F EATURE INTERVIEW
Will Harry Skelton take the Jump Jockeys‘ Championship for the second time? Harry Skelton
F or 20 years there was only ever one name at the top of the Jump Jockeys’ Championship. However, since the retirement in 2015 of the legendary Sir AP McCoy, who won the accolade every year he was a professional rider, three jockeys have lifted the coveted trophy. Richard Johnson stepped out from his close friend McCoy’s shadow to win the title four years on the trot between 2015-16 and 2018-19, before Brian Hughes was successful in 2019-20. But the 2020-21 title race went down to the wire, providing a thrilling narrative to the end of the season. Despite a persistent challenge from reigning champion Hughes, it was a di erent name etched on the trophy when it was held aloft at Sandown Park on bet365 Jump Finale day in April – Harry Skelton. As the son of Olympic gold medal- winning showjumper Nick Skelton and with a tireless work ethic, the 31-year- old’s success came as no surprise to those who have followed his career since he rst started out. His rise to the summit of his profession has not been without its challenges, though, including a tough 2012-13 campaign when he partnered just eight winners. However, a relentless drive to succeed and the formidable partnership he has forged with his brother Dan, who trains in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, produced 152 winners last season. And while it is his name on the silverware, Skelton is in no doubt that it required a huge team e ort to help him realise his childhood ambition. He explains: “Since I came into
too. I wear my heart on my sleeve and get excited and probably over-celebrate when we win, but it is a family-run business and it means that much more when you are riding for your brother and want to do well for him.” This season Skelton can expect strong challenges from a number of weighing-room rivals, including Hughes and Harry Cobden, who su ered a season-ending injury when still in contention last season. Ominously for them, however, he insists he has no intention of slowing down. Skelton adds: “I suppose that when you have won it once, you want to win it again. I’m very lucky I’ve got a big stable to ride for and, hopefully, if I have a good clean season free of injury and I’m in the same position again, then of course, I will try to do it again.”
people get to live out their childhood dream and I’m very lucky I’ve had the chance. I’m in the yard every day, I’m with the horses and sta every day. I’m a part of that team and I get a kick out of it, as I know how much the stable sta who look after the horses want it as well.” For the Skeltons, racing is their life. Not only does Harry Skelton travel around the UK’s racecourses seven days a week, his wife Bridget Andrews is also a jockey and brother Dan nished second in last season’s trainers’ championship behind Paul Nicholls. Skelton continues: “There are a lot of people who have helped me, and if it wasn’t for Dan, I wouldn’t be in this position. Bridget has been amazing. Whether I’ve had a good or a bad day, she is always there and we can always talk things over, and Dad’s been fantastic,
race riding, being Champion Jockey is something I’ve always wanted to achieve. Not many
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