Jim Culloty is a racehorse trainer and retired professional National Hunt jockey who won both the Cheltenham Gold Cup

Cheltenham Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...

 and Grand National

Grand National

The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

 in the same season.
Jim and Mick (Fitzgerald) both worked for Jackie Retter who trained at Whitstone, Nr Exeter, before they went their separate ways. Jim for Henrietta Knight and Mick went with Nicky Henderson.

Culloty rode forty-four winners as an amateur during the 1996 racing season, after which he turned professional. Throughout his career he won 394 races.

He is most associated with two horses, Best Mate

Best Mate

Best Mate was a famous English trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup...

 and Bindaree

Bindaree

Bindaree is a racehorse who was the winner of the 2002 Grand National when ridden by Jim Culloty and the 2003 Welsh Grand National when partnered by Carl Llewellyn....

, winning three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups on the former, and in 2002 going on to win the Grand National on the latter.

Culloty retired in July 2005, not long after Best Mate had suffered a fatal heart attack while being ridden by Paul Carberry. Today he runs the J H Culloty racing stables at Mount Corbitt House in Churchtown

Churchtown, County Cork

Churchtown is a village and townland near Buttevant in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland.Churchtown underwent a huge expansion during the Celtic Tiger years with the population increasing from about 100 to almost 700 people...

, County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.