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4 Aug 2018

Top 5 British Jockeys of All Time


To be a successful jockey requires an iron discipline. Only few with a big passion for the sports manage to do so. They have to keep low weight and make their horse run as fast as possible. They also have to follow extreme diets before a big race.

Horse racing has always been a popular sport in the UK with a history that dates back to many centuries. It is considered as the second largest spectator sport in Great Britian. The Royal Ascot, the Grand National and the Cheltenham Festival are some of the big horse races in the UK.

With the coming month of March, Britian will see the arrival of a great Cheltenham Festival once again. It was revealed this January that 38 entries will be competing for the Gold Cup, which is the most famous race at the Cheltenham Festival. Already there is a great debate going on whether Sizing John will win the Gold Cup or whether Might Bite or Samcro will snatch the cup from the last year's winner. It would be difficult to say with any certainty about the winning prospects of any horse but it is sure to be a great race.

If you are a punter and your enthusiasm for the race is much more than an ordinary person, then the offers at Freebets might interest you. Here you will find everything about Cheltenham betting related so that it be your one-stop shop for the festival. From the finest free bets to great tips and enhanced odds, Freebets can give you all of that here. Whether it is the Supreme Novices' Hurdle or the Stayers Hurdle or the very famous Gold Cup, you will get the odds on all the races of the Cheltenham Festival.

As a punter, you should know that if your horse falls on the racing day you can avail from the money back offer of many bookmakers so that you won't lose your money in vain. While others are giving the Best Odds Guaranteed offer which means that if you take a price and the SP (Starting Price) is bigger, then you will get the pay at the bigger odds. For becoming a smart punter, you should look at all the offers that major bookmakers like Coral, Paddy Power, Betfair and Ladbrokes are offering, so that you can choose the best that suits your needs.

Below are the top 5 british jockeys of all time:

Lester Piggot:

The British jockey Lester Piggot began horse racing at the age of just ten years and winning his first race at 12 years of age. Horse racing was in his blood as both his father and grandfather were brilliant jockeys. During his incredible career, he claimed 4,493 wins making him one of the best jockeys of all time.

He was nicknamed as The Long Fellow because he was very tall for a jockey. He struggled to keep his weight down because of his height. He was the Champion Jockey who started a new style of race riding that was adopted by many all over the world.

Ryan Moore

The name of Ryan Moore in the list of best jockeys is a more recent entry. His father Gary L Moore was also a successful trainer and a jump jockey. His first wins came when he was 16, the time when he was starting to take up racing as a career. Though his mother believed that he might not make it in racing and had much better complete his studies. Ryan Moore however managed to include himself among the best jockeys winning the Champion Jockey for three times along with Champion Apprentice for one time.

Willie Carson:

Willie Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1942. Mostly known as Willie, he won the British Champion Jockey five times. Not only that, he managed to win 17 British Classic Races along with passing the 100 winners in a season for an incredible 23 times. All that adds up to a stunning 3,828 wins that makes him one of the best jockeys of Great Britain.
He was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Arsmstrong in Yorkshire to know about the basics of his trade. His first victory came when he was just twenty years of age in 1962.

Walter Swinburn

Walter Swinburn also came from a horse racing background. He was born in Oxford and his father Wally Swinburn was the first Irish jockey ever who claimed 100 wins in a season.
He was nicknamed as the Choirboy. He continued his career for more than two decades. In the 1981 Epsom Derby, he rode his superstar horse Shergar and won the race by a record breaking ten lengths.

Brough Scott

Brough Scott is the grandson of 'Galloper Jack' Seeley, the war hero of the World War-I. Besides a great jockey, he is also known as a horse racing journalist and a television presenter. He has worked for both Channel 4 and ITV.
Brough Scott has the distinction of riding more than 100 winners which also include the Imperial Cup and the Mandarin Handicap Chase.