Willie Carson

Having been born and raised in Stirling, Scotland, Willie Carson 75, has been an ambassador for horse racing for many years and is a face is familiar to most people living in the United Kingdom. Featuring on television for decades, he was once a team captain of BBC1’s Question of Sport, appearing nationally every Saturday evening.

He earned his name in the sport that he still loves today and his journey began as an apprentice to North Yorkshire based Captain Gerald Armstrong. His first win of note came at Catterick Bridge in the Summer of 1962, when he rode Pinker’s Pond to victory in an apprentice handicap.

Willie Carson learned his trade over the next decade, at which point, he really came to prominence. 10 years after winning his first ever race, he went on to win his first British Champion Jockey title in 1972 and then again in 1973. It was a feat he repeated three more times, coming out on top in 1978, 1980 and 1983.

Ironically, Carson’s best ever tally came 7 years later in 1990, riding to an astonishing total of 187 winners. In many other years, this would have been enough to claim the Champion Jockey mantle, but the imposing figure of Pat Eddery stood in his way and got there first with a staggering 209 winners.

That same season saw Carson become one of just 4 jockeys ever to win 6 winners at the same track on the same day in the whole of the 20th century.

Longevity

Carson always looked after himself and this allowed him to continue until well into his 50s. In 1996, he retired at the age of 54 and was very much still at the top of his game. In 1983, he was deservedly awarded an OBE for his contribution to horseracing and will certainly go down as one of the greats.

Kieran Fallon

Born on the 22nd February, 1965, Kieran Fallon is a retired Irish flat racing jockey, who clocked up an impressive 2,253 career wins in his time in the saddle. Now in his fifties, Fallon hails from County Clare and boasts five 2,000 Guineas Stakes wins, four 1,000 Guineas Stakes wins, three Epsom Derbies, three Epsom Oaks and a victory in the Arlington Million.

In addition to these impressive wins, Kieran Fallon would also become British Champion Jockey a remarkable six times and the early part of his success could be attributed to his association with leading trainer, Henry Cecil. Whilst in the Cecil’s stable, Fallon would enjoy a successful time, but the pairing would come to an abrupt end in 1999, when he was dismissed for undisclosed reasons. The jockey is known to be a fiery character, which could have easily led to a disagreement or two and a subsequent parting of ways.

Rocky Period

After the turn of the century, things became a little ‘chequered’, with a mixture of winners, injury and controversy. Now in the Michael Stoute stable, he won the 2,000 Guineas shortly before sustaining an serious arm injury at Ascot which would ultimately lead to Fallon losing the jockey’s championship that year.

Controversy then struck in 2004 when Kieran Fallon was accused of race fixing in a 2 year long trial, but was subsequently exonerated for lack of evidence. After having been banned from racing in the UK for the period of the inquest, Fallon returned to racing immediately after being acquitted.

Continued Controversy

It seemed that trouble was never far away for Fallon, as the jockey was banned from racing again for six months for failing a drugs test in 2006, then failing another in 2007. In total, he missed almost two years of racing through suspension before returning to the saddle in 2009 as a freelance rider.

With his most successful years behind him, Fallon retired from racing in 2016, citing depression as the primary reason. Four or five years of relative underachievement by his own high standards saw the jockey lose his appetite for the challenge.

During his career, Kieran Fallon was always a colourful character and it was ironically the characteristics that made his successful that ultimately led to his fall from grace. However, race fans will always have a soft spot for the mercurial talents of the jockey.

Ryan Moore

Born on the 18th September 1983, Ryan Moore is an active flat racing jockey from Brighton that to date, has won the champion jockey title three times, as well claiming many other British classics. They include two Epsom Derby triumphs, two Epsom Oaks wins, two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes and the St Leger Stakes in 2017.

Right now, he is the primary jockey for the stable of Aidan O’Brien and Ballydoyle, which means that the majority of his rides are on horses from the Coolmore Stud.

In the Blood

Ryan Moore’s involvement with horse racing comes as no surprise, as many of his family have been connected to the sport over the years in a number of different capacities. His father, Gary L Moore is a successful trainer and he has two jockey brothers, Jamie and Joshua, as well as his sister Hayley Moore who is a leading light in amateur racing.

He even has an Aunty Candy who plies her trade as a professional jockey, so you could say that he belongs to a racing mad family.

Early Start

Having showed an interest in racing as four year old, Ryan joined a local pony club and after finding the experience a bit too ‘tame’ for his liking, he progressed to competitive racing at the age of 12. He joined the big time at the age of 20, becoming part of the Richard Hannon stable, for who he was still riding as late as 2013.

The first major race won by Ryan Moore was the 2002 Cesarewitch Handicap, which he claimed in the saddle of Miss Fara and whilst he wasn’t exactly lighting the flat racing world on fire, he would still become a Champion Apprentice in 2003.

In the years since, the jockey has ridden winners for St Michael Stoute and Aidan O’Brien and at the age of just 34, he still has many years ahead of him and no one would bet against him becoming flat racing champion again soon.

Time will tell just how iconic this jockey can be and where it places him in the pantheon of the sport’s greats.

Paul Hanagan

Born on the 8th September 1980 and hailing from Cheshire, Paul Hanagan is a ex champion jockey of great acclaim in the flat racing world.

Having never been in the saddle until the late age of 14 and having had his eyes firmly fixed on a career on the green grass of a football field rather than a racetrack, Paul Hanagan was a graduate of the British Racing School after great encouragement from his father, Geoff Hanagan. Deemed ‘too small’ for professional football, he helped out as a weekend work experience stable hand for trainer Terry Caldwell, based in Warrington, which ultimately led to the pivotal moment when Hanagan realised that racing had gotten under his skin and into his blood.

Captivated by what he saw at Caldwell’s yard, Hanagan would get his first taste of being a jockey, being allowed to ride out at the age of 14 and begin training the British Racing School, graduating in 1997.

Breakthrough

Hanagan got his first taste of senior racing on Stone Beck 4 days shy of his 18th birthday , racing to a creditable 4th place under the stewardship of Malcolm Jefferson, who was better known for his work in National Hunt training. Jefferson knew his onions and he saw a promising flat jockey in Hanagan, guiding the young man to join Richard Fahey as an apprentice flat jockey just a year later.

Over the next four years, the apprentice jockey saw his promise turn into results, improving each season and gaining the title of Champion Apprentice in 2002. He did this by riding a highly impressive 87 winners, the 2nd most since the end of WWII, which included a win on Vintage Premium in the John Smith’s Cup.

Richard Fahey foretold a big future for Paul Hanagan and he wasn’t wrong. Having matured over the next few years, he won his first senior Champion Jockey title in 2010 with a brilliant 191 winners and then backing that up by winning it again in 2011, beating Silvestre De Sousa from Brazil on the very last day of the season.

After this great achievement, Hanagan took a brief sabbatical and stated that he need a break after all his efforts. He did return the next year, but he never again hit the heights of the 2010 and 2011 seasons. To this day, he attributes much of his success to Richard Fahey who he spent 14 years with and he will forever be included in the pantheon of great flat jockeys.

Frankie Dettori

Lanfranco Dettori was born in Milan, Italy on the 15th December 1970 and has a dazzling record in the sport of flat horse racing, winning pretty much everything there is to win. Thanks to his stellar record of wins, Dettori has become something of a TV personality and will be most remembered by the wider racing public as the jockey that managed to achieved 7 winners in the same Champions day at Ascot in 1996. The combined odds of the seven winners worked out at 25,051-1, earning one lucky punter £500,000 on the day.

Career Success

Dettori has won so many major races on the flat it would take too long to list them all here, but since the age of 12, the jockey has had ‘the bug’, something he shares with his son Rocco, who himself is just 13 years of age.

He began his career in the Britain in 1985 under the stewardship of Luca Cumani, who took on the young Frankie as a stable jockey. His first senior win in Britain was in 1987 and he has since gone on to achieve more than 3,000 wins in an amazing career.

Near Miss

Dettori had a lucky escape in 2000 when the light aircraft he was travelling in crashed near Newmarket. A crash that the authorities admitted he was lucky to walk away from. Despite this, the wins kept coming and by 2007, the only British Classic win not in the jockey’s back pocket was the Epsom Derby. Frankie redressed the balance however, romping home later that year on Authorized to claim the prize that had eluded him for so long.

Controversy

After admitting to substance abuse to keep down his weight on BBC’s Newsnight in 2010 and then failing a drugs test in 2012 after having been found to have used cocaine, there followed an acrimonious parting of the ways with the Godolphin stable. After serving a 6 month ban and a brief period as a freelancer, he joined the Stable of Sheikh Joaan Al Thani for whom he continues to regularly ride winners.

When Frankie Dettori does eventually hang up his whip and jockey’s uniform, the sport will be poorer for it and his trademark jumping dismount will be sadly missed.

Richard Johnson

Born on July 21st 1977 in Hereford, Richard Johnson is an English jockey who rides on the National Hunt circuit and who very much has racing in his family, as the son of successful trainer, Sue Johnson and a father who spent many years as an amateur jockey.

Great Start

By the age of 18, in 1996, Johnson had claimed the title of Champion ‘Conditional’ Jockey, which refers to a rule by which a jockey with less than 20 winners to his or her name can claim extra weight. His first ‘under rules’ National Hunt winner was in 1994 on Rusty Bridge at Hereford Racecourse.

Cheltenham Festival

Over the last 20 years, Richard Johnson has enjoyed great success at Cheltenham winning numerous major races there, something that led to him being named the top jockey at the 2002 festival. He is one of just 3 jockeys to have won all 4 of the champion races at Cheltenham and has won there as recently as 2018, when claimed the prestigious Gold Cup on the Colin Tizzard horse, Native River.

There is still much to come from Richard Johnson, with the jockey already having passed 3,000 winners in Britain already. He still harbours hopes of winning the Grand National, something that he has not managed in 20 attempts to date, which at time of writing, is the joint highest number of races competed in and unfortunately for him, the most races competed in without a winner. He came close twice, coming second on Whatsupboys in 2002 and Balthazar King in 2014, but has yet to cross the line first.

Luckily for him, he still has lots and lots of time to put the record straight, and with a winning record like his, you’d be foolish to bet against him doing so.

Jamie Spencer

Jamie Spencer is an experienced flat racing jockey, who is still currently plying his trade on the UK flat racing circuit. Born in the Spring of 1980 in Tipperary, he was to date won 4 major classic races with two in his home country of Ireland and two in the UK. Spencer has something of trademark for riding his horses sensibly until the critical moment and then kicking for home, using the sprint to great effect.

Racing has long since been in Jamie Spencer’s blood, as his father was a successful National Hunt trainer by the name of George Spencer, who most notably trained the 1963 Champion Hurdle winner, Winning Fair. Despite the family connection to the sport, the young Jamie Spencer was not involved until late in his childhood years.

When he did start however, he made up for lost time quickly, claiming the first of his classic triumphs on Tarascon in the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 1997. When he did so, he made history, as the youngest jockey ever to win a classic race, before going on to become Ireland’s champion apprentice the next year, riding to 46 victories.

Aidan O’Brien

Spencer’s talents hadn’t gone unnoticed and it led to a short stint as stable jockey at Ballydoyle for Aidan O’Brien. Despite only being in that role for a short time, he managed to become Irish flat racing Champion Jockey for 2004, riding 93 winners.

The success continued for Jamie Spencer after parting ways with O’Brien, as he moved to Britain shortly after to become flat racing Champion Jockey on the British circuit in 2005, riding a not too inconsiderable amount of 180 winners.

Repeat Success

Spencer’s next achievement of note was reclaiming the Britain Champion Jockey mantle in 2007, sharing the honours with Seb Sanders. It was a thrilling season, with Spencer only drawing level with Sanders on 190 winners in the very last race of the season.

Jamie Spencer went on to ride again for Aiden O’Brien, this time as a joint shareholder in Fame and Glory and Cape Blanco. It was to prove a successful reunion, as he rode Fame And Glory to the 2011 Ascot Gold Cup.

Retirement

Jamie seemingly called time on his racing career in 2014, when he cited ‘family reasons’ for walking away to take up a consultancy role with Qatar Racing, but the pull of the saddle would prove too much and he returned to racing soon after. By 2017, he’d managed to clock up 2,000 winners, becoming one of only 4 active jockeys ever to do so and with Spencer still only 38 years of age, there’s still time for him to add to his already impressive tally.

Peter Scudamore

As the son of the famed English National Hunt jockey Michael Scudamore, it was clear from an early age that Peter Scudamore had inherited his father’s talent for winning horse races. Born on the 29th June 1958, the jockey known as ‘Scu’ to his friends began his career in 1978 during his all too brief 15 years in the saddle and he went on to win a remarkable 1,678 races in that time. Such was his success, that he received an MBE for his work in the sport.

Amongst his achievements were 8 British Champion jockey titles, two Scottish Grand National wins, four Welsh Grand National triumphs, two Hennessy Gold Cups, three Sun Alliance Chases and one Triumph Hurdle. It would not be an exaggeration to call Peter Scudamore one of the great jockeys and it was a sad day for racing when he retired in 1993, having achieved great success on the likes of Bonanza Boy, Strands Of Gold and Celtic Shot.

He bowed out in style however, winning his last ever race in the saddle on Sweet Duke at Ascot. A very fitting end to a brilliant career.

Scudamore the Trainer

Peter walked straight into a job as assistant trainer to Nigel Twiston-Davies, a position he fulfilled until carrying out the same role for his now life partner, Lucinda Russell at the Arlary House Stables in the Scottish town of Milnathort. A role he still enjoys today.

Scudamore has also been active in the media, often appearing as a BBC pundit on their racing coverage and penning a racing column in British newspaper, the Daily Mail.

The good news is that it seems that the Scudamore legacy is set to continue, as Tom Scudamore, Peter’s son is now a professional jockey. If he has a career anything like his dad’s, he won’t have done too badly at all.

Tony McCoy

Sir Anthony Peter McCoy OBE, is a retired horse racing jockey hailing from Northern Ireland and is widely regarded as one of the most successful ever in the steeplechasing world. In his career, the jockey known simply as ‘AP’ to many has won everything there is to win, including the Grand National , most recently on Don’t Push it in 2010. With a total of 4,358 winners to his name and he boasts the incredible achievement of winning Champion jockey title 20 years in a row, something that may never again be matched by anyone in the sport.

Out of the Ordinary

Other than his freakish talent for winning, Tony McCoy is different to many other jockeys in that he stands at 5ft 10 inches tall, which is tall for a jockey. Once in the saddle though, there truly is no one like him, as he has a virtually unblemished record as a jockey, even winning the title of Conditional Jump Jockey Champion in his first ever season, winning 74 races.

The fact that AP McCoy won the Champion Jockey title every year he competed in it says everything you need to know about the man and his victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, King George VI chase and the Champion Hurdle set him apart from the rest and when you see who he’s up against, you realise just how special that makes him. In his last race, he came third on Box Office at Sandown and despite not bowing out with a win, those attending knew they had witnessed the end of an era.

Tony McCoy retired in 2015 and went on to become Sir AP McCoy a year later. Never has the term champion been more apt and his feats may never be equalled again.

Silvestre De Sousa

From the land of the Samba beat, Silvestre De Souza is an ex champion flat race jockey, claiming the title in 2015 and 2017. Born in São Francisco do Maranhão, Brazil on 31st December 1980, De Souza is now based in Britain, having moved to Sao Paulo from his 9 siblings at the tender age of 17 and then moving to England to join trainer, David Nicholls in 2006.

He first sat on a racehorse at the age of 18, after being talent spotted by compatriot Fausto Durso who saw something special in the young man. This potential would eventually become to be realised after a slow start and after a season that De Souza only spent in England on a “What have I got to lose?” basis, he finished with 27 winners and win rate of 14%.

Spotted

Soon after, De Souza found himself on the periphery at the Nicholls yard, with David preferring his own son, Adrian in the big races. This led to a period as a freelance rider which saw him enjoy an impressive record of 21, 35 and 68 winners over the next three years. This performance caught the eye of trainer Mark Johnston who took on De Souza shortly after. It was to be a wise move, as the jockey went onto an Epsom Derby Win and two winners at Royal Ascot, something De Souza described as “unbelievable”.

