Ambitious teenager following McCoy's example

IT was a modest race at the end of an average evening card. The prize money was negligible.

As the sun faded, there was nothing mediocre about the ride; it was a tactical masterclass.

If it had been produced by Tony McCoy, the 15-times champion jockey who rode his first winner 20 years ago this week, the superlatives would have been flowing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was not. The rider in question was Sam Twiston-Davies, a teenager who was not even born when McCoy was preparing for the first of his 3,000-plus triumphs (and counting).

It would also be totally irresponsible to burden Twiston-Davies as "the next McCoy". Put simply, there will never be another jockey like McCoy who shows no sign of slowing down and stated, at the weekend, that he intends to ride at least 200 winners this season.

But there was something McCoy-esque about the ride on Mad Moose around Cartmel's tight turns; the appreciation of where the field were placed and the decision to kick on at the penultimate hurdle as soon as his chief rival made a mistake.

In short, it was a ruthless ride from an in-form jockey who, with 23 winners this season, is the front runner to be crowned this season's top conditional jockey – an accolade that McCoy won before the first of his 15 successive championships.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I never thought I would have a summer like this," said Twiston-Davies, who recently gave up his A-level studies so he could pursue his riding dream.

"Riding for great trainers; keeping my head down; looking to ride as many winners as possible. But also trying to enjoy the experience; that's what it is all about.

"My main goal is to be champion conditional, but there are some very good riders."

Twiston-Davies has enjoyed a phenomenal rise through the ranks. While still at school, he won the Christies Foxhunters Chase at this year's Cheltenham Festival after an inspired front-running ride on Baby Run, 40 minutes after his father, Nigel, had won the Gold Cup with the dogged course specialist Imperial Commander.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The jockey's biggest concern was finding someone to help tack up his horse amid the celebrations; his father was more proud of Baby Run's triumph than the lowering of Kauto Star and Denman's colours in the Gold Cup.

Within three weeks he was, once again, fielding questions about his son's potential after Hello Bud finished an eye-catching fifth in the Grand National behind McCoy – that man again – on Don't Push It.

It did not take long for the bookmakers to take note of this new talent. William Hill was the first to offer odds of 4-1 that Twiston-Davies would be champion conditional this year, and 20-1 that he beats all-comers and wins the 2011 Grand National.

The bookmakers made him a 14-1 chance to become champion National Hunt jockey within the next 10 years and 50-1 before McCoy retires.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Twiston-Davies's two high-profile hat-tricks at Newton Abbot, and a succession of wins in the past week, followed one setback – a 12-day ban for misjudging the finish at Perth by a complete circuit.

Yet, the mark of a good sportsman is how they handle adversity. Red-faced with embarrassment, and incurring the wrath of angry punters, Twiston-Davies held his hands up, apologised to the stewards with charm, accepted the punishment and said he would learn from the experience.

It was an uncharacteristic misjudgement – he had even walked the course beforehand with his friend and weighing-room rival Rhys Flint. He then went out and won a subsequent race, the most valuable on the card, on Billie Magern, the younger brother of Wetherby's two-time Charlie Hall Chase winner Ollie Magern.

However, it is this teenager's willingness to learn from his superiors that, in many respects, stands him out from his contemporaries.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Earlier this year, the prospect of Twiston-Davies driving to Wetherby for a couple of pre-National rides was enough to worry his father. Now the jockey is more likely to travel to the races with his father, or assistant trainer Carl Llewellyn, a two-time National winner, so that he can soak up their advice and wisdom.

It is a winning strategy, even more when one looks at the youngster's balance in the saddle approaching an obstacle, and his ability to spot a stride.

So, too, is a desire to learn from the likes of McCoy and Paddy Brennan, the No 1 stable jockey at the Twiston-Davies yard that is located, conveniently, a short ride away from Cheltenham's hallowed turf.

"You look up to both AP and Paddy – well, I do," says Twiston-Davies, who is sponsored by property firm Knight Frank.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Schooling upsides Paddy two days a week, you learn so much. Paddy is a great tactician; he can teach you so much about what's happening in the race and when to make your move. That advice was certainly helpful on Mad Moose.

"AP is amazing. I rode Petite Margot at Cartmel and finished second. He had ridden her before, and finished fourth, but he couldn't have been more helpful in telling me how to ride the horse – I don't think people realise how good he is with the young lads."

As Twiston-Davies looks to the future with deserved optimism, he can also reflect on his achievements to date with pride. He cannot separate his feats on Baby Run at Cheltenham, or Hello Bud at Liverpool.

"Ludlow, Cheltenham or having such an unexpected National ride, it does not matter – I just want to ride winners."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

AP McCoy would approve. For, while he said last week that the "young jockeys of today have it a lot easier" than he did at the formative stage of his career, a journey that has taken him to the most mundane meetings in the search of winners, this certainly does not apply to Sam Twiston-Davies.

For, if he was not good enough, his Gold Cup-winning father and trainer would not be making such use of this new, and emerging, talent at a high-profile yard where the only pre-requisite is success.