Congratulations Sam Waley-Cohen!

15-01-2011

Many congratulations to Sam Waley-Cohen on his great success today at Kempton when Long Run gave him such a thrilling winning ride in the King George, thus denying Kauto Star a historic fifth victory.

This is a huge win for an amateur being a Grade One race and the last time such a prestigious race was won by an amateur jockey was over 20 years ago when Marcus Armytage won the Grand National for Kim Bailey with Mr Frisk in 1990.   To find a race with level weights, you have to go back even further to when Jim Wilson  won the Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Little Owl back in 1981!

The ecstatic jockey said “That was amazing.  He got into a rhythm and picked up – he showed real courage.  He’s a phenomenal horse and I’m so pleased he’s shown what he’s capable of.  It’s a massive honour to be here and I want to thank Dad, Nicky and all the guys at Seven Barrows.”

This is the biggest staying chase win of Nicky Henderson’s training career to date.