CHRISTY Roche has relinquished his trainer’s licence and handed the job to his son Padraig.

Speaking from the family’s Curragh yard, Padraig said: “Dad is taking a step back but everything else stays the same. The owners have been good enough to leave the horses with me and there’s room for a few more. I might have the first runners in my own name next weekend.”

A seven-time champion flat jockey during his 30-year career in the saddle, Christy Roche retired from race-riding in 1998. He made an immediate impact as a trainer, saddling his first Cheltenham Festival winner in 1999 with Khayrawani in the Coral Cup.

Other horses to have won big races for Roche included Galway Plate winners Grimes and Far From Trouble, Cheltenham scorers Youlneverwalkalone and Like-A-Butterfly, and the high-class Joe Mac, and Le Coudray. All of those raced for J.P. McManus. Bannow Bay was another stable star.

Aged 67, Roche is a keen golfer. In 2016 he helped his club Cill Dara to win the All-Ireland title at Carton House.