NATIONAL Hunt jockey Barry Geraghty (40) announced his retirement from the saddle over the weekend and while his many exploits on the racecourse have been covered elsewhere in this paper, here we recall his early days in Irish Pony Club activities.

During that time, Barry was a member of the dominant Meath Branch games team; he qualified for the Windsor squad but didn’t get to travel as he ‘smashed’ his knee at the final training session.