JOCKEY PROFILE

County of origin: Limerick

First winner: Glenquin Castle (AJ McNamara) Listowel, September 18th, 2005

Significant Horses: Spring Heeled, Silver Concorde, Majestic Concorde, Rite Of Passage, Universal Truth, Ghimaar, Hidden Universe, Waaheb, Windsor Park, Drumbaloo

Did you know:

A son of trainer Andrew McNamara Senior and a brother to successful jockey and now trainer, Andrew McNamara Junior, Robbie McNamara was one of the most talented amateur riders of his generation.

He rode close to 150 winners as an amateur, including two at the Cheltenham Festival in 2014, Spring Heeled in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup for Jim Culloty and Dermot Weld’s Silver Concorde in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

Robbie won back-to-back renewals of the big amateur riders’ handicap at the Galway festival on the Weld-trained Majestic Concorde in 2008 and Ghimaar 12 months later. Hidden Universe and Majestic Concorde gave him high profile wins in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Champion Bumper at the Punchestown festival in 2010 and the same year’s Paddy Power Chase respectively.

He turned professional in November, 2014 and rode his first winner in the paid ranks on the Daniel Murphy-trained Bothair Clei at Tramore on December 13. Sadly, it proved to be his final winner as he suffered a career-ending fall at Wexford the following April.

He took out a trainer’s licence in June of 2016 and weeks later struck with his first runner, Chadic, at Cork on Friday, July 8. He had four runners at the meeting and gained a second success when Rathcannon landed the concluding bumper on the card. Robbie relinquished his trainer's licence in November 2018.