Is san aois a gintear an gaois
Irish proverb: With age comes wisdom
THERE is no stopping Richard Johnson, four months shy of his 43rd birthday. The Herefordshire pilot retains an insatiable hunger for winners and in particular, to be champion jockey.
That overrides any other race victory for him, being an illustration of durability, workrate and consistent excellence.
After four consecutive titles, devoured following the retirement of A.P. McCoy, and establishing a dominance that was emblematic of his longtime bête noire, Johnson returned to the saddle at Musselburgh on Thursday just 37 days after breaking his arm in a fall at Exeter where he rode a double.
He may have been on the cusp of 39 when annexing his maiden title but rather than bask in the exultation of the achievement of a lifetime goal and allow himself a more comfortable conclusion to a stellar career, he has ratcheted up the intensity.
It is befitting of his riding style, one that ensures opponents have earned their win if they do get the upper hand; inherently positive, always asking questions of the rest by demanding more of his steed, and getting it. Think Native River in the 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup, a partnership made in heaven.
Cropper
When Johnson came a cropper on Westend Story just over five weeks ago, it was presumed that the race for this year’s championship was over and that Brian Hughes, who was three ahead at the time, would race clear.
But thanks to the now normal outbreak of winter weather at the beginning of spring, and the abandonment of a number of fixtures, the gap had only extended to 20 when battle resumed. And Hughes has a three- day suspension coming up, although the Armagh native is appealing.
It is a big gap but not completely out of the question that it could be bridged.
“When you have broken a bone like an arm or something like that, you know you are going to be out for a fair chunk of time. I thought that I could easily be a lot further behind than I am. The weather has been on my side. There has been a fair few meetings missed. I have had a bit of luck in that in a weird sort of way.
“It’s not riding (20) winners in the year though, it’s riding (20) more than Brian is riding. I am realistic about this as well. That is going to be very difficult to achieve. But it is still nice to think that it is in my hands, and I always want to ride as many winners as possible.
Championship
“For me, it was always my dream to be champion. It took me a long time to get there to start with. At the end of the day, if I am not champion this year, I will really trying to win it back next year. The championship is always the thing I felt that if you work hard that there is a chance you can keep that. Whereas a Gold Cup, Grand National or Champion Hurdle, you need the luck to ride the right horse. You have to give it a good ride but you also need that horse.
“I go racing every day there is racing and I try hard, then hopefully you clock up the winners that give you a good chance to get in a position to be top jockey. I have been lucky enough to ride lots of good winners and I want to win much more but the championship is always the thing I would be most proud at the end of a season if I could manage it.
“I would love to ride a National or another Gold Cup winner. Any of the big races. They are all very special. But while I am a jockey the championship is always my most important thing to try and achieve.”
It is unequivocal and notable for someone who has won all the championship races at Cheltenham but not joined the Grand National roll of honour.
Rehabilitation
He may be the elder statesman among the professionals now, with Leighton Aspell calling time on his career last Sunday, but Johnson has learned so much now about rehabilitation, conditioning and how his body operates, that he sees no reason to consider. That wisdom, allied to everything else he has picked up along the in more than a quarter of a century in the saddle, makes him a better rider now than ever.
He is certainly better at listening to doctors.
“Yeah I would say so. You accept it is broken and I can’t change it. Also the advice now that we are having and the surgery I had, you are better looked after. You are put back together better. I am definitely no doctor. Hopefully you are listening to the right people. I am very lucky. I have got a very good physio I work with (Kate Davis). We have three different places in England to rehab (Oaksey House, Jack Berry House and Peter O’Sullevan House).
“We are able to be on the right track from a very early start. That helps because you feel like rather than just being sat there at home doing nothing, you are hopefully speeding up the process.
“When I started, you walked into your GP, you went to the pub for a few weeks, you watched the racing on TV and then you started riding out two days before you started riding again. Whereas now, everything is better.
