Born on January 20th 1968, Charlie cried the first time he watched the Grand National on the television - he was just seven years old and he was watching his father Captain Donald Swan crash out at the fourth after leading from the start, on his own horse Zimulator, a 100/1 outsider. His father had him riding a pony at the age of four, and had him helping to break in horses by the age of eight - he rode his first winner Final Assault at Naas in March 1983, at the age of fifteen, after which followed a four year apprenticeship with trainer Kevin Prendergast, where he rode 57 winners on the Flat and shared a flat in Kildare with Kieren Fallon. He was hugely successful as a jockey, and he is regarded as being a skilled rider both over hurdles and fences. Master trainer Aiden O'Brien stated that he is 'the best jump jockey in the world', and had it not been for his reluctance to leave Ireland he would undoubtedly have been stable jockey to Martin Pipe. He retired from riding after finishing third on Like-A-Butterfly in the Aintree Hurdle in 2003 to concentrate on his burgeoning training career. He had held a licence since 1998 when he took over from his father in Cloughjordan but success did not come as quickly to Charlie in training as it had in riding. However the new millennium saw a change in fortune with the 2000-01 season bringing his tally of winners to 34 and he also started sending out winners on the Flat in the same season. 2006-07 saw three horses emerge from the Swan yard that would all significantly contribute to what would prove to be the most lucrative season of Swan's training career thus far - Offshore Account, One Cool Cookie and Emmpat. April was a truly remarkable month where between the three of them they took the Hugh McMahon Memorial Chase at Limerick, the Grade 1 Powers Gold Cup at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival, the Menolly Homes Handicap Hurdle, the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr and the Grade 1 Ellier Developments Hanover Quay Champion Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival. 2008-09 saw Swan maintain a highly-respectable strike-rate and his tally of winners was right up there with the best of his career, but he struggled to make an impact in any of the big races - notable success came from Oodachee finishing second in the Topham Chase at the Aintree Grand National meeting. However, Swan is currently well on target to achieving another highly-respectable tally of winners. At just 42 years of age he has established himself as one of Ireland's most consistent trainers since taking over the license from his father, and it is considered that with youth, a burgeoning stable and a great knowledge of horses on his side, he has every hope of one day fulfilling his dream of winning a Grand National. His contenders for this year's Aintree meeting are One Cool Cookie, Oodachee and Offshore Account.
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Charles Swan is the greatest Irish-based jump jockey ever to be denied a victory in the Grand National. He was Ireland's champion jump jockey nine times and was the first in Ireland to ride 150 winners in a season, and the first to reach 1,000 winners. Yet eight attempts at the National, and his best placing was fifth place on Lastofthebrownies in 1990, which was his debut in the race.
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