Category: Jockey News
20-11-2008
The second leg of the Hands and Heels Series proved to be a race to remember today at Wincanton. Congratulations to intrepid amateur jockey Anthony Knott on riding his first winner there after 28 years of trying!!
So thrilled was Anthony at the taste of success that he saluted the crowd yards before the finish on his way to passing the winning post. Riding Wise Men Say with extra long leathers, he made smooth headway to pass his rivals in the home straight and his emotions got the better of him after he found himself in the lead having jumped the final flight of hurdles.
Turning in the saddle to wave a fist at the crowd with delight, Anthony then rode a finish before crossing the line and receiving a rapturous reception in the winner’s enclosure where racegoers rushed to greet their new hero of the turf. Even though the Stewards had to give Anthony a 7 day ban for use of the whip in this Hands and Heels race, nothing could spoil this victorious day for the winning jockey. Many congratulations to Anthony on a day that he will never forget!
20-11-2008
The opening race of Cheltenham’s Paddy Power weekend – The Irish Times Amateur Riders’ Handicap Chase – was packed with incident and caused much discussion amongst the media to bring an interesting start to the weekend.
Jason McKeown is a familiar name to many of us, having won last year’s Fegentri World Championship for Ireland only a few points ahead of our own David Turner. Always at the rear, he survived a bad blunder at the first ditch on Hoopy, losing both his whip and an iron in the process; in fact both legs were the same side of the saddle for a short while. Still in the rear at the third last, Jason managed to persuade Donal Devereux to lend him his whip (Donal having already decided to pull up King Harald at that stage). Once given a crack, Jason and Hoopy soon began to make good progress to stay on strongly and win going away.
Ian Chanin, rider of the second, was advised by connections to lodge an objection which was subsequently overruled and the places remained unalterred. As Alan Sweetman reported in The Racing Post: “There is no doubt that there are particular aspects of jockeyship that provide a special thrill for the spectator, such as a rider executing a gravity-defying recovery from a bad jumping mistake, or coping with a failure of equipment such as a slipped saddle or the loss of irons.
Sometimes, you see the genuinely unorthodox, and there was a case in point in Friday’s opener when Jason McKeown, who lost his whip when his mount Hoopy made a mistake early on, took a leaf out of the Lester Piggott manual by ‘borrowing’ another rider’s stick at a vital stage, helping to secure a victory against the odds.One could, of course, take a disapproving view of his action as irresponsible and possibly unfair, but the Cheltenham stewards adopted a more benign and sensible approach by giving him what was basically a token two-day suspension.It was an incident that added an extra bit of colour to an eventful day, and while one would not want this sort of thing to become commonplace, it was heartening to see there was no official overreaction.”
08-11-2008
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Amy Ryan and Simon Walker for their tremendous achievements in winning the Amateur Lady Flat Jockey and Amateur Gentleman Flat Jockey Championships for 2008.
Amy ended the season with 6 wins, 2 ahead of her nearest rivals – past dual winning Lady Amateur Flat Champion and this year’s Bathwick Champion Serena Brotherton, Alyson Deniel and Emily Jones – who all were on the 4 winner mark each and share the runner-up slot.
Simon’s season ended with a winners total of 4, one ahead of his nearest rival Joshua Moore (Bollinger Series winner 2008) with 3 wins, and Joshua has therefore secured himself the gentlemen’s runner-up slot for 2008. This is a great achievement for Simon Walker, being his 4th amateur Flat title in the last 5 years.
MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CHAMPIONS
AND TO EVERY AMATEUR JOCKEY WHO HAS RIDDEN A WINNER THIS SUMMER – WELL DONE TO YOU!!
29-10-2008
It was no coincidence that Ginny Hull, Marketing Executive of Sawfish Software, picked out James Given’s Dream of Olwyn in the paddock for the best turned out prize today at Nottingham for the Sawfish Software Ladies Series finale.
The filly was clearly feeling well and always travelling to give a dream ride to Serena Brotherton (shown above after passing the post), taking it up as they turned into the home straight and maintaining her gallop to scorch home clear of the remainder.
This win gave Serena valuable points in Steve Hull’s Sawfish Software Series, but not enough to deny Alyson Deniel retaining her lead to take home the series trophy.
Many congratulations to Alyson and to Serena, and a huge thank you to Steve Hull and Sawfish Software for such an exciting end to the season for the ladies with this series now having completed its second year.
Only one race now remains for this season, that being a mixed race at Musselburgh on 7th November.
29-10-2008
Sawfish Software Series 2007 saw a tie in the final results between Serena Brotherton (2nd left) and Faye Bramley (right) seen here at Nottingham receiving their prizes from sponsor Steve Hull together with placed riders Amy Ryan (2nd right) and Carol Bartley (left).