“Jockeys are in better shape than they used to be. We probably had a lot of ground to make up on rugby and football and a lot of the contact sports were leading the way. Hopefully, we have made progress over the last few years.”
The fact that jockeys need to make weight means they aren’t bulking up like James Ryan or Mario Itoje but not all conditioning leads to one result. And that is the message jockeys are finally taking on board, in Ireland too, where the Jockey Pathway put in place by the IHRB is proving a real hit.
“Physios, the support people you have now, nutritionists and all that sort of thing are such a help. It’s not rocket science but again it’s about getting the right advice. There’s all sorts of fitness. You can still get fit and strong without being butch…. It’s all about listening to the right people.”
Ireland
His link with Ireland is no less ephemeral than his career. He was only 18 when navigating his first winner on these shores, the David Nicholson-trained Billygoat Gruff in the Heineken Gold Cup – a novice handicap chase at the time. That propelled him into the fully fledged professional ranks, his last success as a claimer and the first of what is now a double figure tally at the Punchestown Festival.
Midnight Legend, Zafarabad, Anzum, What’s Up Boys, Flagship Uberalles, Planet Of Sound, Captain Chris and Wishfull Thinking were among others to prevail under his urgings in the intervening 24 years.
“David used to love coming over here. At a young age, it was the Heineken Gold Cup at the time, that was one of my first big winners. It was my first real taste of Ireland and I naturally enjoyed it. I was lucky, I was getting good rides over there. Philip (Hobbs) has always liked going to Ireland too, especially the Punchestown Festival.
“I am really into the Punchestown Festival and have had large success. Definitely a career highlight for me was riding Florida Pearl (in the 2001 Hennessy, by now in its current guise for staying chasers), before I knew what an amazing horse he was. At the time he was the horse of Ireland.
“Unfortunately, Ruby (Walsh) managed to get knocked out. For Willie Mullins to ask me to ride and to get to ride was one of the highlights of my career. I have had a lot of very good days in Ireland and I am hoping to have a few more to come.”
He won twice more on Violet O’Leary’s brilliant gelding, including the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown three years later, in what was Florida Pearl’s last race.
“He was the horse of a generation. It was a privilege to ride him. He will always have very fond memories for me.”
Johnson also bagged the euros with La Bague Au Roi at the Dublin Racing Festival last year. He believes the weekend has a significant role in the calendar and that English trainers will look at it more closely in time, just as Warren Greatrex has done.
Rooster Booster and Richard Johnson flying home to win the 2003 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham \ Healy Racing
Competitive
“The thing is having the right horse. At the moment, Ireland have such a strong hand in every division. You have got Willie, Gordon (Elliott), Joseph O’Brien, Henry de Bromhead, Jessica Harrington. It is very competitive.
“For an English horse, it is probably easier in England. That is not knocking the Dublin Festival, it is just how hard it is to come there and win anything. It is all about the opposition and weighing it up.
“Cheltenham doesn’t suit every single horse. The horses that have Aintree as their main target, coming to Leopardstown would be perfect. I am sure it might take a while to grow but it is nice to see that they have put on a festival like that. The last two years you have had such fantastic racing there.”
And of course, Johnson has had a very fruitful relationship with Elliott’s Scottish-travelling contingent in particular.
“I rode Gordon’s first ever winner (Arresting) in Perth, many years ago now (2006). But Perth has a soft spot for Gordon. It is perfect for me to go to in the summer. If you can add winners anywhere is great but he always seems to know the right horses to bring over.”
Cheltenham
With Walsh another of his generation having hung up the boots, Johnson is now the second most successful active pilot at Cheltenham behind Barry Geraghty and just ahead of Davy Russell.
It began with Anzum in the Stayers’ Hurdle in 1999. His tally of 23 also includes a first Gold Cup on Looks Like Trouble for future father-in-law Noel Chance the following year, Champion Chase on Flagship Uberalles in 2002 when he was leading rider, Champion Hurdle in 2003 on Rooster Booster, Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Menorah in 2010 and Arkle Chase on Captain Chris in 2011.
