Season's Highlights 2008/09
Looking Forward 2009–10

SEASON’S HIGHLIGHTS 2008/09

The golden threads that ran through the 2008/9 Jump racing season weaved a tapestry which tells of a sport in prime health, with equine and human heroes that bear positive comparison with any that have gone before.

A champion horse became the first in history to win back the sport’s blue riband event; a jockey passed a milestone that almost defies belief; and a 100-1 shot in the world’s most famous race took the career of one of the best female trainers in the business to new heights.

It is a sign of the esteem in which Kauto Star is held by the public and a measure of his ability and achievements that in his 21 races since leaving the French provinces to join trainer Paul Nicholls, the horse has started favourite on 20 occasions. During that time, encompassing 14 victories, he has amassed well over £1.5 million in official prize money and almost the same again in bonuses and other prizes.

However, Jump racing at its best is not about statistics, numbers, pound signs and profit and loss. That was demonstrated at Cheltenham in March, when Kauto Star, under regular jockey Ruby Walsh, put up a stunning performance to regain the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup from stablemate and defending champion Denman. The tumultuous reception accorded to both of these great stars reminded everyone present and the 2.1m watching on television that Jump racing is a sport that can produce moments of drama, excitement and celebration that truly capture the imagination.

The champion jockey of last season, and indeed the last 14 seasons, was the remarkable Tony (AP) McCoy, who at Plumpton in February 2009 rode the 3,000th winner of a career that has no parallel. A self deprecating but fiercely driven man, AP has had his fair share of injuries, but always seems to bounce back as strong and as determined as ever.

When you consider that jump jockeys take a tumble roughly once every ten times they ride in a race and that many of then (including AP) are riding day after day at well below their natural body weight, it makes this feat of talent and longevity even more remarkable. In the UK alone, AP McCoy had 853 rides in 2008/09. His closest pursuer in the career winner stakes is Richard Johnson, who has ridden around 1,900 winners and would have been a multiple champion jockey in his own right if McCoy had chosen another career.

The John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree in April is without question the most famous race in the world, with a history stretching all the way back to 1839, when the first winner, appropriately named Lottery, started as 5-1 favourite. In 2009, the winner, Mon Mome, became the first 100-1 winner in the race since Foinavon in 1967. Mon Mome’s career didn’t get off to a great start over hurdles for leading trainer Venetia Williams, when he showed a fair level of form without managing to win. However, when the horse was switched to the larger steeplechase fences, his ability was transformed, winning four times in his first season. He followed that with a consistent level of form in many of the top handicap races over two seasons, before regaining the winning thread at Cheltenham in December 2008 in the £100,000 Boylepoker Steeplechase. However, his two runs immediately prior to Aintree were very disappointing, which explains the huge starting price, but Mon Mome made a mockery of those odds, clearing right away from some talented rivals to win by 12 lengths, under jockey Liam Treadwell. The horse is owned by England Bridge International Vida Bingham, a retired PE teacher, who is herself a naturally competitive lady. For owner, trainer and jockey, this was a life-defining moment.

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Looking Forward 2009–10

Jump racing knows how to celebrate its heroes, but like any modern sport, thoughts soon turn to the action ahead and 2009–10 could be another classic season for the sport.

Kauto Star, AP McCoy and Mon Mome will all be back to defend their titles but there is plenty of young talent eager to take on the established stars. Many of those youngsters are trained in Ireland, and in particular Hurricane Fly and Cooldine, under the watchful eye of Willie Mullins (himself a Grand National winning trainer), could easily become leading contenders for the sport’s biggest prizes over the next few months.

On the jockey front, Aidan Coleman is a young man making a big name for himself and is sure to feature regularly in the winner’s enclosure, but as the stable jockey for Venetia Williams, he will be hoping for slightly better luck than at Aintree, when he chose to ride another of the stable’s runners in preference to Mon Mome! The old adage that jockeys make the worst tipsters was born out that day.

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