Irish racing has a rich tradition of providing some of the very best jockeys to grace the game both on the Flat and over jumps.
The Emerald Isle has supplied some world class talents through the years and we've compiled a list of our top 10.
Check out our top 10 below and see if you agree with our picks – or if your favourite riders have made the cut!
10. Barry Geraghty
Barry Geraghty was part of a golden generation of Irish jump jockeys in the early part of this century.
The Meath native was twice crowned champion rider in his homeland before moving to Britain, where he formed a stellar alliance with, amongst others, Nicky Henderson, and would become retained rider for top owner JP McManus.
Geraghty rode stars like Moscow Flyer, Kicking King, Bobs Worth and Sprinter Sacre and won 43 times at the Cheltenham Festival, including all four Championship races.
9. Davy Russell
Davy Russell was amongst Geraghty's peers and also enjoyed major successes at home and abroad.
The Co Cork-born rider was champion jockey over jumps three times in Ireland but it was perhaps at the Cheltenham Festival where he truly came alive.
He rode 25 winners at the Cotswolds showpiece, including at least one every season from 2006-2018.
He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Lord Windermere in 2014, an incredible feat of horsemanship as he hunted his partner around in the rear for most of the contest before getting up to win on the line.
8. Pat Taaffe
Pat Taaffe's career is forever linked with Arkle, one of the true greats of the jumps racing game.
Together, they won 25 races, including three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups between 1964 and 1966.
Taaffe also won the Grand National at Aintree twice – some 17 years apart in 1955 and 1972 – as well as the Irish National six times and a host of other major races, including two King Georges at Kempton on Captain Christy.
7. Johnny Murtagh
Now a trainer in his own right, Johnny Murtagh was a star in the saddle as he won six British Classics and a whopping 15 in Ireland in a career that saw him crowned champion jockey at home five times.
Murtagh's talents included him linking up with John Oxx and the famous Aga Khan colours before a spell as retained rider for Coolmore and Aidan O'Brien that included helping Yeats deliver his third and record fourth Ascot Gold Cup wins.
6. Rachael Blackmore
A pioneer for women in sport, Rachael Blackmore redefined the boundaries of what was deemed possible for female riders.
She won all four of Cheltenham's Championship races, including a Gold Cup on A Plus Tard and two Champion Hurdles on Honeysuckle.
Blackmore ended her career with 18 winners at the Cotswolds showpiece, while she became the first and only female to be leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival in 2020.
That same spring she steered Minella Indo to glory in the Grand National at Aintree, sparking worldwide headlines and fame.
5. Charlie Swan
Charlie Swan was crowned champion rider in Ireland on nine occasions during the 1990s.
The Tipperary-born jockey was a generational talent and his association with triple Champion Hurdle winner Istabraq is legendary.
He rode 17 Cheltenham Festival winners and was twice leading rider in the Cotswolds, while he set records for the most winners in a season and the most winners in a calendar year in Ireland during his career.
Swan was also the first Irish-based jump jockey to ride 1,000 winners.
4. Pat Smullen
The late, great Pat Smullen was champion Flat jockey in Ireland nine times and a rider his peers idolised.
He spent almost two decades as stable jockey for Dermot Weld and the racecard combo of DK Weld & PJ Smullen will forever hold fond memories for Irish race fans of the early 2000s.
He won the English and Irish Derby double on Harzand for the Aga Khan in 2016 and also had Classic wins at Newmarket and the Curragh as well as an Ascot Gold Cup on Rite Of Passage.
3. Mick Kinane
Mick Kinane is another of Ireland's superstar pilots on the Flat, following a career that spanned three decades.
Incredibly, Kinane hails from the same Co Tipperary village as Blackmore, the pair helping to put Killenaule on the sporting landscape.
Kinane was champion rider in Ireland on 13 occasions and won just about every major race he could have hoped for across the world, including three Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victories and a Melbourne Cup on Vintage Crop.
He won 10 Classics in Britain, including the Derby at Epsom on Galileo, and had 14 Classics at home.
Sea The Stars was the final true superstar of Kinane's riding career with a stunning, unbeaten 3YO season in 2009 yielding six wins, including the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, Epsom Derby, the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc.
2. Ruby Walsh
Ruby Walsh was the stylish rider that spearheaded the yards of Paul Nicholls in Britain and Willie Mullins in Ireland during a storybook career.
With 59, he rode more Cheltenham Festival winners than anyone else in history and was leading rider at the Cotswolds extravaganza 11 times.
His Prestbury Park success was such that riders at Cheltenham now win the 'Ruby Walsh Trophy' for gaining that accolade.
The Kildare native won the Grand National on Papillon for his father, Ted, in 2000 and again on Hedgehunter for Mullins six years later.
He won two Cheltenham Gold Cups on the brilliant Kauto Star and two Champion Hurdles on Hurricane Fly, while wonder-mare Quevega helped him on his way to a record six successive Mares' Hurdle wins.
1. AP McCoy
The incredible and irrepressible AP McCoy tops this list thanks to his insatiable thirst for winning races.
The man from Moneyglass in Co Antrim was crowned champion in Britain in every single one of his 20 years as a professional rider and all told, he partnered more than 4,300 winners.
Amongst them were 31 Cheltenham Festival winners, with three Champion Hurdles and two Gold Cups joined by a scarcely believable feat when Wichita Lineman scored in the 2009 Festival Trophy Handicap Chase.
The Grand National at Aintree eluded McCoy for a long time but, in 2010, he finally conquered the race on Don't Push It for his boss, JP McManus.
McCoy's thirst for winners was unquenchable and made him a sporting phenomenon that we may never see the likes of again.
