Never-say-die attitude serving McGrath well in injury-hit career

He never sat on a racehorse until arriving at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Kildare as a 15-year-old but six years later, Jerry McGrath was soaking in the euphoric glow of riding a winner for one of the most successful national hunt trainers of all time at Cheltenham.

His father, a dairy farmer in Waterfall, just outside Bishopstown in Cork, liked racing but loved show jumping.