Francis Martin Berry was born in County Kildare on January 2, 1981, the son of Frank Berry, the 10-time champion jump jockey in Ireland and latterly racing manager to JP McManus.
He rode the first winner when he was still at school, on Loughmogue, trained by his father, in a 23-runner six-furlong handicap at Navan on May 6, 1996.
Fran initially made his name over jumps, riding his first two winners in that sphere on Total Success and Make A Move at Fairyhouse on January 1, 1998. He achieved his first winner in Britain courtesy of the JP McManus-owned Khayrawani in the Oddbins Handicap Hurdle at Aintree on April 3, 1998. Khayrawani also gave him a Cheltenham Festival success in the 1999 Coral Cup.
His other big winners over jumps included Total Success in the 1998 Bisquit Cognac Hurdle, and Mantles Prince in the Grade 1 Ladbroke Hurdle at Leopardstown in 2000.
Despite being quite tall for a jockey, he subsequently switched to concentrating on the Flat. He finished runner-up in the Irish Jockeys’ championship in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2010. He rode his first Royal Ascot winner on Leg Spinner in the 2005 Ascot Stakes, the year that the royal meeting was held at York. In 2009 he won the Group 2 Park Stakes at Doncaster on Duff.
Fran was employed as second jockey to Mick Kinane at John Oxx’s stable before taking over as the number one in 2010. That same year he rode champion two-year-old Pathfork to victory in the Group 1 National Stakes and Group 2 Futurity Stakes for Jessica Harrington. It was a banner year all round for him, achieving a career best tally of 88 winners for the season.
His other Group 2 winners in Ireland were: Curtain Call (2007 Beresford Stakes, Laughing Lashes (2010 Debutante Stakes), Dragon Pulse (2011 Futurity Stakes) and Kool Kompany (2014 Railway Stakes). However, he gained his richest prize in Japan when riding Danon Ballade to victory in the 2013 American Jockey Club Cup at Nakayama.
He rode three more Royal Ascot winners, landing the Ascot Stakes in successive years on Well Sharp in 2013 and Domination in 2014, and the 2016 Duke of Edinburgh Handicap on Kinema.
A link-up with Ralph Beckett signalled a move to Britain in 2016, an association that lasted until Berry left the role by "mutual consent" in June 2017. He remained in Britain to ride as a freelance.
He enjoyed his best season in Britain in 2018 with 74 winners, including the Chester Cup on Magic Circle and the Group 2 York Stakes on the popular grey Thundering Blue. He also rode Thundering Blue to victory in the 2018 Stockholm Cup International.
Fran rode what turned out to be his last winner on Nefarious at Wolverhampton, January 19, 2019. At the same course ten days later he suffered spinal injuries when his mount Bamako Du Chatelet came down in a 1m 6f handicap. He fractured six vertebrae and broke four ribs in the fall.
Although he hoped to return to race-riding, he was obliged to retire on medical advice in April 2019, aged 38, bringing a successful career spanning 23 years to an end. He rode a total of 1,057 winners in Ireland (1,020 on the Flat, 37 over jumps) and 204 winners in Britain, (200 on the Flat, four over jumps).
Fran is now part of the team on the Racing TV channel and has also appeared on ITV’s racing coverage.
