Tom Marquand looked a relieved man here on Sunday, having steered In The Red to an all-the-way victory at odds of 7-1. That result meant the 17-year-old jockey has reasserted his lead in the apprentice title race, in which he is two winners ahead as the final week’s racing begins.
Having been odds-on for more than a month, Marquand saw his rival, Jack Garritty, draw level with a treble on Saturday before poking his nose back in front with a winner at Chelmsford that night.
The two can now expect what may be the busiest week of their young lives as their mentors, Richard Hannon for Marquand and Richard Fahey for Garritty, try to provide them with as many rides as they can find healthy horses.
“It’s going to be close,” Marquand says, admitting he would be “gutted” to miss out on the title after being in such a good position. He will have six rides at Windsor on Monday, followed by eight on Tuesday at Leicester and Wolverhampton. Garritty will have almost as many at the same venues and the pair are likely to find themselves going into the same set of starting stalls quite a few times before Saturday evening.
Fortunately there is no tension between them. “I know him well enough,” says Marquand. “We don’t have to look at each other and give each other evils, it’s not like that. For the sake of riding the most amount of winners in a season, it’s not something that you need fall out over.”
While Garritty made a good first impression last summer, Marquand has risen to prominence in a remarkably short time, having had his first ride less than a year ago.
His reputation began to build from 9 January, when he rode a winner for Roger Charlton, quite a high-profile trainer to be giving a good ride to an unknown apprentice not even attached to his yard. Charlton’s eye for talent was confirmed when Marquand rode 14 winners in August and 15 in September.
While Marquand is new to racing followers, he has been living with his ambition to be a jockey for as long as he can remember and began earnest preparations at the age of 12 when he took up pony racing, splurging his £500 of savings on an unpromising animal that would at least get him into the game. His parents had no racing background and declined to buy a pony for him, insisting that he save up for one over years.
Doing the training as well as the riding, Marquand sold on his first pony at a profit, a trick he was able to repeat several times. “I kept them 10 minutes down the road at a little yard and I’d go down before school, after school, ride them out. It was good, learning that side of it myself without anyone telling me what to do.”
Some observers fear that Marquand is burning too quickly through his claim, the weight allowance he gets to compensate for inexperience. After another 30 winners, he will be competing on level terms with Ryan Moore and Frankie Dettori and, when that day comes, he had better be sufficiently polished to attract further employment.
Marquand is certain he is ready. “People say that to me every day of the week,” he responds, with just the slightest hint of impatience, “but it still takes the same amount of winners to ride out your claim as it does if it takes you three years. Yes, it happens quick but as long as you take it in as quick as it’s coming, I think it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”