In 2011, De Souza almost claimed the title of champion flat jockey, narrowly losing out to Paul Hanagan and winning 161 races in the process. There were near misses in the next two years, with De Souza just losing out to Richard Hughes, which led to a bit of a change in direction.

Finally

Success in flat racing’s champion jockey race was finally achieved in 2015 and then again in 2017 with De Souza being employed by Betway as an Ambassador. The season saw the jockey win 155 races and win a staggering £1.7m in prize money.

After a frustrating beginning, the future certainly looks bright for Silvestre De Souza.

Lester Piggott

If AP McCoy is the best jump jockey that ever lived, then Lester Keith Piggott is arguably the best flat jockey that ever graced the sport. Born on the 5th November 1935, Pigott’s style was the inspiration for many jockeys that have come since.

He was known affectionately as “The Long Fellow” and in a long career that spanned an incredible 47 years, the jockey achieved an incredible 4,493 wins on the flat. So dedicated was he that for decades, he kept himself a full 30 pounds underneath his natural weight to maintain his competitive edge.

The Early Years

First experiencing the saddle at the age of 10 at his father’s stable, Lester Piggott won his first competitive race at the age of 12 at Haydock Park on a horse aptly named ‘The Chase’. The jockey was regarded as something of a sensation in his teenage years when his first senior race saw him win The Derby aged just 18. It was a race he would win 8 more times in his long, largely peerless career and he was followed by legions of fans who marvelled at his skill and bravery.

As a champion jockey an incredible 11 times, he was part of the Sangster/O’Brien stable before he moved to the Henry Cecil camp at Warren Place.

Dispute

Following a dispute in 1983, Cecil replaced Piggott with Steve Cauthen, as a conflict of interest arose with Lester reneging on an agreement with one of the stable’s principle owners, Daniel Wildenstein to ride All Along at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. It was a move that was damaging to Piggotts season, as he was banned from riding any more of Wildenstein’s horses.

Retirement & Controversy

After retirement in 1985, Lester Piggott became a trainer, successfully training 34 winners from his Eve Lodge stables. However, this new life was curtailed before it really got going, as the ex jockey was convicted of tax fraud, serving just over a year in jail and losing his OBE title he had received 10 years earlier.

He returned to racing in the early 90s, officially retiring in 1995, riding his last race in 1994. Today, aged 82, Piggott lives near Newmarket and will always be remembered for his incredible skill in the saddle and its contribution to flat racing.

Pat Eddery

One of the leading lights in the latter part of the 20th century Pat Eddery was a flat racing jockey who still holds the joint most champion titles, three years after his sad death. With a magnificent total of 4,632 wins on the flat, Eddery had racing in his blood from an early age.

He began as an apprentice in Ireland under the guidance of Seamus McGrath and would move to England in 1967, switching to Frenchie Nicholson’s stable. His first victory in England was at Epsom Downs on Alvaro in the Spring of 1969, which was a welcome experience for the jockey, as it came after an entire season without a win.

Alvaro was something of a talisman for Pat Eddery, as 1969 saw him win 5 more races in a row on the horse and whilst still operating as an apprentice, he claimed the Wokingham Handicap, the Northumberland Plate and the Goodwood Stakes in 1971. All this happened in the year the jockey won the Apprentice Champion title.

Impressive

Eddery won the senior Champion Jockey title an impressive 11 times during a long and distinguished career, claiming his last in 1996. Over his 36 years in the saddle, Pat won countless major races that included the 1,000 Guineas, the 2,000 Guineas and the Ascot Gold Cup. There wasn’t much in the flat racing world that he didn’t win in his time.

English flat racing’s switch to multi purpose tracks at the beginning of the 1990s hit Eddery hard and he found the new tracks tough to navigate. His ‘96 championship win was something of an achievement in itself, proving to the man himself that he could still do the business on the new surface.

Later in life, Pat Eddery was to struggle with alcoholism and it would eventually cost him his life at the age of just 63 from an associated heart problem. It was a sad day for racing when the South Dubliner passed and the contribution to horse racing made by this giant of the sport, will never be forgotten.

Bob Champion

Born on the 4th June 1948, Bob Champion is one of the most famous jump jockeys that ever graced the sport and is most fondly remembered by racegoers for riding Aldaniti to victory in the 1981 Grand National. So notable was Champion’s career that his autobiography would be made into a film with John Hurt playing the lead role.

