Notwithstanding the phenomenal record of compatriot Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty remains the second most successful jockey in the history of the Cheltenham Festival with an impressive tally of 36 winners. The first of them was Moscow Flyer, trained by Jessica Harrington, in the Arkle Challenge Trophy in 2002 and he rode at least one winner at every Cheltenham Festival for the next 14 years. In that period, he won each of the ‘championship’ races – Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup – at least twice and was crowned leading jockey at the Festival twice, in 2003 and 2012.
He won the Champion Hurdle twice, on Punjabi in 2009 and Jezki in 2014, the Queen Mother Champion Chase five times, on Moscow Flyer in 2003 and 2005, Big Zeb in 2010, Finian’s Rainbow in 2012 and Sprinter Sacre in 2013, the Stayers’ Hurdle twice, on Iris’s Gift in 2004 and More Of That in 2014 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, on Kicking King in 2005 and Bobs Worth 2013. He also won the Arkle Challenge Trophy five times and the Triumph Hurdle four times.
Following the retirement of Sir Anthony McCoy in April, 2015, Geraghty became the retained rider for the most successful owner ever at the Cheltenham Festival, John Patrick “J.P.” McManus, and the following season carried his familiar green and gold colours to victory aboard Ivanovich Gorbatov in the Triumph Hurdle. Geraghty missed the 2017 Cheltenham Festival through injury, but resumed business as usual in 2018 with two more winners for J.P. McManus. He had to work hard to land odds of 8/15 on Buveur D’Air in the Champion Hurdle, but there were not many easier winners all week than Prezien – one of five runners owned by J.P. McManus – in the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup.