In June 2017, Champion Hurdle-winning jockey Philip Carberry, one of the revered Carberry dynasty, announced his retirement from a successful career in the saddle. The French-based 36-year-old, who rode seven Grade 1 winners in three countries and more than 300 winners in total, decided to concentrate on supporting his wife Louisa’s burgeoning training career.
In 2006, Philip added his own chapter to the Carberry family's storied association with the Irish Grand National when winning it on the Pat Hughes-trained 20-1 shot Point Barrow. The following year he achieved the biggest victory of a career that spanned 17 years when winning the Champion Hurdle on John Carr’s Sublimity. He completed a 2007 Cheltenham Festival double on the Tony Mullins-trained Pedrobob in the County Hurdle.
Soon afterwards, he relocated to France and linked up with long-standing ally and leading Chantilly trainer Francois Cottin. Among his big-race haul there were two famous wins in the Grand Steeplechase de Paris on the diminutive mare Princess D’Anjou. When winning the race for a first time in 2006, Carberry became the first foreign rider to claim what is recognised as the French Gold Cup since Fred Winter’s triumph on Mandarin in 1962.
In 2014, Philip’s wife Louisa began training from their Senonnes base near Angers in the west of France, and the yard quickly grew into a 50-box state of the art training centre. Three years later Philip decided to call time on his riding career to assist her in the training set-up at Carberry Racing Stables. His younger brother Peter-Jon took over as stable jockey.
