Murphy and Skelton saddle Warwick winners
THE Stan Mellor Memorial Beginners Chase and the annual Richard Davis Awards combined to make for an afternoon celebrating jockeys past and present at Warwick on Tuesday, reports David Hucker.
Just three lined up for the feature race, named in memory of Stan Mellor, the first jockey to ride 1,000 jumps winners. Run previously as a novices’ race and won in the last two years by the classy Stage Star and Iroko, this year’s contest was restricted to horses that had not won a steeplechase and it was Rambo T, trained locally by Olly Murphy, who headed the betting.
Runner-up on his first start over fences at Uttoxeter, Rambo T put that experience to good use, making all the running under Sean Bowen to see off the challenge of Skycutter on the run-in.
The Richard Davis Awards, first hosted in 1997 in memory of jockey Richard Davis who had lost his life in a race fall the year before, highlight the career development of both former and current jockeys and showcase the services provided by JETS to help them prepare for their futures after riding.
Former conditional jockey, Sam Welton won the top prize, the Jockey Club Achievement Award worth £3,000, for achieving a 2:1 degree in Structural and Civil Engineering, graduating in 2023 and progressing to working as a site agent on large construction projects.
Jump jockey Alan Johns was the winner of the £2,000 IJF Progress Award for developing a range of media experience alongside his riding and the BHA Development Award, worth £1,000, went to apprentice Elisha Whittington who took part in the Jockey Ambassador training programme to give her the confidence to carry out various school visits with Racing to School.
The winners were presented with their awards before the running of the JETS Richard David Awards Handicap Chase won by I’m Ravenous. Ben Jones had sent his mount into the lead from the off and, putting in a superb round of jumping, the 7/2 shot saw off the determined challenge of Charles Ritz to prevail by half a length.
It had been business as usual in the opening Trustatrader trustatrader.com Juvenile Maiden Hurdle when the Dan Skelton-trained Flowering beat Character Testing by a neck with Scotties Sister the same distance away in third. Flowering looked to be the stable’s second-best, with brother Harry riding the more-fancied Our Lil who finished fourth, but those who backed him were rewarded with a 33/1 winner as Skelton made it four winners in three meetings for the new Warwick season.
The ups and downs of racing were illustrated all too clearly in the following novices’ hurdle when Skelton’s runner Asian Star, sent off the hot 1/2 favourite, couldn’t peg back Bredon Hill, who made every yard of the running in the hands of James Turner to win by three lengths.
