CURTIS GETS TITLE LEG-UP
BEN CURTIS will ride “more and more” for Mark Johnston’s record-breaking Middleham stable this year – and his odds for the 2021 jockeys’ title are in freefall.
Despite a season ravaged by the
Covid-19 crisis, the Irishman, 31, had a
2020 to remember, with a calendaryear total of 170 winners – more than any jockey in Britain.
And Curtis’ rise – including a success on the Johnstontrained Nayef Road in the Group Three Sagaro Stakes at Newmarket last June – has caught the eye of the North Yorkshire-based Scot, who in August 2018 overtook the now- retired Richard Hannon Snr as the winningmost trainer in British racing.
“We don’t have any formal arrangements with any jockeys – the last formal retainer I had with any jockey was Kevin Darley, and that ended in about 2006,” said Johnston, whose Kingsley Park yard uses the weighing room’s top talents, including stable stalwarts Joe Fanning and
Franny Norton.
“Both Franny and Joe are 50 and neither has given an indication of slowing down, or retiring. “But they can’t go on forever and, when they do retire, there needs to be other jockeys coming along behind that ride regularly for us.
“And Ben Curtis is right in there – at the top of the list.
“So, if he continues to be available, you will see him being used more and more.” Curtis’s stellar 2020, which also included a first Royal Ascot triumph – aboard the Karl Burkesaddled Dandalla in the Group Three Albany Stakes – ended when he was knocked unconscious in a horror fall at Wolverhampton on December 8.
But, since his return to the saddle
23 days later, Curtis has picked up where he left off, with five winners in
2021 already. William Hill, who on Tuesday laid 14-1 against Curis lifting the rider’s crown, have now slashed him to 4-1, while Ladbrokes go even shorter, at 7-2.