IN the days, 20 or more years ago, when Tommy Carberry was partnering L'Escargot to victory in the Gold Cup and Grand National, Flat racing and its winter counterpart over the jumps in Britain rarely had much to do with each other. With carefully mapped out seasons which barely overlapped, the two often met only at the autumn sales, when the Flat handed on its rejects. Owners, trainers and jockeys stuck to what they knew, and the idea that one code might learn from the other was little short of treason.

Now however high class Flat horses regularly graduate to the top flight over hurdles, large scale dual purpose trainers are everywhere, and jumps jockeys too are finding that Flat racing has more to offer than a fresh intake of plodders each October.

Tony McCoy, now the hot favourite to be the champion jockey in his first full season as a professional, spent a vital period as an apprentice Flat jockey on the Curragh, and it is a similar path which has brought Paul Carberry, Tommy's son, to the brink of stardom in the winter game.

Carberry has been riding in Britain for little more than two months, but already - thanks to an important retainer with owner Robert Ogden - he has been associated with such long established trainers as Andy Turnell and Gordon Richards. But, while his famous surname may have opened a few doors, the modern turf is not noted for its indulgence and, like any of the dozens of young optimists who arrive from Ireland with a saddle each year, he needed a good start.

It was, however, far better than good. At Newbury, one of the country's top tracks, Carberry announced his arrival by riding a treble, worth almost £15,000 in prize money, on one of the best early season cards. Though just 21 (he was a baby when his father won the National), Carberry's performance, in particular on Buckboard Bounce in the day's big chase, had all the polish of a veteran.

Settled comfortably behind the pace throughout, Carberry overcame an error two from home and sent his mount clear on the run in for a clinical victory. Some ambitious young jockeys might have got carried away and given their horse a harder time than necessary, but Carberry appears to have that essential sympathy with his partners which all the best riders possess. Buckboard Bounce, a rather difficult but very talented animal with the best months of the season ahead of him, hardly knew he had been in a race.

Andy Turnell, whose Squire Silk completed the Carberry treble, is a respected talent spotter and mentor for young riders, and he was deeply impressed. "I like his style, he's a bit more Flatracey than some of the others and it shows through," Turnell said. "I prefer that style to the amateur turned professional who bumps up and down on the saddle. He's certainly one of the young stars, he's very natural at the obstacles and he rides a good finish. He's as good a young rider as there is about now, and of the younger up and coming jockeys, he's better than any of them in my opinion.

Some sons of famous fathers would do anything rather than attempt to follow them, but for Carberry there were never any doubts as to where his future lay. "It was always what I wanted," he says. "I started riding when I was three. My first ride on a track was in a point to point just after I turned 16, and that won, and then I spent some time on the Flat before going back to jumping with Noel Meade. I had one winner in my first season and four in the second, but then in 1993 I was the champion apprentice."

The jump across the water was still a big one, but his contract with Ogden, arranged via a network of contacts, narrowed the gap appreciably. "The first day treble was amazing, and the rides have just kept coming since then."

Carberry already has a Cheltenham Festival winner to his credit, aboard Rhythm Section in the National Hunt Flat race almost three years ago, and a first success over the jumps at the sport's biggest meeting can be only a matter of time. Carberry's only flaw, perhaps, is that, like Adrian Maguire at a similar stage, he is not overjoyed at the prospect of waiting.

"If he's got a fault he's too ambitious," Turnell said. "He's a very brave young man and perhaps a little over enthusiastic, at the moment, but it'll come with experience.

Some long standing followers of National. Hunt racing will tell you that young Carberry's father was the finest rider they have seen. Tommy won the Gold Cup three times, but it was his victory at Aintree in 1975 which will linger longest in the memory.

Carberry junior was too young to remember it, but given the choice between victory in one of chasing's richest prizes, his choice is immediate. "The National, definitely," he says, in a way which makes finding a bookmaker to offer odds about him winning it one day an essential New Year's resolution.