In the name of the father
Bobbyjo was trained by his father Tommy who, some 24 years previously, had won the same race aboard the Dan Moore trained L’Escargot.
Tommy, at that time already one of Ireland’s greatest ever jockeys, subsequently married Dan Moore’s daughter, and Paul became their eldest child and a prodigy in the saddle with more talent, arguably, than his dad.
One of Paul’s closest friends and rivals, Ruby Walsh, came to Aintree the following year and, aboard the 10/1 shot Papillion, raced to victory again aboard a horse trained by his own father.
Ted Walsh, multiple Irish amateur champion, trainer, and TV commentator extraordinaire, and himself the son of a successful trainer, Ruby Senior, said it was his proudest moment and the tears of joy confirmed it.
“For any jockey to win the National at the age of 20 was a fantastic boost. And, for Ruby, it was a marvellous achievement, especially coming near the end of a season in which he was hit by injury.
“Him riding the winner that day gave me a bigger kick than training the horse,” Ted recalls.
Walsh’s 20-horse training operation is very much a family one.
Ruby rides when his commitments elsewhere allow. Ted’s wife, Helen, looks after the accounts, while 23 year-old Jennifer, the eldest of four, works for Irish Racing Services and also acts as Ruby’s agent.
Ted jr, 19, is a talented prop with Naas Rugby Club who helps out in the yard at weekends and when he is home from studying agri business in Mount Bellew, Galway.
‘Young Ted’, as he is known, was the burly figure alongside 15 year-old Katie, the youngest of the family, as she led in the National hero.
The Walsh and Carbery families are extraordinary examples of successful sporting families, but they are not alone least of all in the racing sphere.
The legendary ‘Master of Ballydoyle’ Vincent O’Brien’s eldest son David trained Secreto to beat his father’s El Gran Senor at Epsom in 1984.
Vincent’s second son Charles has already racked up numerous winners as a trainer.
In other sporting spheres, the GAA has thrown up many successful sporting families, not least father and son double acts like Mick and Karl O’Dwyer or the Dermots Earley senior and junior while in rugby Noel and Kenny Murphy are among the few father and son acts to have been capped internationally. But, further afield, this family thing is getting out of hand.
Rose Elizabeth Henman had barely taken her first breath last weekend before British bookmakers offered odds of 250-1 on her chances of one day winning Wimbledon.
Although her father, world number nine Tim Henman, has yet to achieve Wimbledon glory himself, baby Rose’s every move will be scrutinised for at least the next two decades should she chose to pick up a tennis racket.
The arrival of Jaden Gil the son of multiple grand slam winners Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi caused great excitement last year.
Fascinated by the boy’s spectacular sporting potential, the world’s media hailed Jaden Gil as a future Wimbledon champion even before he was born.
Wimbledon champions Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic are set to join Henman and Agassi in the joys of parenthood soon.
Seven times Wimbledon winner Sampras and his actress wife Bridgette are expecting their first arrival in December while 2001 All England Club champion Ivanisevic is looking forward to becoming a father early next year.
While Henman and company can look forward to combining nappy changing duties with their hectic tennis schedules, the chances are that their new bundles of joy will fail to live up to publicexpectation.
Many sporting offspring have followed in their mother’s or father’s footsteps but rarely have they surpassed, or even equalled, the achievements of their high flying parent.
French and US Open champion Fred Stolle’s son Sandon tried to make his mark on the men’s circuit for more than a decade but accomplished only limited success.
While Fred regularly reached the latter stages at numerous majors, three third round appearances at Wimbledon marked Sandon’s best grand slam efforts. Up and coming American hope Taylor Dent is another tennis player trying to live up to his father Phil’s reputation. Phil who played for Australia was runner up to Jimmy Connors in the 1974 Australian Open.
In recent years, doubles specialist Helena Sukova is among the minority who have managed to break the mould.
Her mother Vera, who later coached tennis great Martina Navratilova, reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1962.
Helena battled her way through to four grand slam runner up spots and captured many major doubles titles.
The pressure to emulate the outstanding achievements of a parent can dissuade most children from following the same path.
Their every move is examined and compared with their parent’s records, a heavy burden to carry.
For some, however, the love of sport simply outweighs any criticism that may be thrown their way.
Although Formula One driver Damon Hill won the championship in 1996, he never managed to move out of the shadow of his father Graham, who triumphed twice in the 1960s. Canada’s Gilles Villeneuve may never have won the F1 title, as his son Jacques did in 1997, but he has always been considered the more gifted driver of the two.
“I’m tired of comparisons which are meaningless anyway because it was different in his time,” Jacques said, referring to his father who died in a crash during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix in 1982.
“He meant a lot to people and I understand why they keep mentioning his name but I don’t race for him, I race for myself.”
OTHERS choose to tread a safer path and try their hand at a different sport to avoid the obvious comparisons. England’s most successful all rounder Ian Botham’s son Liam tried and abandoned a stint as a professional cricketer in favour of rugby union, where he has managed to keep a relatively low profile.
Before he started his short lived cricket career, Liam tellingly said: “My ambition is to have a better test record in runs, wickets and catches than my dad.”