Champion is a proud Yorkshireman, who overcame great adversity earlier in life, beating testicular cancer to return to a successful racing career. This was the backstory to the great man’s career that made his subsequent triumphs so compelling and heartwarming. His win on Aldaniti saw him also named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1981.

Though the 1981 win defined Champion’s career, it wasn’t his only success in jump racing as he also won the Whitbread Trial Chase and the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup in is time as a jockey. He would remain in the sport as a trainer until his retirement in 1999.

Legacy

Bob Champion, now 69, has been given many awards for his success in racing, not least the OBE he received in 1982 and the Helen Rollason Award at the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. He was also featured on This Is Your Life in the year of his Grand National win, with Eamonn Andrews walking in to surprise him with his big red book.

Though not the most successful jockey in terms of winners, Bob Champion was and still is a colourful figure in the sport of horse racing. He is someone who has inspired millions across the world with his life story and his triumphs in the face of great personal challenges, serving as a role model for young jockeys everywhere.

Without the likes of Robert Champion OBE, the horseracing world just wouldn’t be the same.

Ruby Walsh

Born Rupert Walsh in County Kildare on the 14th May 1979, the affectionately named ‘Ruby’ is a highly decorated jump jockey with a list of achievements as long as it is impressive. He has been Irish National Hunt Champion jockey no less than 12 times and the leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival almost every year since 2004, only failing to claim the honour twice in that period.

He is the son of amateur champion jockey, Ted Welsh and he showed exceptional talent at an early age, twice winning the Irish amateur title in 1997 and 1998, shortly before he became a professional.

Grand National Champion

The promise he showed an as amateur would continue, as he claimed his first major prize, winning the Grand National on Papillon at the tender age of 20. The Mrs J Maxwell Moran owned horse was trained by his father and the achievement was even more notable given that it was his very first ride in the National. Ruby Walsh has won this blue ribbon event once since, triumphing on Hedgehunter in 2006.

It has not all be glitz and glory for Ruby, as he has endured a number of major injuries over the years, with the most serious being the broken leg he sustained in 1999, racing in the Czech Republic. Added to that was another break of the same leg, shortly before his success with Papillon. This succession of personal injuries has thankfully done nothing to dull the his passion for the sport, as he has seemed to come back stronger on each occasion.

Fame and Fortune

A glittering career that has still considerable time to run has propelled Ruby Walsh firmly into the public eye, with the jockey featuring on a TV documentary about jump jockeys and in a song by Christy Moore aptly named “The Ballad of Ruby Walsh”.

There isn’t much that Walsh still left to achieve, but with a hat trick of Grand National winners to aim for, its unlikely we’ll see him retiring any time soon.

Joe Mercer

Awarded an OBE for his contribution in the sporting world, ‘Smokin’’ Joe Mercer is a retired and well decorated flat racing champion racehorse jockey, having ridden over 2,800 winners in a career spanning more than 20 years. They include winners in the Epsom Oaks, the Irish Derby, the Prix de Diane and the Irish St Leger amongst others.

His career began in the early fifties, when he gained an apprenticeship with Frederick Sneyd, a move that let to his first British Classic, the 1953 Epsom Oaks on Ambiguity. It was eventful 2 years for the young jockey, as he became British flat racing apprentice champion in both 1952 and 1953. Over the next few years, he worked for a number of big names in the sport that included Peter Walwyn, Jack Colling, Dick Hern and Henry Cecil.

It was during his time with Henry Cecil that Joe Mercer one his one and only British flat racing champion jockey title in 1979. The most notable horse he rode during his time as a jockey was Brigadier Gerard who only lost one of his 18 races in a two year period between 70 and 72.

He called time on his jockey career at the end of 1985, going on to work as an jockey’s agent. This was for just 2 years and ended when a lucrative job offer came from Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as a racing manager. He remained in this role for almost 20 years before retiring from the sport at the beginning of 2006.

Luke Morris

Introduction

A popular English jockey, Luke Morris was born 20^th October, 1988, and trained at the Newmarket British Racing School form a young age. Brought up in this kind of academic format, he was apprenticed by racehorse trainer Michael Bell. To this day, he still maintains a strong connection to the city that he grew up in – and those who set him on the pathway to success.

