SAND AND DELIVER...
AW king Curtis plotting tilt at Turf title now
I’ll be trying to find a horse good enough to win a Group 1
BEN CURTIS has set his sights on being the dark horse in the 2020 jockeys’ title race after picking up the all-weather championship gong this week.
The Yorkshire-based Irish rider ended the campaign – curtailed last month by the coronavirus pandemic – on the 101-winner mark, one behind the record set in 2015 by Luke Morris, second best this time with 67 victories.
Curtis is 16/1 with William Hill to seize Oisin Murphy’s Turf crown this year, but longshots can’t be ruled out – Danny Tudhope, a stubborn second in 2019, began that campaign as a 25/1 shot.
“Last year, Danny Tudhope would have laughed if you’d said to him, ‘Will you be going for champion jockey?’” said Curtis. “But he gave Oisin a run for a long way.
“If I had the numbers and I was in contention halfway through the season, I’d be throwing everything at it – 120 per cent.
“You need the horses and the rub of the green, and if that happens you can go with it and give it everything.
“The trainers I ride for are mainly Turf trainers, so I can’t see keeping the ball rolling being too much of a problem.”
Curtis, 30, denied the opportunity to receive his trophy when Ling field’s All-weather Championships Finals Day scheduled for Good Friday was claimed by Covid-19, is also focused on landing a first win at Group 1 level.
“Quality was one thing that was lacking a couple of years ago,” added the jockey, who donated £2,000 of his £10,000 AW title prize-money to an NHS charity.
“I’m lucky to have Simon Dodds as my agent and we’ve built up on that.
“Now I’ll be putting my head down and trying to find a horse that’s good enough to win a Group 1 race.”
Addeybb gave rider Tom Marquand a second success at the top level when storming the Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick yesterday. Marquand had been on board when the William Haggas-trained sixyear-old captured the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at the Sydney course last month.
Yesterday the combination had two and threequarter lengths to spare over Ranvet Stakes second Very Elleegant.
“What a tough, genuine horse,” smiled Marquand. “He just switches off, knows when to turn it on and just drops his head and runs for you – you don’t even have to ask him!
“To come here and win the Queen Elizabeth for someone who’s given me great support – at a time that’s been so tough for English racing – it could not mean more.”