As a jockey, you want to ride in the best races with the best horses.
I’m very lucky that I have support from some of the best racehorse trainers and owners, which allows me to ride in the best races all over the world – from France, Japan, and the USA, all at the top level.
I’m so focused on the job at hand that I’m not really thinking about what my competitors are doing – especially when one of them is my husband of two years, Tom Marquand.
At the end of the day, when we’re in those starting stalls, he’s just somebody else I want to beat.
It’s impossible to say who has beaten who more often, but I’d like to think it’s quite close – in fact, sometimes he’s my biggest competition.
Horse racing is unique in that it’s one of the only sports where men and women vie against each other on even terms. It’s not easy to make it as a professional jockey, but when you ride against all genders on a level playing field, it means you’re constantly evolving and competing against the best – including Tom.
I have always loved horses, and felt like I had a special connection with them. From a young age, I enjoyed getting to know the different personalities of the animals I’d ride.
My mum and dad were both jockeys and I can’t remember a time of wanting to do anything other than horse racing. It seemed to be a given that I was going to follow in their footsteps.
I’m an extremely competitive person by nature. At school, I’d compete in every sport and discipline you could think of. If I wasn’t winning, I would be extremely disappointed.
The first time Tom and I met, we were pony racing against each other at around 14 or 15 years old.
We hit it off as friends at first, and there was definitely a rivalry from early on.
From then on,we’d often see each other on the weekends and during school holidays when we were racing each other. Even then, we were still so competitive and obsessed with winning that we ended up getting on well because of it.
As we grew older and became an item, this rivalry never wavered. Of course, we’ve supported each other’scareers too.
He’s always been very determined and always tries to be the best that he can. He definitely inspires me to do the same.
Tom and I got married in 2022. By which point, we’d been competing against each other since we were teenagers and had grown used to both ourvery busy schedules.
We can often be ships in the night if we aren’t riding at the same racetrack. But when we compete against each other, it’s fantastic.
I always think that it would be nice that if I can’t win, then hopefully Tom can. But, trust me… I want to win more!
And if it is a close finish, he’s typically the last person I want to be up against because he’s so good.
In fact, in October, we competed against each other in a Group 1 race (the highest level of horse racing in the world) in France – with over £170k going to the winner.
I was riding the favourite horse in the race, Bradsell, but there were still a few horses going well that could’ve passed me, notably Tom’s horse, Makarova.
When we’re in these big races together, it’s very much a question of: head down and try to get on with the job in hand. It never really enters my mind that Tom is anything other than a competitor at that point.
During this race, though, I took the lead in the closing stages – but in the final few seconds, there was a horse coming past me on the outside. Lo and behold, it was Tom – and he won.
In that moment, I was just gutted to have been beaten in such a prestigious race. It didn’t really make it any better or worse that I’d been beaten at the last minute by Tom. I just wanted to win.
Either way, though, it’s always nice to be able to share the big moments and milestones of our careers together.
I suppose the only real downside of competing against each other in such a dangerous sport is that we can be quite protective of one another, and it can be tough to be there when one of us has a fall or gets a nasty injury.
Last year weboth got badly injured. I had a complicated dislocation and fracture in my elbow and ruptured two ligaments that required surgery and kept me from racing for over two months – my longest period off – while Tom had a head injury and dislocated collarbone, so we were rehabbing at the same time. That wasprobably the longesttime we’d spent together, ever!
As amazing as it was to have that one-on-one time though,we were both desperate to get back in the saddle, literally.
It can also be hard when one of us has had a good day and the other a bad day and then we have to travel home together. We’ve had tolearn to keep our emotions in check, asa bad day may never be far away so there’s no point rubbing salt in the wound.
But to be honest, life is generally so busy thatwe don’t really have the time to get caught up in the highs and lows of our sport. When the day is over, you’re just focused on the next day’s racing and riding the next winner.
We are constantly pushing each other to do better and be better. We’ll take it in turns to motivate the other on theirstrength and fitness as well asresearching the horses we are riding. And becausewe’re both very driven, we’re able to build our careers together.
It’s also nice to have someone to debrief about our rides for the day and discuss races. We just get each other like that.
I could never imagine being with somebody that didn’t understand my sport or my mentality.
When times are tough, we know that the other person has been there and done that so it’s easy to relate to. I’m sure it would be quite lonely if he didn’t understand that.
The cool thing about us is that we have both reached a level in our careers where we are now regularly competing internationally or domestically. To do that by your partner’s side is so exciting and I can’t imagine not sharing it with Tom.
As for the future, I still hope to become Champion Jockey one day. This is the pinnacle for most jockeys and means riding more winning horses in a season than anyone else. All the greatest jockeys have done it and I want to add my name to that list.
Tom can get his name on there too, but I’d like to be first…
This news appeared first on @metro
