STORIES of dreams being realised are many but this is one that should not be allowed to drop under the radar.
My Boss John Quinn realised a lifetime’s ambition, backboned by years of heavy lifting, when Wow Signal streaked to victory in the Coventry Stakes in Ascot.
From the time I started out in the Quinn yard in Malton, the trainer held the quiet ambition of returning winners at the Cheltenham Festival and on the flat at Royal Ascot — the marquee events in jump and flat racing.
For a small yard that was more than a little ambitious, but little by little, brick by brick, the dream has happened.
I was lucky enough to be a small steering part of a jumps’ triumph when Countrywide Flame won the Triumph Hurdle at the Festival in 2012 and now, Wow Signal, driven home by Frankie Dettori at 16-1.
I texted the trainer my congratulations the next day and he was very humble about it, but having clocked in countless hours there I know the value of the achievement.
The words “value” and “clocked” are significant this week after sitting down with my accountant to do a cost review of the year. My fuel bill and the bill for wear and tear on the car for 12 months was around £25,000. That’s an average of £400 a week, on fuel alone.
But at the same time that the price of fuel is rising, prize money has remained the same. More and more you are seeing jockeys staying overnight in other jockey’s houses as we drive the country from one track to another.
In years gone by I might have driven home if I was a hundred miles from home and done a turnaround the next day. Now I’m staying in jockey Lee Russell’s house, up north, about once a week.
Lee has given me my own key so I can come and go as I please and the inverse of this is true when northern based jockeys have to come down south to the all-weather tracks during the winter.
It’s minor stuff really, put into context again this week when JT McNamara returned back to Ireland to continue his rehabilitation after sustaining a serious neck injury in Cheltenham in 2013.
I know any jockey who has been in to see JT has been utterly struck by his positive attitude and I’m continually staggered by his resolve.
Keep it going JT.
Dougie's picks for the week:
£5 each way Kudu Country, 7.40 Leicester, Thursday or 5pm Newcastle, Thursday.
£5 win Strobe, 4.55 Musselburgh, Friday
