Christy Roche


Christy Roche is a retired Irish flat racing Champion Jockey and racehorse trainer.
Over his thirty-year career between 1968 and 1998 he won the Irish Derby three times, in 1982, 1992 and 1997. His 1997 victory was on Desert King. In Britain he won the Epsom Derby on Secreto in 1984 and the Epsom Oaks on Jet Ski Lady in 1991.
By the time of his retirement as a jockey Roche had already begun a career as a trainer. Amongst the major winners he trained were Like-A-Butterfly in the 2002 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Grimes in the 2001 Galway Plate. He retired as a trainer in January 2018 and handed over his training licence to his son, Padraig.