27 January 2012 White Hangs Up His Boots
by Carolyn Tanner
photo: Tim Holt
One name missing from the riders' lists this season is that of Will White, who decided at the end of the last campaign to hang up his boots.
He cites family life - he and his wife Millie have a young daughter - and the responsibilities of his job as a ruminant nutritionist as his main grounds for retirement, but the other reason is the one quoted by so many Point-to-Point riders who are not built like flat jockeys, that of the unceasing problem of making the weight. "It was much easier when I was riding regularly for John Dufosee, but when you're just picking up rides here and there it's more of a struggle," he pointed out.
Will opened his account on Caundle Chase at Cothelstone in 2003, and it was at the same venue that he partnered his final winner, Mullins Mill, in May last year, taking his tally between the flags to 56, while his sole Hunter Chase success came on Who Else Knew in 2009.
He has no regrets about his decision - "I really enjoyed it [race-riding] while I was doing it but I was never an aspiring professional!" - although he confesses that on a visit to Black Forest Lodge this season he occasionally had the thought "I wouldn't have ridden it like that!"
He is continuing to school and ride work, and would like to remain in the sport in some capacity. His late father was a well-respected starter, and it is this role which Will currently has at the back of his mind. Meanwhile he will mostly be devoting the time he spends at meetings to the social side, something to which he admits he is very much looking forward!
