Former Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey Nina Carberry has been crowned champion of Ireland’s Dancing With The Stars.

Nina danced her way to victory in the final of the Rte One television show on Sunday evening (27 March) with professional partner Pasquale La Rocca.

The show ran for 12 weeks and included Rugby Union player Jordan Conroy, Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane, Olympic cyclist Nicolas Roche, singer Erica Cody, and model Missy Keating among its 12-couple celebrity line-up.

Nina became the first female jockey to ride a Cheltenham Festival winner in 18 years in 2005 – and went on to ride three more Cheltenham winners before her retirement in April 2018. When it was revealed in January she would be taking part in the television show she said it was the “hardest thing” she had ever done, and initially “wasn’t really sure” about taking part.

“I’ve no dance in me at all,” said Nina. “I found it very hard in the first week, but at least in the second I started getting the hang of the steps.”

Nina impressed judges Arthur Gourourlian, Brian Redmond, and Loraine Barry from the start, scoring 19 points and the highest mark of the opening night on 9 January.

In Sunday’s grand final Nina and Pasquale fought off competition from Ellen and her dance partner Stephen Vincent, Erica and Denys Samon, and Jordan and Salome Chachua, scoring a maximum 30 points for their first performance of the evening, a Viennese waltz.

They went on to earn a standing ovation for their final performance to If They Could See Me Now, after which judge Arthur said: “The big question, can you improve on perfection? The answer is yes, you can!”

In a public vote Nina and Pasquale were crowned champions. Pasquale described Nina as a “dream woman” following the win.

“I can’t sum it up. This is an incredible show and I’m delighted to be part of it,” said Nina.

You might also be interested in:

How to get to Aintree Racecourse – all travel options considered

Horse who used to ‘buck everyone off’ returns to winning ways following kissing spines diagnosis

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Top amateur jockey Nina Carberry made her comeback to race-riding a winning one, just four months after giving birth to her daughter Rosie.

The 33-year-old from Ireland partnered Cask Mate in the two-mile Connacht Tribune Flat race at Ballinrobe yesterday (21 September).

The Noel Meade-trained four-year-old proved an easy win for the leading lady rider on her return and the pair — sent off the 9-4 joint-favourite — won by a comfortable 12 lengths.

“It’s great — Noel gave me a nice horse to ride and thank god I steered him in the right direction, I remembered the way round,” Nina told At The Races following her win.

“I had a wonderful nine months and then little Rosie arrived. I wouldn’t swap that for any winner, but it’s good to be back.

“I couldn’t believe it turning in, I was like ‘have we got another lap to go?’. Noel quietly fancied him, so it was nice to get back on a winner.”

Part of the famous Carberry racing dynasty, Nina is married to Ted Walsh Jnr, the brother of jump jockeys Ruby and Katie Walsh, and had not ridden in a race since November. However, it looked as though the jockey had never been away as she steered the son of Kalanisi to a dream comeback.

Nina is one of the most successful amateur riders in the National Hunt game, having won the cross-country chase at the Cheltenham Festival four times and also been victorious in the Irish Grand National on Organisedconfusion in 2011.

She is also the full-time racing assistant at Noel Meade’s Co. Meath yard in Ireland.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for her — it’s great to have her back, she’s a magic person,” added Noel. “I was surprised by how easy he won — I didn’t think he could do it as easy as that.

“Nina was very excited about coming back — she said she’d come back for Listowel but then we didn’t have anything to run. Then I wanted her to come back to ride the horse in Roscommon, but she said it was just a bit soon for her.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

After a U-turn by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) on Thursday 24 March, amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen and Nina Carberry will be allowed to ride in next month’s Grand National meeting (9 April).

The BHA disciplinary panel initially upheld the seven-day ban controversially handed out to Sam for his riding of Long Run in a hunter chase at Carlisle on 20 March.

Sam had eased up on the gelding – who has since been retired – after the final fence, losing third place close to home and finishing fifth.

The jockey’s defenders said he was acting in the best interests of the former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, who had been off the racecourse for two years.

But the panel, which had watched footage of the race and heard evidence from Sam, ruled Long Run “could have finished third but for the fact that Mr Waley-Cohen stopped riding for 12 strides on the run in.”

Sam said he was “saddened by the BHA’s decision”, which would have seen him prevented from riding on 3-5 April inclusive, 7 April, 9 April and 11-12 April inclusive.

However a statement released later by the BHA said: “Owing to ambiguous wording of the rule, suspensions imposed on Sam Waley-Cohen and Nina Carberry will no longer apply on Grand National day.”

“This decision follows a representation to this effect being made by Sam Waley-Cohen today.”

Sam shared his relief at the news on twitter.

In total, Sam — who rode Long Run to Cheltenham Gold Cup victory and dual King George VI wins — has notched up six victories over the National fences, including the Becher Chase, the Topham and the Fox Hunters.

Long Run had initially been aimed at this year’s Cheltenham Foxhunter, but a setback in January meant hopes were diverted towards the Grand National.

The Carlisle race was considered a trial run for Aintree, but the 11-year-old gelding’s performance led to his connections calling time on his illustrious career.

Meanwhile Nina Carberry also benefited from the decision and now has the chance to ride at Aintree. The top lady jockey had fallen foul of whip rules during the Foxhunter at Cheltenham (18 March), when winning for the second consecutive time aboard On The Fringe and received a seven-day dan.

Nina has previously completed the Grand National course four times from five rides.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Jockey Nina Carberry is to take on a new role with trainer Noel Meade.

