FAST LEARNER!
Youngster Georgia’s going for another glory day at York
IF PREDICTIONS for the career of apprentice jockey Georgia Cox prove correct, fancied rides at the prestigious Ebor meeting could become the norm.
In years to come, the 20-year-old might also reflect on the partnership with quirky gelding Theydon Grey as one of the springboards which launched her career.
Theydon Grey, trained by William Haggas, Cox’s boss of four years, was unplaced here under Ryan Moore at the Dante meeting in May.
But in three subsequent trips to the Knavesmire with Cox in the saddle, the gelding with a questionable high head carriage and an aversion to noise is unbeaten.
The latest win came at today’s two-mile trip when Cox, under orders not to use her whip, pushed out Theydon Grey for a neck success in the John Smith’s Stayers’ Handicap.
Cox (right) said: ‘I have been lucky getting on him at the right time but he is thriving from his races. It will be tougher this time but hopefully he can put up another good performance.
‘He is quite awkward. He thinks he is very good. I just have to let him get on with it and keep out of his way. He is very sensitive to noise and the two-mile start being in front of the grandstand is not ideal for him. We also are drawn wide.
‘ But he has a big heart. It’s just he has an even bigger character.’
Cox, who has had four wins from five rides at York this season, hails from just outside newmarket but has no family connection to the sport. But she has become part of a significant racing family. Agent Tony Hind has two champions on his books — Moore and Jim Crowley — and also helped steer Richard Hughes to the title. He sparingly takes on apprentice jockeys but has seen enough in Cox, who has ridden 46 winners, to believe she can follow in the footsteps of top female Flat jockeys Hayley Turner and Josephine Gordon. Hind took on Cox after spotting her in action at a Ripon evening meeting.
Hind said: ‘ When I first saw Georgia ride I thought she was a boy — and thought, “Christ, who’s that? He can ride”.
‘I took her on and she started riding winners quickly which I did not like so I had to pull her back. Any apprentice has to try to keep their claim as long as possible.
‘ She is very brave and not worried about going for a gap. She has got a racing brain. She is a very decent jockey who I definitely think will make it.’