Despite his tender age and a growing career still to come, Morris has been progression as a jockey throughout his whole career. From his first win away back in late 2005 to his first major win in 2016, he’s become a racer that many people have plenty of time for around the race course.

Deemed in 2012 as the ‘Britain’s busiest jockey’ by the Daily Mirror, Morris took on an incredible 1,330 rides in 2011 alone and this showcases his utter determination to reach the top and take himself to the highest level possible of the sport.

Career Summary

With over 8,000 rides between 2010 and 2015 alone, he’s one of the most persistent jockeys on the planet. A strong career relationship with Neil Allan means that it’s not often that Morris isn’t found on the racecourse, either racing or getting ready for a race. His first winner came in 2005, with his first big win coming in 2007 when he rode Juniper Girl to success at the Northumberland Plate.

2010 was his first race success, when he won the Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes aboard Gilt Edge Girl. His first Group 1 win came towards the end of 2010, when he won the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp.

With plenty to come from the busy jockey, it won’t be long before we see him back winning.

Achievements & Highlights

Major Wins – Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (2010, 2016)

Associations – Michael Bell, Neil Allan.

Walter Swinburn

Born on the 7th August in 1961, Walter Swinburn was a flat racing jockey of some note, as well as a internationally renowned trainer of racehorses. Hailing from Oxford, Swinburn became Champion Jockey in 1976 and 1977 and was the very first to win more than 100 races in a single Irish season on the flat.

Dubbed “Choirboy” by those who loved the affable jockey, which was and still is a very well populated club, Swinburn was once described as “one the biggest talents in the Sport” by Sir Michael Stoute. He will be most remembered for riding the ill fated Shergar to victory in the 1981 Derby.

He would win the Derby twice more in a star studded career that saw him win countless major domestic and international races including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1983, the Grosser Preis von Baden in 1996, the 1981 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1991. It would simply take too long to list all of the 66 major wins in his personal scrapbook, suffice to say that he was a major figure in the sport for many years.

Tragedy

Disaster struck on December 12th 2016, when Walter Swinburn fell to his death in a freak accident at his Central London Home. He was taken far too young at the age 55 and there was standing room only at his funeral, with ex England Football Captain Bryan Robson amongst those paying their respects. It is believed that the ex jockey’s long standing battle with epilepsy may have played its part in the accident.

It’s fair to say that Walter “Choirboy” Swinburn will be missed. In his prime he was coolness personified and was perhaps the best ‘big race’ rider of his generation.

He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Steve Cauthen

Born on May 1st 1960, Steve Cauthen is a retired jockey from the US who rode his first race as a rosy cheeked 16 year old at Churchill Downs, Kentucky. He made it round the ‘athletics style’ course, but came in last on King of Swat. However, he didn’t have to wait long for his fortunes to change, riding his first winner just a week later at River Downs Ohio on Red Pipe

What followed was a rise to fame in the sport that can only be described as meteoric. At the still tender age of 17, Cauthen became the first jockey to register earnings in excess of $6m and just 12 months after that, he was the youngest jockey ever to win the US Triple Crown, eclipsing his prize money tally from the previous year.

Europe

After having hit the heights on the US horse racing scene, Steve Cauthen tried his hand in Europe, not least because he was having trouble making the weights in the US. He got off to a fantastic start, winning his first European race on his first appearance, riding Marquee Universal to victory at Salisbury racecourse.

It was to be good portent for Steve Cauthen, as he would go on to have a magnificent career that saw him win three British Champion Jockey titles and ride winners in ten English Classic races. The American jockey was something of a Derby expert, as he added the Derby, the French Derby, the Irish Derby and the Italian Derby to the Kentucky Derby he’d already won before arriving from the US.

Cauthen was rightly honoured after his retirement, receiving the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award and featuring in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga New York. What is most impressive however, was being named as the Racing Post’s 8th best jockey of the 20th Century in 1999.

Once Immortalised as Sports Illustrated ‘Sportsman of the Year’ Steve Cauthen was a true ‘pin up’ in the sport of horseracing who now spends his days running his own stud farm with his wife and three daughters.