EXCLUSIVE: Horse racing legend Willie Carson is the only jockey ever to have ridden a horse that he bred to win a Classic and urged future jockeys to follow in his footsteps
Legendary jockey Willie Carson, the only jockey in history to have ridden a horse that he bred to win a Classic race, has some valuable advice for current and future jockeys.
The 83-year-old has long hung up his saddle after a career of over three decades, which saw him win the British Champion Jockey five times between 1972 and 1983. But the Scot always had his plan in place to continue his involvement in the sport as a breeder.
Carson is at Royal Ascot this week and has been casting a keen eye over his horse and the current crop of jockeys who are looking to write themselves in the history books alongside him. However, Carson stands alone after he won the St Ledger Stakes in 1988 with Minster Son, who he bred at his Minsters Stud in Gloucestershire, and rode him to victory in all his major races.
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Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, on behalf of Horse.Bet, Carson recalled the brilliant story about how he made history on the Lady Beaverbrook owned and Major Dick Hearn trained Minster Son.
He said: “Lady Beaverbrook bought this horse, because she was buying Niniski, which was her stallion, and I asked her to look at the horse and she ended up buying it.
“Dick Hearn, the trainer who I rode for, I told him about it, and Lord Cadogan, who was Lord Chelsea in those days, was interested in buying, unknown to me, these people were going to buy the horse. I didn’t know this.
“So I believe that the story was told to me afterwards that there was a deal done between those two owners, Lady Beaverbrook and Lord Chelsea, that up to £20,000, it would be Lord Chelsea’s and then Lady Beaverbrook could come in and bid.
“Anyway, it got to £16,000 and it stopped. So (Lord) Chelsea was sitting with Dick Hearn, and he nudged him. And he said, ‘Make the old lady pay!’ So that was Minster Son went up to £36,000.
“He actually only ever got beat once, he was 5th or 6th in the derby. It was the only time he was beaten as a 3-year-old.”
Carson believes that his decision to enter the bloodstock game while still being a jockey gave him an edge that today’s and future stars can learn from.
He added: “I’ve always been interested in breeding, and I believe, being interested in breeding, it is for even for jockeys that listening to this, is get to know your pedigrees because it’ll help you with distances on horses and characters and stuff like that.
“It is a help in riding a race, knowing the pedigree and the breeding.”