Has Robert Havlin ridden a Group 1 winner for John Gosden?

The short answer is no, he hasn’t. In fact, Robert ‘Rab’ Havlin has never ridden a Group 1 winner, not for John Gosden – who, since early 2021, has held a joint licence with his son, Thady – or any other trainer. That said, at the last count, Havlin had ridden a total of 583 winners for Gosden, including 45 for the recently established partnership in 2021. Those victories include 18 at Pattern Race level, the most recent of which was Megallan in the Group 3 Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury in August, 2021.

Havlin, 47, is into the veteran stage of his career, but was stable apprentice at Manton Park, Wiltshire when Gosden succeeded Peter Chapple-Hyam as private trainer to Robert Sangster in late 1999. In the interim, he has developed into a highly accomplished horseman and remains a pivotal member of the Gosdens’ staff at Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket. The Scotsman rode his one and only Royal Ascot winner, Ardad, in the Windsor Castle Stakes in June, 2016. Fittingly, he reached the career landmark of 1,000 winners on another Gosden-trained horse, Pitcher’s Point, at Lingfield in March, 2020.

At that point, Havlin paid tribute to Gosden, saying, ‘The second half of my career has been a lot better than the first! I’ve got John Gosden to thank for that, he’s been an unbelievable friend and supporter for a long time and it’s down to him.’

 

Was Fergal O’Brien once a jockey?

Nowadays, Fergal O’Brien is a dual-purpose trainer based at Ravenshall Farm in Withington, Gloucester, approximately ten miles from Cheltenham Racecourse. Indeed, O’Brien enjoyed his most successful season so far in 2020/21, saddling 104 National Hunt winners – only Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson saddled more – and amassing over £796,000 in prize money to finish seventh in the trainers’ championship. In fact, at the time of writing, O’Brien already heads the 2021/22 trainers’ championship table, with 51 winners and nearly £350,000 in prize money and has recently joined forces with fellow Gloucestershire trainer Graeme McPherson to create O’Brien McPherson Racing.

Born in Limerick in 1972, into a family with no involvement in horse racing, O’Brien nonetheless harboured the ambition of becoming a jockey. As a teenager, he followed his older brother Brian across the Irish Sea to the yard of Doug Francis, elder brother of Dick Francis, in Malpas, Cheshire. In early 1989, O’Brien completed a nine-week course at the British Racing School and subsequently joined Tim Forster in Letcombe Bassett, near Lambourn, with whom he would spend the next three and a half years. Having discovered that his ambition outweighed his talent, as far a race riding was concerned, O’Brien joined up-and-coming trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies in Naunton, Gloucester, where he remained for the best part of two decades before embarking on his own training career.

When did Laffit Pincay beat Bill Shoemaker’s record for the most winners ever?

Born in Panama City, Panama in December, 1946, Laffit Pincay Jr. rode his first winner, Huela, in his hometown in May, 1964, at the age of 17. However, it was in the United States – to which he travelled, under the auspices of legendary owner/breeder Fred W. Hooper, in 1966 – where he would find his fame. After initially plying his trade in Florida, Chicago and New York, Pincay Jr. settled in California, where he would eventually be recognised as the natural successor to Bill Shoemaker on the West Coast racing circuit. Indeed, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, at the age of 28.

Shoemaker eventually retired in 1989 with 8,833 winners to his name, thereby setting a world record for career victories that would stand for a decade. However, on December 10, 1999, Pincay Jr., 52, surpassed Shoemaker’s total on Irish Nip at Hollywood Park. Reflecting on his achievement, he said, ‘ The record means a lot because Shoemaker is the greatest jockey I ever rode against. It’s a record I never thought anybody could come close to.’

Pincay Jr. retired in April, 2003, with 9,530 winners to his name. Once again, it was mooted that his own record may never be broken, but it has been, twice, by Canadian Russell Baze, with 12,844 career victories, and Brazilian Jorge Ricardo, with 13,069.

How old is Tom Marquand?

Tom Marquand was born in Cheltenham on March 30, 1998 so, at the time of writing, is 23 years old. Apprenticed to Wiltshire trainer Richard Hannon as a 16-year-old, Marquand rode just one winner – in a lowly selling stakes race at Kempton – in his inaugural season. However, his rise through the ranks was nothing short of meteoric; a little over a year after joining Hannon he was crowned champion apprentice, eventually seeing off Jack Garrity 54-52 on the final day of the 2015 season.

All told, Marquand rode 67 winners in 2015 and a further 63 in 2016, riding out his claim on Scarlet Dragon, trained by Eve Johnson Houghton, in the Pelican Handicap at Newbury on June 30, 2016. In his first season as a fully-fledged professional, he upped his tally to 86 winners, including his first Pattern race winner, Anna Nerium, trained by Hannon, in the Group 3 Dick Poole Stakes at Salisbury on September 7, 2017.

Marquand has ridden over a hundred winners in every season since, achieving a personal best in 2020, with 147 winners. That year, he was ‘jocked off’ Derby second favourite English King, but made amends by finishing second on the 50/1 outsider Khalifa Sat, and won the St. Leger on Galileo Chrome, whom he picked up as a ‘chance’ ride after regular partner Shane Crosse was taken ill. So far, Marquand has six Group 1 victories to his name, four of which have been provided by Addeybb, trained by William Haggas.

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