Former national novice champion Callum Pritchard has gained a new job and today makes his debut as a professional jockey.
Pritchard has joined Ben Pauling’s yard in Gloucestershire and takes 10lb off the back of that trainer’s ex-point-to-pointer and winning hunter chaser Wick Green in a handicap chase (5.25) at Worcester.
He says: “I started working for Ben and got my licence last week. It came about through my agent, Sam Stronge. I was invited to pop in to Ben’s for the morning, it all went well and from what Ben was saying it all sounded very positive.
“I had a lot of hard thinking to do, but I’m happy with my decision.”
Another former point-to-point rider hoping to make his debut as a conditional jockey at Worcester is Murray Dodd, who teams up with Prince De Juilley for his boss, Alastair Ralph, in a handicap hurdle (7.35). Dodd was set for his first ride as a paid rider on Monday, but his mount was withdrawn.
For Pritchard the booking continues a rapid rise from obscurity. Raised in South Wales, he was working in hunt service in the north of England when, in early 2022, he decided to have a crack at point-to-pointing on a horse owned by girlfriend Hannah Jones. She is the daughter of Chepstow clerk of the course Dai and sister to Jump jockey Ben.
After four rides and a couple of placings on Purcell’s Bridge, Pritchard made the decision to join a racing yard and took a position that was offered to him with Philip Hobbs and Johnson White in Somerset. From that West Country base he started forging contacts and after a slow start to the 2022/23 season, involving a further 25 rides without a winner, he struck gold in mid-April, and shovelled in another eight firsts before the season’s conclusion, taking him to the coveted national novice men’s championship sponsored by Highflyer Bloodstock.
Pritchard (nearest camera) in action on the Teresa Clark-trained Ninth Wave, a horse for which he holds a special affection
Last season he built on that by riding another 14 winners, albeit he feels the score could have been higher. He says: “I made good progress last season and kept the ball rolling after a good finish the previous year, but I picked up a stick ban at Aintree [in April] which didn’t help. I went two over the limit [when finishing second in a 19-runner handicap hurdle], but because it was a Premier race day they doubled the ban and gave me 14 days, which meant I missed five or six days point-to-pointing. It broke me in half at the time.”
Pritchard says he was surprised to get a first ride for Pauling so soon after taking up his new job. “I thought I might have to wait a month or so, and it was a surprise to get the ride on Wick Green,” he says. “I’ve also been booked to ride one at Newton Abbot on Thursday. Hannah has moved here with me and taken a job with Charlie Longsdon, who trains about 25 minutes away.”
He leaves point-to-pointing, and one horse in particular, with a heavy heart, saying: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for point-to-pointing, and if things don’t work out under rules in the next 18 months I’d be very happy to return to the sport. I’d rather have rides at weekends in point-to-points than to kick about hoping for the odd ride under rules on a 150/1 outsider. It’s not all about money.
“The horse I owe most to is Ninth Wave, who is trained by Teresa Clark. He is an absolute legend. I rode him in seven races and won six on him, and when things weren’t going so well it was always good to know he was there to rely upon.”