Native River was his most recent, in that unforgettable Gold Cup.
Behemoth
The Cheltenham Festival has become a commercial, revenue-turning behemoth but remains the pinnacle for industry people too.
“I don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all but everyone’s focus now is Cheltenham. An owner dreams of a runner let alone a winner. I am sure a winner is what they really dream of, of course. But for a lot of people it is a massive part of the season. The bumper horses from this year, people will be thinking of the novice hurdle they will run in next year’s festi val, and the novice hurdlers are going to go chasing or whatever.
“In people’s minds they are always thinking about next year, if you will be good enough to go to Cheltenham. It is nice to have a dream and a goal.
“But at the same time there are lots of other big races all year round. Sometimes it can be hard for a trainer. Sometimes they know their horse is a really good horse but realistically they are not going to win at Cheltenham.
“They are probably trying to work hard to convince the owner or convince themselves that ‘we might miss Cheltenham but we might go to Aintree or Newbury the week before it or Kempton the week after’. Another nice prize but perhaps not get sucked into running at the Cheltenham Festival.
Fantastic
“It is a fantastic place. There is no better place to have a winner. We all dream of that but it is a balance between being realistic and going there with a real chance.”
He is slow to pick his Prestbury Park highlights for that reason but Anzum was “really special” because he was the first, coming from the clouds under a power-packed drive to nab Le Coudray on the line.
Thyme Hill represents the best opportunity of number 24, in the Albert Bartlett.
“I think so. Thyme Hill has already won a Grade 1. He ran really well in the bumper last year (when third), only beaten two and a half lengths by Envoi Allen. The form of the bumper last year, it’s incredible how well it’s worked out.
“He obviously goes there with a massive chance. He is definitely my best chance.”
With Richard Johnson, there’s always a chance.
Five-day Cheltenham?
“IF you only get one get extra race, you get one extra chance to have a winner so for me it would be a positive. I can see people saying, ‘I don’t know’. But the Cheltenham Festival highlights everything that is good about jumps racing in Britain and Ireland. We all love being there and it brings out the best horses. You get to see lots of very good racing. There is nothing not to like about it.
People don’t like change but it is one of those, as long as it is done in the right way and we have the right races there is no reason not to.
IT is important that the jockey needs to step up. We are the only ones that can change what is going on on the track. It is very important for us jockeys to ride responsibly and use the whip responsibly. I think it is in a very good place but at the same time I understand we have got to show we are caring, we are constantly trying to monitor the situation, and make sure the people are using it responsibly. That is key. It is much better to be on the front foot and make sure we are always looking at the veterinary advice we are given and it is up to the jockeys to deal with it responsibly.”
Explained
“We also need to make it easier for everybody to understand why we need it and why we should be keeping it as well. It is easy to say you shouldn’t use them but actually whether it’s in the hunting field or racing or point-to-pointing or my children riding there ponies, it’s important people use them properly but also for people that don’t ride to understand why we carry them and what purpose they serve. It is an area that needs to be publicised well and explained as much as anything else.”
Staying with Philip Hobbs
“THERE has been one or two options along the way but I am very lucky. Philip is obviously a very good trainer as well and we have had lots of success together. He is a gentleman to ride for. His loyalty is amazing. In the good or bad times he doesn’t change. He is a fantastic trainer.
“As a jockey, to have big yard behind you and supporting you is very important. At the same time, he also, if there is a La Bague Au Roi or a Florida Pearl or a Native River, he is happy for me to ride those as well. That is a fantastic opportunity when you are working for someone like that who works with you rather than against you.”
Richard Johnson after winning the 2004 Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown as Tracey Gilmour leads up Florida Pearl "the horse of a generation" \ Healy Racing