15 June 1963)[1] is a former Irish racehorse trainer who was based at Portree Stables, Boston, Ardclough, Straffan, in County Kildare.
[2] The son of jockey and trainer, Pat Taaffe,[2] who famously rode Arkle to a Cheltenham Gold Cup treble in the 1960s and trained 1974 Gold Cup winner Captain Christy, he emulated his father's success by training Kicking King to win the same race in 2005.
[3] Taaffe also trained Ninetieth Minute, who won the Coral Cup at the 2009 Cheltenham Festival.
[2] Other notable horses trained by him were Emotional Moment, Solar System, Finger Onthe Pulse, Tumbling Dice, Ninetieth Minute (2009 Coral Cup), and Secret Native.
[3] Taaffe retired from training after 27 years in 2021, to move on to breeding, sales and other activities within the racing industry as an international client relations consultant.