.
Back In The Grade 1 Winner’s Enclosure
Barry had to wait until May 2003 before further adding to his Grade 1 when partnering the enigmatic performer Holy Orders to victory in the Ballymore Properties Champion Stayers Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival. That win would kick start what would prove to be a big season for Barry as he soon began what would prove to be a highly lucrative partnership with the Dusty Sheehy yard in 2003/4. Satco Express was the first of many performers from that yard that Barry would ride to big-race successes, winning the Grade 3 Irish Field Novice Chase at Punchestown and the Grade 3 Bar-One Racing Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan. Kahuna was another notable performer for the partnership, winning three novice hurdles including the Grade 2 Byrne Group Plc Novice Hurdle at Punchestown. A notable win for an outside yard came on the Tony Mullins-trained McGruders Cross in the Grade 3 Woodlands Park 100 Slaney Novice Hurdle at Naas.
Dusty Partnership Proves Strong
Barry’s partnership with Dusty Sheehy was it’s strongest during 2004 and 2005 when he teamed up regularly with Rathgar Beau and Justified. He first rode the former in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork in 2003, but it took him five attempts to get off the mark on the Beau Sher gelding, winning the Red Mills Chase (a race the pair subsequently lost when Rathgar Beau tested positive for a forbidden substance) at Gowran Park in 2004. A short-head win in the Grade 3 An Uaimh Chase at Navan the following month consolidated the partnership, but it wasn’t until 2004/5 that the pair truly flourished. Grade 2 wins in the Clonmel Oil Chase, the Hilly Way Chase at Cork, the Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles and a compensatory win in the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park made Rathgar Beau one of the stars of the season, but the best was yet to come. Following an uncharacteristic below-form effort when last of three when sent off at ¼ in the An Uaimh Chase at Navan, the pair were allowed to go off at 8/1 in the Grade 1 Kerrygold Champion Chase at the Punchestown Festival against their old rival, Moscow Flyer, who had beaten them on all their four previous meetings. However, in an unforgettable contest, Rathgar Beau and Barry capitalised on a bad mistake that Moscow Flyer made at the penultimate fence to prevail by the shortest of short-heads, thus inflicting Moscow Flyer’s first-ever defeat over fences when completing the course. It was a momentous day for all involved and one that must surely rank as the best of Barry’s career. Unfortunately, that proved to be Rathgar Beau’s final win as a number of different injuries meant that his career was restricted him to just three more runs before he was retired.
Justified Comes To Prominence
Having shown himself to be a useful sort in bumpers in the spring of 2004, Justified looked to be a reasonable prospect as a novice hurdler in 2004/5. Barry didn’t take long to help get the partnership off the mark, riding the then five-year-old to an easy win in a maiden hurdle at Galway. That win was followed by two defeats behind Wild Passion in Graded novice hurdles, but he returned to winning form in the Listed INH Stallion Owners EBF Novice Hurdle at Punchestown. Barry missed the ride on him when he impressively prevailed in the Grade 2 Byrne Group Plc Novice Hurdle , but was back on-board when he disappointed at the Cheltenham Festival before impressively bouncing back to form to win the Grade 2 Menolly Homes Novice Hurdle at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival.
The following October, Justified made the perfect start to his chasing career, winning the Listed Total Events Rental Novice Chase at Punchestown under Barry. Another highly-impressive win for the pair in the Grade 2 Volkswagon Jetta Craddockstown Novice Chase at Punchestown, but his next run would prove to be the last time Barry would team up with Dusty Sheehy’s charge. Sent off at 5/4 for the Grade 1 Durkan New Homes Novice Chase, Justified only got as far as the first fence as having made a horrendous mistake, Barry was unseated. Following that disappointment, it was decided that Tony McCoy would take the ride and Barry would miss out on a number of winning rides on him later that season.
Keeping The Show On The Road
While the next few seasons were quiet on the big-race front for Barry, he kept grafting away and the winners continued to steadily flow. The 2009/10 season saw Barry return to big-race glory, with the Eoin Doyle-trained The Fonze providing him with notable wins in the Grade 2 Gowran Park Champion Chase and in the Listed Waterford & Tramore Racecourse Supporters Chase at Tramore on New Year’s Day. Later that month, he rode the Paul Roche-trained Anothercoppercoast to an authoritative success in the Leopardstown Handicap Chase, Barry’s most valuable success in over four years.
In the opening months of the 2010/11 season, the aforementioned The Fonze provided Barry with a further two wins over hurdles as well as a handicap on the Flat. He also gained another Graded success in the Grade 3 Kevin McManus Bookmaker Grimes Hurdle at Tipperary on the Pat Flynn-trained Bahrain Storm in July. Indeed, the opening five months of the season saw Barry make his fastest start to a season in many years, with his 18 winners eclipsing his seasonal totals in each of the previous three seasons. However, disaster was to strike Barry in mid-August, as he suffered a fractured pelvis in a horrendous fall at Killarney, stopping his electric season in its tracks.
2011/12 has seen Barry bounce back from his injury with aplomb, with him already being on track to register his best seasonal total for many years. The pick of his wins thus far this season was unquestionably on the Doyle-trained King High in the valuable Follow Us On Twitter Kinsale Handicap Chase at Cork in October.
Now that he is back at full health, Shay Barry’s big-race experience and cool head will ensure that his services remain in constant demand and will continue to enjoy big-race successes for the foreseeable future.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated December 2011
