Former champion point-to-point rider Jack Andrews has shed his amateur status for a second time.
A leading and instantly recognisable figure on the point-to-point circuit, Andrews, 27, heads to Cartmel tomorrow having regained the position of conditional jockey. He claims 3lb when riding Just A Memory in a novices’ handicap chase (4.55) for brother-in-law Tom Ellis.
Winner of the national men’s championship in the lockdown-affected 2019/20 season, Andrews became a conditional jockey in November 2021 and enjoyed immediate success which included a Doncaster treble a few weeks after becoming a professional jockey. Yet with Ellis’s stable flying on the point-to-point circuit and having just won the trainers’ title for a fourth time Andrews elected to return to the amateur ranks and was back in action on the pointing circuit almost a year to the day after leaving it.
His stated aim was to win the men’s championship in a full, uninterrupted season, and he gave it a good go by riding a personal best 41 winners, enough for the runner-up spot behind Will Biddick who rode 53. However, the following March Ellis took out a licence to train under rules and that has gradually led to a switch in focus. Andrews’s sister, Gina, is now responsible for the stable’s pointers, and with her commitment to ride most of the yard’s runners her brother’s winning scores have settled on 17 for the past two seasons. His latest and probably final victory in a point-to-point, Pillar Rock at Kingston Blount in late May, was also his 200th in the sport.
He says: “At the start of last season it was in my mind to become a conditional again, but it depended how the yard got on under rules. That side of the business has grown, and I had no star horse to ride – no Foxhunters’ horses – and I could see my totals getting lower and lower.
“Long term I would like to train, and Tom and I have spoken about the possibility that I could become joint-licence holder with him. I do a lot on the training side now, deciding who rides what and where horses are entered and run. Gina handles the feeding side and Tom deals on the phone, in the office and talking to owners.
“I find the training side really interesting and got a massive kick out of seeing Latenightfumble winning the mares’ race at Cheltenham [in May when ridden by his sister] after being off for two years with a leg and having a foal.
Andrews and his sister Gina have key roles at the Warwickshire yard run by her husband, Tom Ellis (on the microphone) (Ce)
“I love point-to-pointing – it’s been the backbone of my career – and I have a huge number of happy memories. It’s a great stepping stone for anyone wanting to get into racing, but I do feel some young riders who want to become professional jockeys make the switch and become conditionals too soon.
“If you can go to a trainer and say I’ve ridden 50 winners in point-to-points they would be mad not to take a look at you and give you a chance.”