Conditional Jockey Profiles

23 year old, Ireland born Richard is currently Conditional jockey to Jonjo O'Neill, and has been with the Gloucestershire based trainer since July 2007. His first winner came just 3 months later when he rode Castlecrossings to victory at Towcester for his employer.

Richard was brought up around horses and was a regular on the hunting field from the age of about 8 or 9. He also rode out at the weekends when he was still at school for JJ Walsh, and he managed to notch up 5 winners during his last year at school for Adrian McGuire. On leaving school he went to Eugene O'Sullivan for 2 years and Richard says "he is a great man and lovely to work for". Richard then made the move to Jonjo's and "hasn't looked back since".

His biggest winner to date came when partnered Can't Buy Time at Sandown, "it was very nice to ride a winner on Channel 4 on a Saturday, especially as it was for Jonjo and JP McManus".

Richard looks to have a bright future ahead of him, and his hopes are "to keep improving, and keep riding winners". His ultimate ambition is to go one better than his second last year and ride a Cheltenham Festival winner!

Shane took his conditional licence out in 2006, and in September 2007 he became conditional for Sue Smith. So far he has won a few class 3 races, but this is at big as it gets, not that this is an issue for Shane; "the big winners will come, I feel I have learned a lot from my week at the BRS, and can't wait to get back on the racecourse".

Shane is realistic with his ambitions; he hopes to ride 100 winners in 2 years, and get his name on the roll of honour for some Class 1 races.

Now conditional to James Ewart, 20 year old Harry began his racing career by completing the NVQ Level 2 here at the British Racing School. He took his amateur licence out in 2005 and then switched to conditional in 2008. To this day (September 09) he has had 373 rides under rules, which has resulted in 30 winners.

Harry's first winner was aboard Mythical Charm at Goodwood in the amateur Bollinger Champagne Series back in 2005. Once he became conditional it didn't take Harry long to ride a big winner; he has won both the Scottish National Bumper and a 130 rated handicap chase at Carlisle.

Harry's main aim is ride a Cheltenham Festival winner but at the moment he just wants to keep riding and improving himself.

Ed is 21 years old and Conditional to the Wiltshire based jumps trainer Andy Turnell. He has been employed by Andy since June 2008. Previous to this Ed held his Category A Permit form 2005 until he made the switch to conditional and by 12th November 2008 Ed had already ridden his first professional winner for his employer in the form of un-fancied 25-1 shot King Gabriel at Kempton.

This taste of victory has just spurred Ed on, and that is what he wants his future to consist of; riding big winners and being consistently good.

Matthew is 19 years old and conditional to Newmarket based trainer Lucy Wadham, where he has been employed since July 2008. Matthew has already ridden a winner for Lucy and several placed horses.

Matthew started riding at 8 years old and by 13 he was volunteering on Saturdays at Ken Clutterbuck, just working in the yard. This stood him in great stead and his eagerness to get on with his racing career meant he chose to gain his NVQ Levels 1 and 2 through the Flexible Learning Programme offered at The British Racing School. This meant he was qualified to start in a racing yard as soon as he left school. Ken took Matthews licence out for him and he rode 4 winners whilst employed there with the first one being Discomania on 9th May 2007 at Fakenham. When Ken retired from training Matthew made the move to Lucy Wadhams.

Matthews take on the future is realistic, with his first aims at the moment being to lose his claim and get as many rides as possible.

22 year old Lee Edwards is conditional to Worcestershire based Tony Carroll, with whom he started working for in April 2008. Previous to this he was employed by Trevor Wall for 2 seasons, and it was for him that he rode his first winner; Archimboldo at Bangor-On-Dee on 8th September 2006.

Lee hopes to have ridden out his 7lb claim by the end of 2009 and to continue to progress through the ranks, so that one day soon he is a regular at the major meetings, riding in the big races.

Peter is conditional to Alan King in Wiltshire but has only been there since February 2009, and is, understandably yet to ride a winner for him.

At just 18 years old Peter Hatton is a relatively young jockey in the adult world, but he started racing as a kid by competing in Pony Racing. This, in turn, brought him to the British Racing School in 2007 to complete his NVQ Level 2 in Racehorse Care.

Peter admits himself that life as a jockey is hard work, but he is prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed and become one of the "top jocks".

Edgar Byrnes' conditional Sean Keating started his career in racing by completing a 10 month course at RACE in Ireland in 2001 and then taking out his flat licence, with his first winner coming on English soil at Wolverhampton on 11th November 2002 riding All Night Thing for Niall Donohoe. Sean held his apprentice licence for one season and had an impressive strike rate of 25%. Following this with a 2 year stint with a conditional licence, Sean took a break before returning to race riding in September 2008 for current employer Edgar Byrnes.

So what does the future hold for Sean? Well hopefully to "ride a lot of winners and win the Grand National".

Gary is 21 years old and currently conditional to Sue Smith in Bingley, West Yorkshire. He has held his licence since October 2006, with his first winner coming at Hexham on 13th October 2007 on Willie The Fish for his employer Sue Smith.

Gary started out with horses by hunting as a child and from this he decided that a career in racing would be for him. He then made the move to attend the British Racing School and completed his NVQ Level 2 in 2006. On graduation he went to work for Nicky Henderson, and after a season there he made the move to Sue Smith where he has remained for the past three seasons.

Looking to the future Gary hopes to ride out his claim, and keep improving every season, which will hopefully land him that big win that every jockey aspires to.

19 year old Alexander, conditional to Lucy Normile, who is based up in Perthshire, Scotland started his career in racing by coming to the British Racing School to complete his NVQ Level 2 back in 2006.

In February 2008 Alexander took out his Amateur Permit, which he quickly upgraded to his Conditional Licence in June 2008. And it was on 1st February 2009 when Alexander rode his first winner aboard Strobe at Musselburgh.

Because Alexander now also holds his apprentice licence, the future plans are yet to be decided!

22 year old Charlie is conditional to Gary Moore, but rode his first winner for Martin Pipe back in February 2006, at Plumpton aboard Better Moment. This was when Charlie still held his amateur licence; in fact he didn't make the switch to conditional until he joined Gary Moore in September 2008.

Charlie's biggest success to date was riding Royaleety to victory at the King George VI meeting at Kempton on 26th December 2008. The 25-1 shot was trained by Nicky Henderson and this was the only time Charlie had sat on the horse and he managed to break the horse's 5 year dry spell.

Like every young jump jockey Charlie has a main aim to one day ride a Cheltenham Festival winner, but at the moment he is concentrating on riding out his claim.