Jockey Jonathan Riddell brought up his 1000th New Zealand win when kicking Perfect Pete home to victory in a maiden 1400m race at Waverley last Sunday.
Jonathan Riddell, the latest jockey to notch up 1000 New Zealand wins, has been domiciled in Manawatū for most of his riding career, but he remains a Hawke’s Bay boy at heart.
Born in Wairarapa, the 47-year-old grew up on a small farm block on the outskirts of Waipukurau and went to Napier Boys’ High School.
“I spent most of my early life in Hawke’s Bay and I still support the Hawke’s Bay Magpies rugby team,” Riddell said when contacted on Wednesday.
He served his jockey apprenticeship with trainer Murray Baker, then based in Woodville, and was an instant success on the racetrack, winning his first race.
The horse was The Determinator, and the race was an apprentice riders’ event at Tauherenikau on April 6, 1996.
Nearly 30 years on, Riddell has chalked up a career total of 1014 wins in four countries, 14 of them at Group 1 level.
He brought up his 1000th New Zealand win aboard Perfect Pete in a 1400m maiden race at Waverley last Sunday and made it 1001 four races later aboard Magawa in a Rating 65 race.
Riddell had been closing in on the milestone since the start of the year and went to 999 when successful aboard Wonderboy at Trentham last Saturday.
It was a mixture of joy and relief for Riddell, also known as “Scrapper”, when he crossed the line on Perfect Pete, as he has battled weight issues for most of his career.
“It was a bit of a relief, really. I never thought I would get to the 1000 and then, when it was getting close, it was getting a bit frustrating to say the least,” he said.
“It’s been a milestone I’ve been quite passionate to get. For a rider of my weight, and to do this, I do give myself a pat on the back.
“There have been some dark moments along the way, having to get up at all hours to lose weight, but it’s been worth it.
“I don’t check my weight before I go to the races, which sounds a bit unprofessional, but you know your body and know where you’re at when you’ve done it for so long. It’s always touch and go, I live on the knife-edge of making weight or not.
“It’s a good game, but a tough game.”
Having done it tough for so long, retirement had crept into Riddell’s mind just over a year ago when heading on holiday with his partner, the Group 1-winning trainer Lisa Latta.
“Lisa and I went on a holiday to the UK, and I was unsure if I’d come back from that because I knew I’d get fat over there enjoying myself.
“I got back and had a few mates that were pushing me along to get the 1000, so I just pinned my ears back. We didn’t go on holiday this winter, I said to Lisa that being only 10 [wins] away, it would’ve been too tough to come back.”
Riddell couldn’t recall too much about his first race-ride, but credited the win almost entirely to Baker.
“I was apprenticed to Murray and, to be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. I think he must’ve had a good dollar on it and pretty much set it up for me. I can remember the car ride there, he was pretty confident.”
Riddell had good success riding as an apprentice but, after finishing his time with Baker, he found himself riding over jumps in the early 2000s.
He rose swiftly to become one of the best, winning three Great Northern Hurdles, two Grand National Hurdles and three editions of the Grand National Steeplechase.
Several of those victories came aboard horses trained by Hastings-based Paul Nelson, winning seven races apiece on No Hero and Just Not Cricket, as well as the Crisp Steeplechase at Flemington with Chibuli.
“It [jumps riding] came about after I left Murray’s,” Riddell said. “Cheryl Douglas [now McGlade] grabbed me to help out, and she steered me in the direction of riding jumpers, so I got good grounding from her.
“That was basically my life for a few years. Paul came along, and we know how he can train a horse, and I was lucky enough to sit on some of his good ones.
“It was a good time of my life, I got to see the world riding jumpers. I got to ride quite a few good ones, and riding them in the big races was a real thrill.”
Riddell continued to ride on the flat and won his first Group 1 in 2009 aboard Eileen Dubh in the Levin Classic (1600m). During that same year, a very special galloper came on his radar, which was a key factor in giving up the jumps.
