Beary, Michael (1894–1956), jockey and trainer, was born 9 December 1894 at Anne St., Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, second son of John Beary, clerk of the Clonmel union, and Hannah Beary (née Skeahan). He began his apprenticeship as a jockey with Col. F. F. MacCabe (qv), continuing with H. S. ‘Athy’ Persse in England, before completing his training back in Ireland with J. J. Parkinson (qv). Persse's head jockey, Steve Donoghue (qv), encouraged the talented young rider, to the extent that against Persse's wishes he smuggled Beary to the meeting at Bath in 1913 where he rode his first winner. His first winner in Ireland came in 1914, and he accomplished his first major victory on Banshee, owned by Richard ‘Boss’ Croker (qv), in the Phoenix Plate of 1916.
Beary went on to ride eight Irish classic winners: four Oaks, two Derbys, and two St Legers, becoming Irish champion jockey in 1920. He spent much of his career in England, where he triumphed in the classics on four occasions including the 1937 Epsom Derby, when his mount, Mid-Day Sun, was the first winner to be owned by a woman, Mrs G. B. Miller. Great success had come with a retainer from the Aga Khan in 1928, riding out of the stables of R. C. Dawson (qv). When in 1932 the Aga Khan decided that his horses should be trained by Frank Butters, Dawson bitterly blamed the loss on Beary, who had retained the rides for another two seasons. Admired as one of the great stylists of the century, he was not the most consistent of jockeys and had his licence withdrawn on two occasions, the first for foul riding and the second for alleged betting, a charge from which he was later exonerated.
Beary was an expert breeder (his horse Dornot sired a number of winners), but despite success his grasp of finance was so poor that he was declared bankrupt on three occasions. This ensured that he continued riding till 1955, winning the English St Leger in 1949 when in his fifties. During a brief retirement (1951–3) he trained Ki Ming to win the 1951 English 2,000 Guineas. The horse had been in the charge of his brother John, whose licence was withdrawn (1950) after a doping incident. In 1955 Beary once more began training at Stockbridge, Hampshire, but this venture was cut short when he died in a London hospital 8 October 1956.