Turf Topics: Reveley on 'recovery of year'

JAMES Reveley's reputation as one of the country's best young horsemen follows a number of eye-catching wins in high-profile races – and a maiden win over Aintree's Grand National fences when he led from start to finish in a tactical masterpiece of riding.

Yet it is not just the number of wins that riders are judged upon.

So, too, is their ability to stay in the saddle when their fate is a hopeless one – as this stunning photograph opposite of the 20-year-old Yorkshireman clearly shows.

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Riding Calculaite, a nine-year-old with six wins from 46 career starts, Reveley was optimistic as he approached the first fence.

He had finished third on the bay gelding at Musselburgh in their last outing, and he thought that he had a winning chance on the 20-1 outsider.

As the eight-runner field cantered away from the start, galloping at speeds approaching 30 miles per hour, horse and rider were ideally placed towards the inner.

Typically, this most intelligent of jockeys did not want to reveal his hand too early. There was still the matter of a dozen fences, each over four-feet tall, and two miles to negotiate.

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What he did not expect, however, was for the lowering sun, on a crisp Doncaster afternoon, to play its part in a spectacular near miss which illustrates the risks which confront horses and jockeys, the bravest of sporting warriors, whenever they come under starter's orders.

"I wouldn't normally blame the sun but it had just come out and was facing us directly. Normally, fences are bypassed if there is thought to be a safety risk," said Reveley as he explained his gravity-defying efforts which must be a 'recovery of the year' contender.

"We were ready to meet the first on a perfect stride, but Calculaite took off a stride too soon. It happens in a split-second. Nothing prepares you. He landed on the fence and then half fell but, as the photo shows, he managed to stay on the feet.

"Instinct takes over. The horse does not want to roll on the ground and somehow I came down on his back. Nine times out of 10 and I would have come off."

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Reveley, who lives at his family's dairy farm and stables at Lingdale, near Saltburn, and is the third generation of this racing family to excel in National Hunt racing, said the risks were two-fold.

The horse, he says, could have rolled on him if he had not managed to keep his legs in the stirrups. The other scenario could have seen one leg coming free and the other remaining caught in the stirrups as the horse found his feet and galloped off. It is painful to even think about.

"Nothing can prepare you, just practice," says Reveley, who spends each summer refining his skills with top French trainer Guillaume Macaire

"It's probably fortunate here that I'm six-feet tall and ride long. I'm sitting deep on the horse and I'm not up its neck like a Flat jockey. I managed to keep my feet in the irons – at a stretch, as you can see.

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"But that's racing – anything can happen. My chance had gone, but once he had recovered, we hacked round and jumped the fences – I just wanted him to get his confidence back and he jumped well in our own time."

Trained in Cumbria by Martin Todhunter, Calculaite was the last of the seven finishers.

Reveley, who has been concussed in his more serious falls, laughs off suggestions that he should train to become a 2012 Olympic gymnast gymnast because of his balance. He will stick with racing, he says.

And following the unexpected drama of the Skybet.com Handicap Chase at Doncaster last Friday, he hopes to be back at Town Moor on Saturday to ride Tazbar, the Reveley's stable star and a staying chaser of great potential.

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An impressive winner on their last start, Reveley is expecting a clean, accurate and exhilarating round of jumping.

But, then again, he thought the same about Calculaite. Reveley puts his survival down to luck and instincts – but, in doing so, he plays down his own outstanding horsemanship.

Today's meeting at Folkestone will have to pass an early morning inspection.

Newcastle and Exeter officials will hold inspections later today to determine tomorrow's racing prospects.