Ebor hero Swift in no rush to cash in on his fame

DALE Swift’s rise through Flat racing’s ranks has certainly not been rapid. It took 10 years of hard graft before his big breakthrough came with a never-to-be-forgotten ‘home victory’ in the Betfred Ebor.

Now, as he reflects upon Moyenne Corniche’s heroics in Europe’s richest handicap, Swift acknowledges that he can take nothing for granted – and that he will have to work even harder for future success.

Take his rides since landing the Ebor nearly days ago. Swift has enjoyed just eight mounts – including three at Beverley yesterday. Frustratingly, he had none on Saturday when the East Yorkshire track staged one of its biggest meetings of the year.

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So far, the Ebor has not provided any new opportunities. But Swift, who was 26 last Wednesday, is used to overcoming the odds – and Moyenne Corniche’s brilliant victory was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

“I’ve always wanted to win a race like the Ebor more than any other. There’s something about the big Flat handicaps from watching them on television as a kid,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “Yet, having got the taste, you want more days like that – but I know that it won’t happen overnight. You’re right. You’re only as good as your last race.”

Growing up in a Rotherham council house, the odds of Swift fulfilling his ambitions would have been far greater than the 25-1 that they offered on Moyenne Corniche as horse and rider cantered to the Ebor start at York.

His father Gary works as a plasterer while his mother, Linda, is a manager at the local Morrisons supermarket. By his own admission, Swift struggled at school: “I had truly shocking GCSEs, I was no good at school.”

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Swift’s salvation was his father’s passing interest in racing – they would watch the TV coverage together – and an inspired teacher at Clifton Comprehensive School that put the aspiring rider in touch with the Northern Racing College.

“I started going racing when I was around 13. I never rode a horse until I was 15 – and then that was only a pony at a horse riding school.

“Fortunately, school realised I was interested in riding as a career and gave me a bit of leeway – I was never going to get my GCSEs.”

From here, Swift learned the basics at the NRC before plying his trade at the Yorkshire stables of Ann Duffield and Richard Fahey.

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Opportunities were hard to accrue – 54 rides in 2003 yielded just one winner. Yet, since switching to Ellison’s Norton yard just over five years ago, Swift has won 53 races – including the Ebor.

“I started riding over jumps but my heart wasn’t in it and my weight started coming down,” he explained.

“I can now do 8st 6lb and still have a meal and a drink. I’ll be the first to admit it, I was not very good at all to begin with.

“I was just inexperienced and wasn’t very familiar with the way things are done, or the tactics that you need in a race.

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“It has taken time – the boss, Mr Ellison – has been great and it makes all the hard work worthwhile. Just getting the ride in a race like the Ebor was brilliant – never mind winning it. I can’t describe the buzz. It’s the same every time I watch the replay.

“I hadn’t even sat on Moyenne Corniche until about a week beforehand. I’d never ridden him in a race, that’s how much of a surprise it was to win the Ebor.

“Mr Ellison gave me confidence by saying that the horse would not be out of the first four. That helped. But you still have to deliver on the day.

“We were second or third last down the back straight and past a few turning in. We moved up a few places and I knew we were travelling well.

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“As the race unfolded, the gaps opened and Moyenne Corniche just took off. The Boss said to get to the front as late as possible, and I got there too soon with a furlong to go, but he galloped all the way to the line.

“The brilliant thing was that the Northern lads – Paul Hanagan and Silvestre de Sousa – said I had ridden a great race That means everything.”

While both Hanagan and de Sousa are contesting the jockeys’ championship, the fact that neither has the Ebor on the CV is testament to this most unlikely of victories. Though time is moving on, Swift is fortunate that he still has a three-pound claim because he has yet to ride 75 winners.

That weight allowance probably made the difference to him winning the Ebor and in the other significant handicaps that he has landed, such as Camerooney in the Carlisle Bell, Cheveton in the Ayr Bronze Cup and Indian Days in a valuable event at Glorious Goodwood.

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Swift’s challenge, once he loses his claim, is proving that he can mix it with the very best riders on equal terms.

It will not be easy; many better jockeys than Swift have failed to make that transition.

But Swift is proud of his Yorkshire roots – and his family’s work ethic.

“They keep telling me to make the most of my opportunities,” he added. “And I will.

“The last thing I want to do is let anyone down.”

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