The turf
Where are the rides?
Robin Oakley
Around the valets' sanctum in the Sandown weighing-room, tumble-dryers whir in perpetual motion. Senior valet John Buckingham, who has seen a thing or two since he won the Grand National on Foinavon, bustles back and forth with piles of jockeys' breeches in his arms, coun- selling me not to listen to a word the riders say. And jockey David Bridgwater, sipping from a can of Diet Coke, outlines his phi- losophy on owners, trainers and the uni- verse, not always in language which would survive a family programme.
Out on the course he is Action Man per- sonified. If a trainer has a long-distance hurdler that needs niggling round every yard of three miles plus, then he is your man. If as a punter you have seen your selection clamber wearily over the final fence in second place with an equally weary leader in his sights, then 'Bridgy' is the pilot you want aboard. It may not be the most elegant sight you will ever see on a racecourse. But, with driving knees, pump- ing elbows and elemental will-to-win flow- ing from rider to horse, David Bridgwater is all determination.
But there is a puzzle about Bridgy. He is not getting the rides to match his talent. In the 1995-96 season he rode 131 winners and finished second in the table. In 1996-97 he rode 69 and finished tenth, despite a bad injury. So far this season, though he still drives his horses into fences, giving and asking for total commitment, he is out of the top 20, not yet into double figures. And the answer to the puzzle reflects more on racing than it does on Bridgy himself. Jumping people like to think that they appreciate blunt truths and straight talking. In fact, most owners and some trainers pre- fer to be cosseted and reassured that their geese are swans. What has taken David Bridgwater into a period in the doldrums is that he is not more of a yes man. As one trainer put it, 'He wouldn't have a long career at the Foreign Office.'
Son of Solihull trainer Ken Bridgwater, he was apprenticed to Lester Piggott in his training days and then did three years with David Nicholson. For a spell he was shar- ing the rides with Carl Llewellyn at Nigel Twiston-Davies's yard, partnering such good horses as Young Hustler, Tipping Tim, Gaelstrom and Earth Summit, on whom he won the Scottish National. When he left to ride for Martin Pipe, the winner- machine whose horsepower guarantees his top pilot a crack at the jockeys' champi- onship, Bridgy seemed assured of a long run at the top.
But he was not happy at Nicolashayne. After less than two seasons he walked out on Pipe last year for reasons which he still will not discuss. At that point other big sta- bles had made their plans for the season and he has been freelancing ever since, partly because he shattered an arm in a bad fall on Time Won't Wait at Aintree. A bro- ken arm is simple enough. But, in his case, what you see when the jockey rolls up the sleeves of his colours is a livid scar extend- ing all the way from his forearm to his shoulder with a knobbly bump behind the elbow where it is pinned. In the nonchalant way that jump jockeys have about pain he says, 'When I have more than three rides in a day the pin starts to come out. I'll get it seen to next time a freeze-up shuts down racing.'
He is calm too about the setbacks. A family man with a small son, who is happy outside racing riding his tractor round his 17 acres, he says, 'Racing isn't a business or a hobby. It's a life. I love it. But you've got to make your own decisions. I've been at the top and I know what it takes. I'm not riding any differently now. I know I'm just one ride away from being at the top again.'
We all tend to judge jockeys by what we see of them riding quality horses in high- class races. But Bridgy argues that there are 20 or so riders matching unseen what the leading personalities do. 'Round tracks like Plumpton, Fakenham and Fontwell with less good horses there are jockeys and trainers performing miracles every day.'
He is riding for up-and-coming trainer Ian Williams and for John Spearing. And caught this one with a joint.' former weighing-room colleagues know his worth: two of his main employers are for- mer jump jockeys turned trainers, Graham McCourt and Richard Rowe. But perhaps the happiest sign yet for Bridgwater this season is that he has been signed up, he thinks, after a recent Sunday in France, to partner all the horses Frangois Doumen sends over to Britain. And he has lined up, too, crucially for a freelance, top rides in the Champion Hurdle (I'm Supposin for Richard Rowe) and in the Grand National (Samlee for Philip Hobbs).
'All you need,' I said as we parted, 'is one good ride in a well-publicised race to get the phone ringing again.' And for once I may have brought somebody some luck, for half an hour later Bridgy went out to ride Samlee in the 3m5f Bovis Europe Handicap Chase. Typical of his luck this season he had been unable to take the ride on Samlee when the horse won over the National fences at Aintree recently.
On this occasion the horse jumped sticki- ly round Sandown, clearly remembering his Liverpool experience. They were detached from the rest of the three-horse field and looking likely to pull up. But Bridgy perse- vered. On the second circuit he worked his way back in touch. When the others took a breather round the bend before the Pond fence, knowing his mount stayed for ever, he forced him back into the race. Hard rid- den in the jockey's usual forceful style, Samlee finally got his head in front in the last 100 yards. Trainer's wife Sara Hobbs called it a 'brilliant' ride and many more of us were left reflecting that this is far too good a jockey to stay out of the top ten.
Robin Oakley is political editor of the BBC.
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