Thankfully the icy forecast has not disrupted plans for today’s finale of Sawfish Software’s 2008 Series at Nottingham with several of the lady riders competing for the title. With a Grand Prix style points system (10, 6, 4, 2), also-rans are being given 1 point so that the table for the finale reads as follows:
Name 1st (10 points) 2nd (6 points) 3rd (4 points) 4th (2 points) Alsorans TOTAL
Miss Alyson Deniel 1 – – 1 – 12
Miss Amy Ryan 1 – – – 1 11
Miss Helen Cuthbert – 1 – – 1 7
Miss Gemelle Gracey-Davison – 1 – – 1 7
Miss Jacqueline Coward – – 1 – 1 5
Miss Wendy Gibson – – 1 – 1 5
Miss Serena Brotherton – – – – 2 2
Miss Stefania Gandola – – – 1 – 2
Mrs Carol Bartley – – – – 1 1
Miss Rebecca Bastiman – – – – 1 1
Miss Emily Jones – – – – 1 1
Miss Beverley Kendal – – – – 1 1
Miss Racheal Kneller – – – – 1 1
Miss Joanna Mason – – – – 1 1
Mrs Margaret Morris – – – – 1 1
Miss Michelle Mullineaux – – – – 1 1
Miss Pauline Robson – – – – 1 1
Miss Nicola Sayer – – – – 1 1
Miss Kayleigh-Jo Sharp – – – – 1 1
Miss Emily Stead – – – – 1 1
Miss Lucinda Sutcliffe – – – – 1 1
Miss Phillipa Tutty – – – – 1 1
GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF OUR LADY RIDERS!!!
Results up to 26th October
25-10-2008
MANY CONGRATULATIONS to Serena Brotherton on claiming the Bathwick Tyres Ladies Series 2008 so decisively today at Newbury by winning the finale in this year’s series of 8 races with ease for Alan King on his top class staying hurdler Blazing Bailey.
By this stage in the series, which began back in early May at Salisbury, the winner of the series was down to three top class lady amateur jockeys (pictured here before today’s race) – Gemma Gracey Davison (24 points), Emily Jones (22 points) and Serena Brotherton (27 points).
A totting up of the points after today’s race was hardly necessary, with Blazing Bailey always handy and quickening when asked to win with ease.
Serena can now look forward to the coveted prize of a holiday of a lifetime, thanks to the generosity and loyal support of Wayne and Sarah Clifford of Bathwick Tyres and we thank them enormously for their fantastic series which has again given some great racing experiences to our lady amateur jockeys and also of course given so much pleasure to us all.
25-10-2008
Congratulations to Danny Cook on following up his wins at Ludlow (AJA chase) on Thursday and at Baden-Baden on the Flat yesterday (on an outsider by a nose, where he was recognised as Fegentri World Champion runner-up to Donal Macauley of Ireland) with making it a hat trick by winning the seller at Stratford-upon-Avon this afternoon in spite of severe sleep deprivation!! 
Today’s selling hurdle produced an exciting finish with five in line coming to the second last and when asked, Star Tenor was able to quicken away for Danny to lead past the post. Many thanks to Danny for being such an excellent Fegentri representative for Great Britain this year.Meanwhile, Gemma Gracey-Davison currently holds third place in the ladies Fegentri tables and travels to Seville next weekend for the penultimate ladies race meeting before looking forward to the final two ladies races in Mauritius in early December. 
24-10-2008
With the rapidly approaching end of the Flat season looming, the outcome of the battle for the Bathwick Tyres Ladies Championship Series Winner will be decided tomorrow at Newbury. Current leader Serena Brotherton (27 points), Gemma Gracey-Davison (24 points) and Emily Jones (22 points) are the only ladies in with a chance as their nearest rival Amy Ryan, 4th in the tables on 17 points, could not beat Serena on points as a win earns only 8 points.Meanwhile both the lady and gentleman amateur champion Flat jockeys’ championships are reaching their conclusions. Simon Walker leads the gentlemen (4 wins) with his nearest rival Joshua Moore (3). One (mixed) race remains for them at Musselburgh on 7th November when the ladies will also meet, having enjoyed a further 3 ladies races with Doncaster this afternoon (AJA race), Newbury tomorrow (Bathwick series final) and Nottingham next Wednesday (final of Sawfish Software series). The ladies are currently led by Amy Ryan (6 wins) with Alyson Deniel and Emily Jones (4 wins each), Jacqueline Coward (3 wins) and Serena Brotherton and Rachel Kneller (2 wins each).GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!!!
24-10-2008
ROB KIRK, amateur jockey with Venetia Williams, will be out of action for two months following a fall from a young horse at the yard this morning and is being treated in Hereford General Hospital. Rob rode winners at Cheltenham and Kempton last season and has broken his lower right arm, dislocated the elbow and also damaged the shoulder. We all wish him a speedy recovery and swift return to the saddle.
24-10-2008
Congratulations to Danny Cook on winning the AJA Amateur Riders’ Chase at Ludlow yesterday before flying out to Baden-Baden for the final day of the gentlemen’s series, where he has just won on the Flat, taking him into runner-up slot for the Fegentri Flat World Championship 2008. 
