Huge 6ft 4in jockey hoping to win at Cheltenham – but knows it will be a tall order
Jockey Jack Andrews knows his chances of landing a dream Cheltenham victory are a long shot – because he is 6ft 4in.
Beating rivals – whose average height is 5ft 2in – is always going to be a tall order. But that will not stop the high-rise rider trying to leave pint-sized pilots in his shadow when he takes the reigns of Anightinlambourn on Thursday in a bid to fulfil his lifetime ambition of riding a winner at the famous race fest.
Jack, 24, dreamed of being a top jockey as a boy. But a sudden growth spurt at 17 rocketed him from 5ft 10in to a towering 6ft 4in. He is now the tallest jockey in the world but struggles for big time rides because most racehorse owners think the smaller is lighter.
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“As a kid I always liked racing. I watched it and followed it and I liked the form and stuff,” he said. “When I first started riding around the age of 15 or 16 I was tall but not as tall as I am now.
“I was probably 5ft 10in when I had my first ride so I was okay and then when I got to about 17 I really shot up again and that is when I got quite tall.
“There was a fear I might not be able to make it as I grew up thinking I would be a professional rider when I was older.
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“When I had that growth spurt it was a bit of a kick in the teeth. But I always felt I could still ride as an amateur and in point-to-points – which I’ve managed to do.
“The big one I want to tick off the bucket list is to ride a festival winner. It would be a brilliant achievement.”
Because of his height Jack, from Dunchurch, near Rugby, Warwickshire, said he faces a constant battle to maintain a racing weight.
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“It is tough with your weight but you get to a point where you have to suck it up and deal with it. That was the long and short of it,” he said. “I told myself this is the situation that I’m in and I’ve got to deal with it the best I can.
“There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think about the scales. Every hour of the day I think about my weight 365 days a year. But I have my own set routine I try and stick to most days in regards to a balanced diet.
“I eat the same sort of things most days and it seems to work for me and that is what I go with. I would have a coffee when I come out in the morning on the way to the yard then I would muck out and ride one out.
“I would then have breakfast and I would have yoghurt and fruit like bananas and blueberries with granola and maybe a cup of tea. To be fair I would eat that even if I wasn’t dieting as I really enjoy that.
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“Then I would ride out for the rest of the morning then at lunch I would probably have a yoghurt bar and a banana then in the evenings I would have some protein like a bit of chicken or some prawns and maybe a yoghurt pot and maybe another yoghurt bar.
“I’m quite partial to a chocolate Hobnob when I come back in the evening. That is my daily treat. I allow myself to have one or two of them with a cup of tea when I get back in the evening from work.”
His gruelling routine could pay off when he hops onto his mount in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase as the horse has previously won at the course.
Jack will also ride Not That Fuisse in the St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase on Friday.
“It is nice to have a couple of darts at this year’s meeting and, fingers crossed, we can get close with one of them,” he added.
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