Tom Taaffe (b. 15 June 1963) is a former Irish racehorse trainer who was based at Portree Stables, Boston,

Ardclough Ardclough, officially Ardclogh (; ), is a village and community in the parish of Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is two miles (3 km) off the N7 national primary road. It is the burial place and probable birthplace of Arthur Guinness, wh ...

Straffan Straffan () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. It is situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the village had a population of 1,158, an over ...

, in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

. He trained the 2005

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

winning horse Kicking King, who also won the

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

King George VI Chase in 2004 and 2005.

Life and career

He began training in the 1994/95 jumps season, having had a successful career as a professional jump jockey for the Arthur Moore stable, havin ridden over 400 winners, topped by winning 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, ...

on Brittany Boy in 1987. The son of jockey and trainer,

Pat Taaffe Patrick Taaffe (9 March 1930, Dublin - 7 July 1992, Dublin) was an Irish National Hunt jockey who is best remembered as the jockey of Arkle. The pair dominated National Hunt racing in the mid-sixties, winning the Irish Grand National, the Kin ...

, who famously rode

Arkle Arkle (19 April 1957 – 31 May 1970) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, Arkle was the grandson of the unbeaten Flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred by Mary Baker of Mal ...

to a

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

treble in the 1960s and trained 1974 Gold Cup winner Captain Christy, he emulated his father's success by training Kicking King to win the same race in 2005. The horse also had back to back wins for Taaffe in the

King George VI Chase in 2004 and 2005, ridden by

Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979) is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival. Geraghty rode his first winner in January 1997 and three years later he became the Irish Champ ...

. Taaffe also trained Ninetieth Minute, who won the

Coral Cup The Coral Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 m ...

at the 2009

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

. Other notable horses trained by him were Emotional Moment, Solar System, Finger Onthe Pulse, Tumbling Dice, Ninetieth Minute (2009 Coral Cup), and Secret Native. Taaffe retired from training after 27 years in 2021, to move on to breeding, sales and other activities within the racing industry as an international client relations consultant.

References

External links

Tom Taaffe Statistics

Tom Taaffe Racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taaffe, Tom Living people 1963 births Equestrians from County Kildare Irish racehorse owners and breeders Irish racehorse trainers People educated at Belvedere College