When it comes to sports, the United Kingdom has become famous for football and horseracing. The British have a great affinity to all things equestrian, so it is no wonder horseracing ranks second in the country’s list of its top three favourite sports.
Horseracing, as a sports activity, has been around for centuries. Given the public’s tremendous interest, it has been well developed over the years. That is why the UK is the homeland of some of the finest jockeys in the world. Others, in turn, have come from foreign lands to race the courses of Great Britain and dip into the unique local spirit.
In the article below, we will celebrate UK’s finest jockeys. Some are natives, while others were foreign-born but came here in search of unmatched horseracing adventures. Read on and find out who the biggest names in British horseracing are.
Lester Piggott
We will begin by telling you all about the best flat jockeys. Lester Piggott is probably the most famous one, with an amazing 4,493 wins throughout his professional career. Piggott won 30 British Classic Race prizes.
He also ended up with the flat racing Champion Jockey title a total of eleven times. His career includes five 2000 Guineas, eight St Leger trophies, and nine Derby wins. Pigott won his first race at age 18 in 1954. His debut race was Never Say Die.
Frankie Dettori
Frankie Dettori is the celebrated Italian jockey who has achieved what seemed impossible. On the British Champions Day in 1996 at Ascot, Dettori rode all seven winners in the event. This led to massive fame. It also helped coin the term “Magnificent Seven.”
But that was not all. Dettori has ridden more than 500 Group winners throughout his career. The above-mentioned Lester Piggott announced him as the “best jockey currently riding.” What Piggott and Dettori have in common is riding 100 winners as teenagers. Dettori was also crowned Champion Jockey thrice.
Ryan Moore
Talking about the UK’s best current flat race jockeys, Ryan Moore is one of them. He has eleven Classic wins and has been a three-time Champion. His first winner came when Moore was only 16 years old. In 2002, he scored his first major win with Miss Fara in the Cesarewitch.
Moore’s most celebrated success came in 2017, when, at the end of the season, he reached the 2,000-race milestone. That placed him as the third of all active jockeys, right behind Dettori, about whom we already told you above, and Joe Fanning. At the time, both Dettori and Fanning had already been competing for a decade longer than Moore himself.
Hayley Turner
The last of the flat race jockeys we will tell you about today is a lady, Hayley Turner. She made history in her generation of female jockeys by becoming the first woman to pick 100 winners. Turner made her breakthrough in 2011 when she won the July Cup at Newmarket. She rode Dream Ahead on that occasion. Soon after, she won the Nunthorpe Stakes with a horse named Margot Did. Turner is also known to have a kind and brave heart. She recently saved a fellow jockey from a hideous incident at Lingfield. Here is what happened:
Tony McCoy
Tony McCoy is a National Hunt jockey with impressive accomplishments. McCoy has often been dubbed the best jockey of our lifetime. He even won the Sports Personality of the Year Award back in 2010. The Irishman made 4,358 winners in the course of his 23-year career, which is a record.
McCoy has won all major National Hunt races at least once. This number includes 31 Cheltenham Festival winners and all five editions of the Grand National – the Welsh, Scottish, Midlands, Irish, and Grand National. He was also crowned Jump Jockey of the Year a total of 16 times.
John Francome
John Francome is often regarded as the best jockey to have never won the Grand National. However, he still became the third most successful jump jockey in the history of the UK sport, right behind Tony McCoy. Francome’s career includes 1,138 winners. He also picked up the British Champion Jump Jockey seven times. Once he retired, he received MBE for services to racing in 1986.
Peter Scudamore
Peter Scudamore, who often goes by simply “Scu,” has a total of 1,678 winners throughout his professional career. He was also the eight-time Champion Jockey. In addition, he picked the greatest number of winners for a single season, when he won 221 times in 1988-1989, which was before a year-round calendar was developed. Sadly, this stellar jockey never won the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup, or King George VI.
Bryony Frost
Another lady on our list, Bryony Frost, is among Britain’s tremendously successful jockeys. She is the daughter of Jimmy Frost, who won the Grand National in 1983 riding Little Polveir. Bryony has many victories, including more than 75 National Hunt winners.
Cheltenham Festival and Grand National Prominent Jockeys
There are many more UK famous jockeys, some of which we have listed below as winners at the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National.
- Ruby Walsh
- Richard Johnson
- Davy Russell
- Richard Dunwoody
- Bob Champion
- Brian Fletcher
- Leighton Aspell