Bryan Carver, who hails from Kanturk in County Cork, enjoyed a successful point-to-point career, with 39 winners to his name, before joining Paul Nicholls at Manor Farm in Ditcheat. He rode his first winner for the yard, Dr. Sanderson, in a novices’ hurdle at Ludlow on April 1, 2019, while still an amateur, and went on to become a top conditional jockey, thanks in no small part to his previous experience in the point-to-point field.
On New Year’s Day 2020, he rode a remarkable 883/1 treble at Exeter, courtesy of Daytime Ahead, trained by Ron Hodges, Sir Psycho, trained by Nicholls, and Tile Tapper, ridden by Jimmy Frost. He finished 2019/20 with 23 winners, despite breaking his collarbone in a fall from Little Boy Boru, trained by Suzy Smith, at Plumpton in January, and and increased his tally to 34 winners in 2020/21, making that his most successful season so far.
Having ridden out his claim, though, Carver has seen his career has been interrupted, more than once, by injury. In April 2022, he ruptured his spleen in a skiing accident in France and was airlifted to hospital in Grenoble, where he spent a week in intensive care. After a period of rehabilitation, he returned to race riding the following August and went on to ride 18 winners in 2022/23 and 20 more in 2023/24. Big-race success has proved elusive, thus far, but Carver did record his first Graded victory on Gidleigh Park, trained by Harry Fry, in the Grade 2 Lightning Novices’ Chase at Windsor on January 17, 2025.
