Bobbyjo (1990 – 2001) was an Irish bred

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

by Bustineto and Markup, best remembered as the winner of the

1999 Grand National The 1999 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 152nd official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 10 April 1999. The r ...

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a p ...

. Bobbyjo was owned by Bobby Burke Mullaghmore, County Galway.

Humble Beginnings

In 1991, Bobby Burke and his brother Eugene, who was breeding horses himself, met in Galway with businessman and auctioneer Liam Mulryan. They bought six horses from Liam. One was named Bobbyjo and spent the next few years at Eugene's farm in Mullaghmore before being sent for training with Tommy Carberry in July 1995. Bobbyjo was an Irish bred racehorse by Bustineto and Markup. The name Bobbyjo was created by joining Bobby's name with that of his wife Jo.

Grand National Success

Bobbyjo arrived at Aintree in 1999 having won the

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5, ...

in 1998, however this was not regarded at the time as a good pointer to Grand National success as Irish trained runners had failed to win the race for twenty-four years. On the day Bobbyjo was the subject of a huge gamble that saw him sent off at the short odds of 10/1 with

Paul Carberry Paul Carberry is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey. Background He was born on 9 February 1974.

, the son of the trainer

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tommy (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army * Tommy Giacomelli (born 1974), Brazilian fo ...

in the saddle. As coincidence had it, Tommy had been the rider twenty-four years earlier, the last time an Irish trained runner had won the race. The victory signalled an upturn in fortunes for Irish trained runners in the decade that followed, though he himself completed the course well beaten when defending his crown in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Death of Bobbyjo

Bobbyjo broke a knee at

Fairyhouse Racecourse Fairyhouse Racecourse is a horse racing venue in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated in the parish of Ratoath in County Meath, on the R155 road, R155 Regional road (Ireland), regional road, off the N3 road (Ireland), N3. It hosted its ...

in February 2001 and was put down one month later due to his incurable injuries. In memorial of the horse, a new steeplechase first run at Fairyhouse Racecourse in February 2003 has been named after him.

Pedigree

External links

Bobbyjo Horse Pedigree

References