It was all a blur... but I loved it!
Our man on his charity ride
The formbook never lies. To be successful in racing, you must be hard-nosed in your analysis. So how would my riding debut on board Geoffrey Deacon-trained Moon Trip in the heROS charity race at Windsor on Saturday be recorded?
‘Broke well, raced wide, outpaced half-way before staying on one pace. Finishing post arrived too soon.’ About a mile and a half too soon.
Last of six but a run packed with promise, from the horse — when he gets his proper distance — rather than the jockey.
Moon Trip was just getting into his stride as the line approached. At one point, I thought I might catch Sally Parry on fifth-placed King Muro but there was too much ground to make up.
I should really be grateful that, on my race riding debut, I did at least not have to call upon Sally to switch back to her day job, that of a district nurse. Perhaps not surprisingly, the telephone did not ring yesterday with an enquiry from a trainer asking whether I was free to ride tomorrow.
But I have learned plenty from my brief dip into a world I observe every day. My rivals, headed by winner Daniel Bonner on Foxtrot Jubilee trained by his boss Ralph Beckett, anticipated the start better than me.
Runner-up Frankie Amatt on Presto Boy rode the sort of race her boss, champion jockey turned trainer Richard hughes, pulled off so many times, and almost timed her late run to perfection.
Before I rode in my first race I was told to expect things to happen in a blur — and they did.
I tried to execute the tactical plan that Deacon had laid out — fast start, settle, kick off the bend in the home straight — but it was all too slow and mechanical.
My plan to get a starting berth by the rail went up in smoke as I found myself lining up out wide where I raced.
I went further, as well as carrying more weight than my rivals. Poor Moon Trip, handicapped out of it.
But it was a privilege for me to mix with the likes of Frankie Dettori, Jim Crowley and Willy Twiston-Davies in the weighing room and race alongside rivals, three of whom work full time for trainers.
In one way I feel a little guilty. My job gave me the contacts to ride and to secure help and a mount in Saturday’s race. There are loads of stable staff vastly more competent than me — they are the backbone of the sport and would love the chance to race just once, fulfilling lifetime ambitions.
Some countries run races for jockeys who are mainly work riders. In Britain, it is surely possible to draw up a countrywide series of races each season to give backroom staff their day in the sun. Make trainers use different staff, not just favoured ones. Maybe have a league table among bigger stables.
The support I’ve received suggests it should not be impossible to find generous sponsors. It might even be a lure to potential recruits in an industry scratching its head over how to deal with a shortage of stable staff.
To donate, go to justgiving.com and search for Marcus Townend. TheRe are doubts about Aidan O’Brien’s top two-year-old Caravaggio running again this season because of a rib muscle injury.