Trainer Profile

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Tommy Carberry began his career as a jockey on the Flat in 1958. He rode his first winner over hurdles on the Dan Moore-trained Tripacer in the Gloucestershire Hurdle (now the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) at the Cheltenham Festival in 1962 and went on to make his name as a top National Hunt rider who enjoyed 16 Cheltenham Festival winners. 

His Festival tally included three wins in the Gold Cup itself on L'Escargot in 1970 and 1971 and on Ten Up in 1975. He won the Cathcart Cup (now the Ryanair Chase) on Flying Wild in 1966 and again on Inkslinger in 1973. He also enjoyed a second Gloucestershire Hurdle (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) on L'Escargot in 1968. He won the County Hurdle on Bahrain in 1963, the Stayers' Hurdle on Brown Lad in 1975, a Sun Alliance Chase on Tied Cottage in 1976 and the Triumph Hurdle on Meladon in 1977. Tommy Carberry won the two-mile Champion Chase on Inkslinger in 1973. He won the Arkle Chase twice, on Anaglog's Daughter in 1980 and The Brockshee two years later. At Aintree, he rode L'Escargot to victory in the Grand National in 1975. He partnered Soothsayer to win the Colonial Cup Chase at Camden, South Carolina in 1970. 

In all, he was champion National Hunt jockey in Ireland on four occasions and notable success closer to home came at Fairyhouse where he rode Brown Lad to win the Irish Grand National in 1975 and 1976. Remarkably, three of Tommy’s children were also to win the Irish Grand National, Paul won on Bobbyjo (trained by Tommy) in 1998, Philip won on the Pat Hughes-trained Point Barrow in 2006 and Nina became only the second female rider jockey to win the race when scoring with Organisedconfusion, trained by her uncle and Tommy’s brother-in-law Arthur Moore, in 2011. 

As a jockey, Tommy also won the Thyestes Chase on Brown Lad in 1976, five years after he gained his first success in the same race on Money Boat. Money Boat also won the Kerry National under Carberry in 1970, a race he had also won on Peccard in 1968. He won the Galway Hurdle on Tripacer in 1962 and the Galway Plate on Leap Frog in 1973. Among his many significant victories on the Flat was a win in the Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes (now the Irish Champion Stakes) on the Vincent O’Brien-trained Fordham in 1979. 

Tommy's final winner in the saddle came in the last race on the opening day of the Listowel festival on September 20th, 1982. He partnered Clouds Daughter, owned and trained by Bill Durkan, to win a handicap on the Flat. On his first ride the following afternoon, he was unseated after two furlongs in a fillies' sprint and the injuries he suffered ultimately forced him to retire. Tommy then set out on a successful training career that was to feature Grand National wins with Bobbyjo at both Fairyhouse and Aintree. He sent out his final runners in early 2013.