I am really pleased to announce that Jason Watson, this year’s Champion Apprentice, will be riding for Beckhampton as first jockey next year. I have watched his progress with interest and I have been most impressed by what I have seen.
He is a very strong, stylish, determined and he has a good understanding of race tactics. You only have to watch the ride he gave to God Given when she won her Group 1 for Luca Cumani in Italy, to realise how good he is.
He has ridden 110 winners this year, and in winning the Apprentice Championship by a margin of 26 winners, he rode more winners than any other apprentice since Paul Hanagan in 2002; more than Oisin Murphy, William Buick and David Probert.
I have no doubt he will be a huge asset for us next year as we have some exciting horses for him to ride. I will be giving him all the support and confidence I can to enable him to continue his exciting career as a professional jockey. He rode winners for 34 different trainers this year which included 12 for Godolphin.
Adam McNamara will continue to ride as our second jockey. He is part of the team here and knows the horses well. He has now ridden over a 100 winners and rode 20 % of our total this year.