Former jockey has learned to relax in his retirement after a hectic career with 1,920 winners – ‘I’m enjoying being more unravelled’
“In a funny way that’s what I’m enjoying being away from,” Barry Geraghty says when he considers the intensity missing from his life as a retired jump jockey. “I’m enjoying the slower pace. I went for a run during lockdown, even though I haven’t put on much weight, and I thought: ‘I really need to start doing more running.’ But then I said: ‘You know what? I don’t.’ I had been like a coiled spring since my teens so I’m enjoying being more unravelled now.”
Geraghty, who turned 41 last month, smiles with the relaxed thoughtfulness that epitomises his mood at home in County Meath. The former
Irish champion jockey announced his retirement in July. Four months earlier he had dominated the Cheltenham Festival, winning five races, displaying the guile and strength that persuaded many racing experts that he was the most complete jockey of his generation – even in an era lit up by the remarkable AP McCoy and Ruby Walsh.