Barry Geraghty became the fourth most successful jump jockey in Britain and Ireland after riding a 1,875th winner onboard Birchdale at Cheltenham on Saturday, the Racing Post report.
After riding 1,240 winners in Ireland and 635 in Britain, Geraghty has overtaken Richard Dunwoody and only trails Tony McCoy, Richard Johnson and Ruby Walsh in the overall rankings.
The 39-year-old secured his first win back in 1997 and his biggest victory came on Monty’s Pass in 2003 when he won the Grand National at Aintree.
Geraghty also won the Gold Cup in 2005 and 2013 and landed the Champion Hurdle in 2009, 2014 and most recently onboard Buveur D’Air last year.
Talking after securing his 1,875th winner, Geraghty spoke of his delight in overtaking his ‘idol’.
When I was a kid, Richard [Dunwoody] was an idol of mine. Riding around fields on ponies when I was 12 or something I’d try to emulate the winners I’d seen him ride on TV.
For me, it’s a great landmark and we’ll keep going.
The two-time Irish champion jockey was then asked how long he had left before retiring, to which he answered:
How long is a piece of string?
The Irishman is currently 862 wins behind Walsh, 1,713 behind Johnson and 2,473 behind the legendary McCoy.
