ANDREW Thornton, one of the most durable and popular members of the weigh-room, retired at Uttoxeter on Wednesday, signing off with a winner.

The 45-year-old rider rode his 1,007th winner in a 27-year career when partnering the Seamus Mullins-trained Amirr to 10-length victory in a two-mile maiden hurdle. He then came agonisingly close to a winner on his final ride when leading over the last on Manhattan Spring, only to be reeled in by 16/1 shot Lively Article and Tom O’Brien on the run in.

The jockey told At The Races: “It couldn’t have worked out any better. It’s a special day. The lads are all here, Dave Roberts (agent) is here and my parents are here, my little boy Harry and Yvonne (wife). It’s a bit special alright.”

Thornton’s long and distinguished career saw him ride the winners of 1,006 races including the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup on former hunter-chaser Cool Dawn, at 25/1.

A Geordie, Thornton started out with the legendary Arthur (W.A.) Stephenson and rode his first winner on Wrekin Hill at Sedgefield in 1991.

Tall for a jockey and happy to acknowledge his sometimes ungainly style, he was nonetheless thoroughly effective and battled on through various injuries to pass the 1,000 mark to heart-warming approval from all in the sport.

He rode far more winners for Robert Alner than anyone else and the ride on Cool Ground, who remarkably made all and was going away again at the end, stands out in the memory. However, his victory for the same loyal handler on Miko de Beauchene in the 2007 Coral Welsh Grand National meant even more to him because it came only a few weeks after Alner’s horrific car accident which left him confined to a wheelchair.

Another of Thornton’s other big wins came on Paul Nicholls’ See More Business in the King George VI Chase.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and wouldn’t change anything, except maybe I wouldn’t fall off so often,” he joked this week. “I’ll be kept busy enough with broadcasting work for BBC 5 Live, some stints on ITV Racing and my work for William Hill at their studios in Leeds.”