Mason Paetel: The 17-year-old Yorkshire jockey with a bright future - and an iron-like will to win
It’s been a rollercoaster year for 17-year-old Mason Paetel, culminating in becoming Yorkshire Apprentice Champion. Stuart Minting reports.
It’s the day after being crowned the top apprentice on Yorkshire’s racecourses, having finishing eighth in the Flat Jockeys’ Apprentice Championship on his first season, and Mason Paetel has his sights fixed firmly on winning the national title next year.
Mason oozes confidence way beyond his years, but there’s no hint of cockiness or arrogance. It’s clearly grounded in a iron-like will to win and self-imposed discipline.
It’s a December Wednesday afternoon and Mason’s catching his breath after a big session in the gym. He explains following a successful autumn he stopped riding for the year to protect his claim.
He said: "There’s a lot more goals I want to achieve next season. Protecting my claim is going to play a massive role in that.
"There are so many apprentices that are riding winners, doubles and trebles at this time of year, but it does not matter, it’s not counting towards anything. To me it’s just a waste of a claim.
“We were going into the season just looking for experience. We didn’t think it would have gone as well as it has.
“Every apprentice says they want to be champion apprentice and by saving my claim, being with the trainers who I am in with at the moment I am quite confident to say I’m in with a chance of doing that.
"It’s quite a hot field, but with my age and all the support I have it should give me a nice shot at it.”
It’s just over a year since Mason and three other young jockeys were handed ten-day bans for making their efforts much too late to catch a 22-length winner in the view of the stewards.
Reflecting on the punishment, Mason says while he understands why punters would be unhappy, it had felt harsh as he and other young riders were very green.
He said: “I rode to my instructions. I was told to drop the horse out, but if that was to happen now I would have a bit more of an idea on judging pace to realise that horse should never have gone that far clear. Warren Fentiman and I had just got our licences two weeks prior to that."
Two years ago Mason was racing ponies and after winning the champion title for a second time landed an apprentice licence with Kidderminster trainer Mark Loughnane, before being presented with an opportunity he said was too good to refuse.
“We hit quite a good spell soon after I moved to James Owen’s", said Mason. “James put me up on quite a few horses and I think I had about five winners in one week. For an apprentice that’s quite a high number.”
Mason, who hails from South Wales, said having the support and horses of James Owen, Mick Appleby and Ed Dunlop had helped him produce results far beyond his expectations.
His season’s highlight was riding his first double at Newmarket, for Tim Gredley. He said: “To ride in colours that have been all over the world, the Breeders’ Cup, and win a double was a massive achievement for me.”
However, after a string of successes Mason’s season hit the buffers again in the summer with a 30-day ban for breaching the whip rules.
Using the same take the bull by the horns approach he appears to with his career, when the sanction is mentioned Mason doesn’t hesitate. “At that part of the season I hit quite a low spot”, he said. “I just wanted to be busy and getting as many rides as possible.
"Only being 17 it was quite hard to process, so it was hard having to sit there and suffer watching people ride winners I could have ridden myself.”
He said while the move to Newmarket had also played an instrumental role he had missed his family. However, having an apartment in Newmarket at his age was the envy of his former classmates.
Mason said he left school in Year 10 as he had already determined what he wanted to achieve in life, and combined lessons at home with riding out for yards.
The significance of Mason’s 30-plus wins in a season is underscored by having achieved it, unlike many jockeys, with no horseracing in his family background. However, he pointed out he had the advantage of coming from a competitive, sporty family.
He said: “My dad was a diver and my brother, Bailey, was a professional rugby player playing for Gloucester. I have always been very sporty, I used to do a lot of cycling and triathlons. I have always been a fitness fanatic and enjoy it, which makes my job a lot easier."
Reflecting on the season’s highs and lows, Mason added: “There’s been a lot of good days and a lot of bad days. You’ve just got to pick your time to enjoy them. Next year when we look to go flat out and through the kitchen sink at me it will be a completely different season again.”