THE prospect of injuries probably comes in the small print of a jump jockeys’ licence. Not many other professions involve being followed by an ambulance during working hours but some fare better than others.
Bob Davies, a three-time champion in the 1970s, reckoned that he escaped too much serious damage until post retirement when he broke an ankle jumping from a pony at a local gymkhana but Ryan Hatch went the other way.
He managed to break his first collarbone in a fall at the age of three. Twenty years on and he has another four such breaks, along with two broken wrists, in the medical file but enough big-race winners to help soothe the pain.
The most memorable came in March when he rode Blaklion to win the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, Hatch’s first Grade One winner and vindication in the faith shown by Blaklion’s trainer, Nigel Twiston-Davies, to keep with the 3lb claiming rider despite not being able to use that weight allowance in such a prestigious race.
It will be the same at Wetherby today when Hatch rides Blaklion in the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase and while the horse might look a size too small for the job Hatch knows that he makes up for it with his attitude. “He’s pint-sized but he’s very athletic and he jumps like a horse who’s twice the size,” Hatch said.
“In the RSA, we turned the corner and he just found an extra gear. I didn’t meet the last on a long stride but he can go in tight to a fence, he doesn’t break stride and can land running, which is a great trait to have for a chaser.”
Hatch knows he will need that and probably something more today as Blaklion, who won the Towton Novices' Chase over this course and distance in February, is up against Cue Card, officially rated the top chaser in the county. “Cue Card was brilliant last year, starting from when he won this race last year, so we have to respect him but I’m on the younger, improving horse,” Hatch said.
“Our horse is only seven, so you'd hope he can improve. It will be exciting to see how he matches up against the older horses.”
Ballyoptic, unbeaten in four runs for the yard, proved a match for the best staying novice hurdlers of last season when he won a Grade One race at Aintree last April and is favourite for the Grade Two bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle. “The day after the Cheltenham Festival he was winning a novice hurdle at Uttoxeter,” Hatch said. “But he just kept improving and he put in a really good performance to win at Chepstow three weeks ago over a trip half a mile too short.
"Hopefully he'll improve for the run, he's done everything we've asked of him so far and we'll give it our best shot."
If they hit the target, Hatch could be looking forward to his next big break.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here