Jamie Spencer, who provoked astonishment when he announced in August that he intended to retire from race-riding at the end of 2014, reversed his decision in equally unexpected fashion on Sunday when it was revealed that the former champion jockey will ride as a freelance in the 2015 season.
Despite scepticism in many quarters that he would be able to turn his back on race-riding at the age of just 34, Spencer had insisted that his mind was made up, and that he was looking forward to the new challenge of a management role in Sheikh Fahad al-Thani’s Qatar Racing operation. Spencer was Qatar Racing’s retained jockey in 2013 and 2014 but Andrea Atzeni was hired to replace him from 2015 shortly after Spencer revealed his decision to retire and it subsequently emerged that Spencer had been told before making his announcement that his retainer would not be renewed in 2015.
Spencer has now decided to turn down Sheikh Fahad’s offer of a behind-the-scenes role in the hope of continuing to compete in the saddle at the highest level. His most high-profile ride in 2015 promises to be Toast Of New York, who was touched off by Bayern in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in early November and is being prepared for a possible rematch with the winner in the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest race, on 28 March.
In a statement released on Sunday afternoon via the sports PR agency Nicholas Whittle, Spencer said that while “Sheikh Fahad and Qatar Racing offered me a wonderful opportunity to become part of their management team”, he had “decided that at this stage in my life, I am not going to accept it”.
He continued: “I have discussed at length with Sheikh Fahad my decision to carry on riding and he fully understands and supports me. He appreciates that riding is what makes me happy and the last thing he wants to do is to stand in the way of that.
“I will be riding as a freelance but obviously I have certain existing links and relationships with trainers that I will be utilising. I am looking forward to being entirely free and available for the first time in six seasons and developing new associations. I have no specific targets other than to continue to be successful.
“There have been a few close confidants that have helped me in making this decision and I’d like to thank them for their support. At the time of their offer, I thought I was ready to retire from race-riding and take up a position with Qatar Racing.
“Sheikh Fahad understands completely why I no longer feel I can accept the offer, and that is what is most important to me. I am less concerned about what others may think or say.”
Jamie Osborne, the trainer of Toast Of New York, said on Sunday that he was delighted to hear his horse would not need a new jockey when he travels to Dubai in March.
“I always felt that maybe the decision was, perhaps, slightly knee-jerk and I hoped that given more time to reflect he could change his mind,” Osborne said. “He obviously has done that and I’m delighted he has.”
Kevin Ryan, another trainer who has booked Spencer regularly in the past, also expressed his happiness at the news that the dual champion jockey had had a change of heart.
“He’s been a big part of this yard for a long time and, from our point of view, we’re delighted he’s not giving up,” Ryan said. “He’s too talented a rider and too young to walk away from the game now.
“We all make decisions. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong, and he has obviously changed his mind. He’s had a very good end to the year and I think maybe riding at the big meetings has whetted his appetite again.”
Gordon Elliott got the better of Willie Mullins in the weekend’s main race in Ireland for the second week running on Sunday as No More Heroes stayed on strongly to beat Shaneshill by one-and-three-quarter lengths in the Grade Two Navan Novice Hurdle.
Shaneshill was the leading bumper horse of the 2013-14 season and went to post as the 4-9 favourite to follow up a debut win over hurdles at Fairyhouse last month. He moved up to challenge No More Heroes, the 3-1 second-favourite, jumping the final flight and briefly headed him, but the winner responded generously when asked for a final effort by Barry Geraghty and ran on strongly to secure victory.
No More Heroes is the new favourite for the three-mile Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham’s Festival meeting in March at a best price of 8-1, while Shaneshill has eased from 7-1 to 10-1 for the Neptune Investment Management Novice Hurdle.
“I think he’s a very nice horse,” Elliott said. “Barry said they didn’t go fast enough for him, and he was a bit guessy at a few of them.
“I’m not sure where he’ll go next and Naas [for the Grade One Lawlors Hotel Novice Hurdle on 4 January] may come a bit quick for him. He’s a three-mile horse for Cheltenham and I’d be looking at the Albert Bartlett.”
Elliott also confirmed that Don Cossack, who beat Mullins’s Boston Bob in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown last weekend, is likely to go straight to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
“He’s come out of the race very well,” Elliott said. “He’ll definitely not be turning up at Christmas and I doubt if he’ll turn up in the Hennessy [at Leopardstown in February]. I’ll have to talk it over [with Michael O’Leary, Don Cossack’s owner] but he could go straight to Cheltenham.”
Pineau De Re, the winner last season’s Grand National, was pulled up in a handicap hurdle at Carlisle on Sunday, a month after beating only one horse home on his seasonal reappearance at Cheltenham.
“I was a bit disappointed with him today,” Dr Richard Newland, Pineau De Re’s trainer, said. “He travelled well for two miles and, for whatever reason, he weakened very quickly. He seemed fine after the race, but he got very tired. The ground probably wasn’t ideal and there wasn’t much pace in the race, but overall I am disappointed.
“We’ve been going softly, softly with him and we’ll keep chipping away. I want to be seeing more from him on his next run.”
