In the event you’ve ever spent your morning commute daydreaming about beginning afresh along with your profession, this function is for you. Every Monday, we converse to somebody from a distinct occupation to find what it is actually like.
This week we chat to Harry Skelton, Nationwide Hunt jockey and winner of the David Energy Jockeys’ Cup…
Jockeys are self-employed, so your pay might be up and down relying in your outcomes… We get a flat price payment of round £200 a experience after which for those who win or place, you get extra prize cash. About 8% of the profitable pot goes to the jockey. We typically receives a commission to coach and train horses within the morning, too.
For me, a typical day is a bit completely different… as a result of I am very a lot concerned within the coaching and working of the yard. My brother Dan Skelton is a famend coach and solely narrowly missed out on changing into Champion Coach final yr when dropping on the ultimate day to Willie Mullins, so on non-racing days I will be up at 5.30am earlier than stopping for an hour at 1pm, earlier than going again to the horses using out, education horses and organising the coaching earlier than stopping about 5.30pm.
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Jockey Harry Skelton
On racing days… I will be up on the similar time and instantly using out earlier than heading off to wherever that day’s racing is, generally three to 4 hours away. More often than not I will be house by about 7pm however generally it could possibly rise up to 10pm earlier than I am house.
I haven’t got a specific pre-race routine… and never something superstitious, however I simply need to ensure that I am ready for every race as a lot as attainable, and I will all the time do my homework on that.
I do not get any bills… every part is a price to the jockey. Tom Messenger, who works for us, does many of the driving, however there’s a number of time spent within the automobile.
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I used to be two once I first sat on a horse… I’ve all the time ridden, however not all jockeys want to begin that younger. My first job was as an newbie jockey at Richard Hannon’s yard once I was 16. It’s a must to be decided. It’s essential to need to win on this job.
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Harry Skelton aboard The New Lion at Cheltenham. Pic: PA
I run as a enterprise, so all my prize cash goes into there… It is only a query of attempting to maintain constructing that up. The David Energy Jockeys’ Cup was a brand new competitors for leap jockeys final season, with a first-place prize of £500k, which I used to be fortunate sufficient to win. I have not paid tax on it but, however for those who’re paying large tax payments, it means you are incomes lots, so though they seem to be a ache on the subject of paying them, I would somewhat be paying them than not. I have not purchased myself something out of that prize but, however I shall be placing on a giant social gathering to say thanks to everybody who has supported me.
I do have a pension and investments able to go… however I believe I will be busier in retirement than I’m now.
My message to horse racing critics is… there is a lack of expertise about what goes on behind the scenes. I have been concerned in horses my complete lifetime, together with a number of different individuals, and we do it as a result of we love the horses. The game has a unbelievable occasion in August known as Nationwide Racehorse Week, the place the general public can come to go to coaching yards without cost and meet the racehorses and individuals who take care of them.
The largest false impression about my position is… that jockeys have to be critically robust and resilient. The falls and accidents that go along with the job aren’t simple to bounce again from. Jockeys require a really excessive degree of power and health.
It is true that in case you are shorter, you can be a bit lighter… which is able to make life simpler as a jockey. I am 5ft 7in.
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Asta La Pasta ridden by Harry Skelton. Pic: PA
When selecting a horse… I all the time prefer to see an excellent head carriage and good, robust ears.
If I might change one factor in regards to the trade… I might change the quantity of leap racing by the summer season, which might permit for extra downtime.
Profitable sponsorship offers is… ultra-competitive, and I now have somebody who helps me with that type of stuff. There are many beneficiant sponsors who need to get entangled within the sport and after they come knocking, you greet them with open arms.
It is a very large household within the weighing room… and we actually look out for each other. We additionally journey rather a lot collectively to the races, however it’s ultra-competitive. When that flag goes down and the tape goes again, you need to win – it is sport. There are winners and there are losers, however that is the way in which it’s.
If I needed to cease being a jockey tomorrow… I would work extra alongside my brother, coaching horses.