“I was doing both at the same time for a while, but it was just getting too tough trying to lose weight, then being strong enough to ride the jumpers. I did have a bad jumping fall, which didn’t rock me, but possibly put a couple of doubts in my mind about it.
“At that stage, Jimmy had come around, so it was too much of a risk riding jumpers to lose the ride on a horse like him.”
That horse was Jimmy Choux, who won 11 races with Riddell on board, including five at Group 1 level: the New Zealand 2000 Guineas, New Zealand Derby, Rosehill Guineas, Windsor Park Plate and New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Spring Classic.
The pair also finished second to Pinker Pinker in the 2011 Group 1 Cox Plate and competed in Hong Kong, all of which are memories that remain dear to Riddell.
“He is easily the best horse I’ve ridden. He was such a nice horse, uncomplicated, everything about him was just easy. He had a great big heart, a will to win and would be one of the quietest horses I’ve ridden.
“I had an association with John [Bary, trainer] right from when he started training, and Jimmy Choux became part of the partnership.
“Riding him in a race was easy, I could be where I wanted to be, there was no drama and he didn’t pull. The only times I didn’t ride him were when I was suspended - his first win when Lofty [Paul Taylor] rode him, then Michael Walker rode him in the Sires’ Produce.
“It was a good field on the day he won the Rosehill Guineas, and he just smashed them. He’s one of those horses that only come along every now and then.”
Riddell also had a soft spot for another Bary-trained galloper in Callsign Mav, whom he guided to three Group 1 victories during the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, the Tarzino Trophy (twice) and Windsor Park Plate.
“He was a really good horse.”
Riddell’s car carries the number plate BODLE, whom he regards as the first really top horse he rode.
They combined for seven wins in the early 2000s, including a Wellington Steeplechase, a Grand National Steeplechase and the race named after the great jumper himself, the Bodle Steeplechase at Trentham.
Two other Paul Nelson-trained jumpers also hold a special place in Riddell’s heart: No Hero and Just Not Cricket.
He won seven races on No Hero, including the Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (twice), the Grand National Steeplechase, the Manawatū Steeplechase and the Koral Steeplechase.
“He was a superb jumper.”
He also won seven races on Just Not Cricket, including back-to-back Great Northern Hurdle victories in 2006 and 2007 and a Grand National Hurdles.
“He was just a tough bastard.”
Besides his 1001 wins in New Zealand, Riddell also notched 10 wins in Australia, two in Japan and one in England.
“The records only show the Southern Hemisphere results, and a lot of people don’t know that I rode a hurdle winner in England.”
Always hungry for the next big success, Riddell was thrilled to add another to his record last month in the Group 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) at Te Rapa on Magic Carpet.
“That gave me a real good kick. I’ve known Stephen [Marsh, trainer] since I started riding, and it was a bit of a surprise to me because I’ve never ridden the horse and maybe not so much for them.
“I hadn’t been featuring in big races for a while, so it was really good.”
That victory took his black-type total to 67, with 14 Group 1s, 10 Group 2s, 19 Group 3s and 24 at Listed level.
Loyalty has been an integral part of Riddell’s success and something he is proud of, having ridden from the early days for many of the same trainers with whom he is still associated.
He has ridden 130 winners for Latta, with Bary next on 69, followed by Baker (60), Nelson (44) and Allan Sharrock (42).
“The numbers speak for themselves. I’ve had a great association with John, Paul, Allan Sharrock, and Lisa.
“It’s nice to have that loyalty, and the good thing about it is I’m still riding for those people now.”
Riddell, like most racing enthusiasts, is ruing the fact that the Hastings racetrack is presently out of commission, as it has been the venue where he has had the most success, with 112 wins.
A new chapter started when his daughter Amber joined him in the professional jockey ranks last term. He admitted it was an adjustment riding alongside her at first.
“To start with, I was hopeless. I was literally watching her in the races as any father would. Now, I think it’s one of those things that you do often enough that it becomes natural.
“I don’t worry about her out there now, she’s just another competitor and she’s going better than me, so it’s good to knock one over her.”