Steely-eyed Flint in emotional tribute to old family favourite

As Rhys Flint jumped off Fair Along after winning successive renewals of the John Smith's Hurdle, he patted his hero's mane.

He then kissed the horse's neck, Flint's eyes swelling with pride and emotion, as he accepted the applause of a Wetherby crowd who have such an appreciation for perennial horses like the doughty Fair Along.

The tactical victory, Fair Along outbattling the former Cheltenham Festival winner Kayf Aramis after a bold, perfectly timed piece of front running, confirmed the 19-year-old rider's status as one of jump racing's top prospects after he graduated from Doncaster's Northern Racing College three years ago.

He was also determined to prove wrong those betting experts who wrote off his horse's chances beforehand. "Really?" said Flint, with a look of steely determination, when the Yorkshire Post informed him of their scepticism. "I don't think they know my boy."

Every aspiring jockey needs a horse to help establish a career. But Fair Along is more than that, he is an old favourite with an unique place in the affections of the Flint family.

The horse ended up at the small, family-run South Wales stables run by John and Maxine Flint, with able assistance from their two sons, after they bought him out of a Wolverhampton claimer for 6,000.

"Rhys was 12 when Fair Along came along – he used to school him at home over the hurdles. We were out one time and I phoned Rhys. He said he'd been schooling Fair Along. I asked 'how many times?' He said 'about 20 times'," recalled Mrs Flint, her voice palpable with pride.

"That's 20 times up our gallops that have three sets of hurdles. That's a lot of schooling, but the horse didn't mind. When he was due to have his first run at Bangor, Rhys did the final piece of work. I'll never forget his words: 'Mum, this horse is a machine'.

"We soon realised, when he won two races, he was special, a possible Cheltenham winner, and took the decision to sell. Both Rhys and his elder brother Tom were in private school – we were doing it to protect their longer-term interests.

"When Alan Peterson came down to buy Fair Along, he could see Rhys was upset and said to him 'One day, you'll ride him for me in a race'. An honourable man, he kept to his word."

Every summer, Flint would spend nine weeks 'work experience' at Philp Hobbs's stables. Riding was not the only attraction – it just so happened that Fair Along stabled here.

Yet, while the horse fulfilled the family's hopes and was second in the 2006 Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, his career tailed off and he did not take to fences, despite the considerable expertise of Richard Johnson, the second most successful jockey of all time, and a second place finish in the Arkle Trophy.

In stepped Flint who, as a 17-year-old, memorably won two handicap hurdles at Cheltenham on Fair Along in 2008 before partnering his old favourite to two famous successes at Wetherby.

Horse and jockey are clearly made for each other, as Flint said on Saturday once he had regained his composure.

"I've been waiting all summer to ride this horse. He has a bit of a quirk but he tries his little heart out and you can't ask any more than that," said last season's champion conditional. "He's one of the best jumpers I've ridden over hurdles and he's the horse that really got my career going.

"It's quite emotional really and I can't thank the owner or the boss enough for letting me ride a horse like this."

Yet it was Flint's mother who eloquently explained her son's emotions after being afforded a hero's welcome by the Wetherby faithful. With Hobbs and Peterson at Ascot, there was no-one to greet Fair Along – apart from his stable lass.

"He called me up and said 'there was nobody to see him come in'. That's how much it meant. Up in weights from last year, it's probably the best win of the horse's career. And Rhys's. And it shows just how strong the bond is between the two of them – perhaps those unsupervised schooling sessions paid off," she said.

"I don't know how many hurdles they jumped all those years ago, I think Rhys was being economical at the time, but whatever he does, and we hope he has great success, there will never be another like Fair Along."

Flint does not know the horse's immediate future but says: "He owes me nothing, and there's always Wetherby next year – I cannot wait."

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