Bridget’s Faivoir win feels extra special

BRIDGET ANDREWS had tears in her eyes as she came into the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure. This place pulls at the emotions and the rider (left), who had just guided Faivoir to success in the County hurdle, was finding it hard to take in.

A day earlier, her younger brother Jack attracted headlines of his own. At 6ft 4in, he is the tallest jockey riding at present and the 22-year-old had a spin around on 66-1 shot A night in lambourn in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase. Jack, sadly, had to pull his mount up in the rain-softened ground but Bridget — whose sister, Gina, is also a rider — found herself cheered to the rafters after a superb ride on Faivoir, a 33-1 chance for her brotherin-law Dan Skelton.

Those family ties meant this success was special, but for Bridget there was something more at stake. A fall at Warwick last May, in which she broke bones in her neck, left her wondering if there would ever be days like this again. ‘I’m definitely nearing the end of my career and I never thought I would get another one here,’ she said.

‘I was off for considerably longer last year than I expected. I had a little mark on my spinal cord, so I was incredibly lucky. I thought I would be out for eight weeks. I was out for six months.

‘Most people thought I was taking a summer holiday! It was hard but I didn’t want that to be the end.

‘The team, the support I get from them, is unbelievable. I know Dan is family and people will say I only get rides because we are related (she is married to his brother harry).’ That is not strictly true. Skelton is ferociously ambitious and would not put a rider on a horse he did not believe capable of doing the job he wanted. Andrews was definitely up to the task, winning this race for the second time after she had done so with Mohaayed in 2018.

‘I can’t say I was happy when I looked across and saw Davy Russell was riding the finish against me!’ she said with a smile. ‘he’s one of the greats. There aren’t many of us (females) in the changing room. I think people want us to win.’