She is to become racing assistant at the Tu Va yard in Co Meath from 1 September. Noel described her as “a valuable cog in the wheel”.

Nina, who is the sister of Noel’s stable jockey Paul Carberry, has been riding for Noel for more than a decade and is the main amateur jockey for him. She also rides out at the yard three mornings a week.

She will now be more involved with the racing operation. She will be meeting owners and on hand at the races.

“Nina will become my racing assistant and I think she’ll be a very good addition to what is already a very good team,” said Noel.

“She’s a likeable person and I think she’ll be good at talking with owners and everything else.

“It will also be good for her to get a bit more of an idea of what’s involved in the training side of things. It’s a good move for everyone and I’m very much looking forward to it.”

I want to be a Walsh. We all know that Ruby is racing’s golden boy, hailed by some (usually after they’ve backed a winner he has ridden) as the greatest jump jockey ever. Today he became the most successful jockey at the Cheltenham Festival of all time, riding his 26th winner on Sanctaire. Mind you, he also had two cracking falls and was beaten on the biggest certainty of the week.

But I bet the win that means most to the Walsh family today was Katie’s in the four-mile slog that is the National Hunt Chase. To see Katie and Nina Carberry fighting it out with every ounce of their being up the finishing straight — and then hugging each other afterwards — was the best possible start to the day. A one-two for girls at the Festival must be a first.

Of course, it helps enormously that they come from two of the most famous families in Irish racing and have had far more opportunities than a girl without that back-up would have done. But you’ve still got to ride the horses — and trainers simply aren’t sentimental enough to jock them up in jump racing’s theatre of dreams if they can’t cut it.

We’ve had good female jump jockeys before — Gee Armytage won two races in a day here — but they have been thin on the ground. Jump racing is pretty rough and tough and, often, trainers haven’t wanted to put them up in case they got hurt. And, realistically, they just aren’t going to be as strong in a finish as AP, Choc, Ruby et al.

But you can’t beat these two for guts and determination. Fair play to them both. And they might even be sisters soon — Nina goes out with Katie’s brother Ted. We know how good Nina is — when she won the Fred Winter Novices’ Hurdle here three years ago, she became the first woman to beat male professional jockeys at the Festival since 1987, and has a total of three Cheltenham Festival winners to her name — but we need more girls having a cut at the boys and Katie is a very welcome addition.

Katie’s ride, Poker De Sivola, is entered in the Irish and Scottish Nationals next. Go on, Ferdy Murphy, be brave and leave her on it. What a story that would be.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Grand National winning-trainer Venetia Williams and broadcaster Clare Balding are among six women up for the Cheltenham Ladies’ Award this year.

The award recognises “the outstanding contribution made by a lady to jump racing”.

Trainers Sally Alner and Jessica Harrington are also up for the award as is Belinda Cullen, an equine physiotherapist, and Irish racing stalwart Joan Moore, who is grandmother to last year’s winner, Nina Carberry.

Nominations from the public have been whittled down to the final six and the winner will be decided by an all female panel from the racing world, which will be announced on Friday 12 March.

The successful lady will then be presented with her award at Ladies’ Day at the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday 18 March.

“We were delighted to receive so many nominations covering a wide cross-section of the industry and the make up of the final six sums up the hugely significant contribution ladies make across the whole spectrum of jump racing,” said Cheltenham’s managing director Edward Gillespie.

“The judges do not face an easy task.”

Previous winners include Heather Atkinson, who has been the senior nurse in the jockeys’ hospital at the racecourse for over 30 years, Lady Chicky Oaksey, from the Injured Jockeys Fund, Ann Saunders from the Professional Jockeys Association and Nina Carberry, leading female jump jockey.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Jockey Nina Carberry will be out of action for a month after breaking her foot in a bumper at Leopardstown on Saturday.

The leading female amateur National Hunt rider was taken to hospital with a puncture wound to her left foot after riding Timesawastin to finish second in the Ladbrokes Cheltenham Bumper (Pro/Am) race.

“We are not sure what happened, but she suffered quite a severe puncture wound to her foot and will require stitches. It would appear it happened during the race,” said clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer.

But Miss Carberry told the Racing Post a piece of the rail had punctured her left boot and foot.

“When I got to hospital it was discovered that I had dislocated my little toe and broken a bone in my foot,” she said.

She had a minor operation and will be off work for four weeks.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Nina Carberry has won the 2009 award for ‘The Outstanding Contribution made by a Lady to Jump Racing’.

Nina, daughter of two-time Gold Cup champion and 1975 Grand National winner, Tommy Carberry, has ridden three Festival winners (Dabiroun, Heads Onthe Ground and Garde Champetre).

Nina said: “I’m thrilled to win this award, especially as it comes at the Festival, which is the pinnacle of our sport. To be chosen ahead of the other nominees is a real honour.”

The candidates were chosen by trainers Sally Alner, Henrietta Knight and Venetia Williams, as well as former trainer Jenny Pitman and Founder and Director of the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre, Carrie Humble.

Described by Cheltenham’s Communications Manager, Andy Clifton, as a thoroughly deserving winner, Nina is one of only four females in history to have completed the Grand National.

He said: “She is talented, personable, hard working and a great ambassador both for Jump Racing and for Ladies in sport.

“Nina also has a great record of success at the Festival itself, which is an added bonus.”

This year’s panel of judges consisted of Clare Balding, Ann Saunders and Gee Bradburne.

The award will be presented before racing, on Ladies Day, March 12, in the Winner’s Enclosure at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Tickets can be booked in advance by calling 08445 793 003, or via www.cheltenham.co.uk.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now