Classic Winning jockey
Tom Marquand wins the 2020 St Leger
Everybody embarking on a new career has a different dream or ambition, but when you become a jockey, quite often the dream is to be Champion Jockey and/or to win one of the 5 Classic races in the British Horseracing calendar.
This weekend saw British Racing School Graduate Tom Marquand fulfil one of those ambitions when winning the 2020 St Leger at Doncaster aboard Galileo Chrome.
Tom picked up the ride when booked jockey Shane Crosse tested positive for Covid-19 so he was quick to offer his condolences during the post race interview. But that still doesn’t take away the feeling of securing your first Classic winner!
“I can’t stress enough how bad I feel for him,”
“It really is a dream come true. Classics in Britain are some of the hardest races to come across. Group One races in Britain are equally hard.
“To have my first Group One winner on UK soil in the St Leger for Joseph O’Brien, who when I as growing up was one of the best jockeys in racing and is now training and doing a similar job – it’s mind-blowing to get an opportunity like this.”
Having only graduated in his apprenticeship in 2014 Tom has already achieved over 500 winners in the UK and is currently sitting 3rd in the 2020 Jockey Championship leader board behind fellow graduates Oisin Murphy (who became the first British Racing School graduate to win the 2000 Guineas with his victory aboard Kameko earlier this year) and William Buick.
The other 4 Classic races in British horseracing are the 2000 Guineas, 1000 Guineas, Derby and The Oaks, and Tom came close to a Derby victory as well this year when finishing 2nd on Khalifa Sat.
Historically, the St Leger has been the luckiest race for our graduates:
2010 William Buick & Arctic Cosmos
2011 William Buick & Masked Marvel
2014 Andrea Atzeni & Kingston Hill
2015 Andrea Atzeni & Simple Verse
Based on this, should we be placing our money on Tom to win it again next year??