Category Archives: Jockeys

Nowadays, Kevin Darley is best known as the Northern Representative of Qatar Bloodstock and Pearl Bloodstock, which represent the bloodstock interests of the Royal Family of Qatar. Nevertheless, in his younger days, as an apprentice under the tutelage of Reg Hollinshead at Upper Longdon, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, he rode his first winner, Dust Up, at Haydock on his seventeenth birthday in 1977. A year later, as an 18-year-old, Darley became Champion Apprentice with 71 winners.

Hollinshead was famed for his ‘production line’ of future top jockeys and, true to form, in 2000, Darley became the first jockey based in the North of England since Elijah Wheatley in 1905 to win the jockeys’ title. His title-winning season, in which he rode 155 winners in Britain, was not, in fact, the most successful of his 31-year career as a jockey. The following season, 2001, he actually rode 161 winners, from fewer rides than in 2000, but came up just five short of the 166 winners ridden by Kieren Fallon.

Nevertheless, Champion Jockey he was, winning 14 races at Listed or Pattern level on British soil, including the Sprint Cup at Haydock on Pipalong, trained by Tim Easterby, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Observatory, trained by John Gosden. Other high-profile victories included Bay Of Islands, trained by Dave Morris, in the Northumberland Plate, a.k.a. the ‘Pitmen’s Derby’, at Newcastle – one of the most valuable races of its kind in the world – and Dim Sums, trained by David Barron, in the Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar.

Darley was Champion Jockey just once but, when he retired in 2007, he had ridden over 2,500 winners worldwide, including 26 at the highest level, and over a hundred winners in Britain in 11 of the 13 seasons between 1993 and 2005 inclusive.

Michael ‘Muis’ Roberts was South African Champion Jockey 11 times before turning his attention to Britain in 1986. It was, in fact, his second ‘crack’ at breaking into the elite of British jockeys after his first, abortive attempt in 1978, when he rode just 25 winners.

In 1986, with the support of Alec Stewart and Clive Brittain, Roberts rode a ‘quite satisfactory’ 42 winners but, by his own admission, his riding career in Britain really ‘took off’ when he rode Mtoto, trained by Stewart, to victory over the Derby winner, Reference Point, in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in 1987. In fact, Mtoto won the Coral-Eclipse Stakes again in 1988, as well as the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot three weeks later, and is consequently the horse for which Roberts is best remembered internationally.

Nevertheless, fast forward five years to 1992 and, having become first jockey to Sheikh Mohammed, Roberts won his first and only jockeys’ title in Britain with 206 winners. He was, in fact, one of the few jockeys born outside the British Isles, and the first since Steve Cauthen, in 1987, to become Champion Jockey. Furthermore, at that time, he became just the fourth jockey since 1840 – after Fred Archer, Tommy Loates and Sir Gordon Richards – to ride over 200 winners in a season.

Highlights of his title-winning season include three wins for European Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, Lyric Fantasy, trained by Richard Hannon Snr., in the National Stakes at Sandown, the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Nunthorpe Stakes at York, two more Royal Ascot winners – in the form of Shalford, also trained by Hannon, in the Cork and Orrery Stakes, and Armarama, trained by Clive Brittain, in the Ribblesdale Stakes – and Ivanka, also trained by Brittain, in the Fillies’ Mile at Ascot.