Paul Carberry is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey.
Background
He was born on 9 February 1974.[2] He hails from a racing family. He is the son of jockey Tommy Carberry,[3] who was a famous National Hunt jockey in the 1960s and 1970s.[4] His uncle is Arthur Moore, one of Ireland's leading National Hunt trainers. His younger siblings, Philip and Nina, were also successful Irish riders.[4]
Of all the horses Carberry has been paired with, perhaps the most successful partnership has been with Harchibald.[4] The two went on to win five Grade 1 races, with wins in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle (2004, 2007), Christmas Hurdle (2004, 2008) and the John James McManus Memorial Hurdle (2005).[6] However, the pairing is most known for their battle with Hardy Eustace at the 2005 Champion Hurdle. In the race, Harchibald looked certain to win, only to be beat by Hardy Eustace at the finish line.[4]
Carberry was stable jockey to Noel Meade for many years up to his retirement. He has a brand of racewear selling a variety of racing equipment named after him.
On 9 August 2016, Carberry announced his retirement from the saddle after failing to recover from a long-standing leg injury sustained in a fall at Listowel in September 2015.[8]
Controversies
Despite all of his success in National Hunt racing, Carberry has faced problems off the racecourse. In October 2005, he was arrested and charged over an incident which took place on board an Aer Lingus flight from Málaga to Dublin when he set fire to a newspaper. In May 2006 he was sentenced to two months in jail over the incident but granted bail pending an appeal. The sentence was quashed in October 2006 with Carberry agreeing to do voluntary work.[9] In 2009, Carberry was suspended for 30 days by the Referrals Committee of the Turf Club after he failed an alcohol breath test at Naas on 31 October 2009. The suspension caused Carberry to miss the 2009 Fighting Fifth Hurdle and Christmas Hurdle.[10] His replacement, Davy Condon, rode Go Native to wins in both races.[11]
After serving his suspension, Carberry and Go Native were paired together for the 2010 Champion Hurdle. A win in the race would have landed Go Native the Triple Crown of Hurdling and Carberry would have secured £150,000[7] as his share of the £1m bonus offered by WBX. However, Go Native was unable to capture the win, instead finishing in 10th place after being eased when beaten on the run from the final hurdle. Afterwards, Carberry said that Go Native dived after the second hurdle and was never the same moving forward.[12]
Following his suspension, Carberry vowed not to drink again until his career as a National Hunt jockey was complete.[7]