Talking $hop: Will Biddick

In his 17 seasons as a jockey, Will Biddick has set new standards. In 2019, he won his seventh jockeys’ title – one short of David Turner’s total – and, in doing so, passed Richard Burton’s career-high total of 414.

His 43 winners last season have taken him to a lifetime total of 431, including an incredible 68 in 2014/2015. More than a jockey, Will has a thriving yard in Alhampton – near Paul Nicholls’ base at Ditcheat – where I paid him a visit in the summer to find out what makes him tick, and about his plans for the future.

Will, who lives at nearby Sparkford with his wife Harriet – an international class showjumper and daughter of former amateur jockey Rupert Nuttall (I fondly remember his Whitbread Gold Cup win on Harwell Lad) – has been based at Alhampton for five years. “I’ve now got four full-time and two part-time staff and about 20 horses,” Will tells me. “We break-in and pre-train youngsters for Paul and various other South West-based trainers.”

“I plan to train a few more pointers next year,” continues Will, “But it’s not going to be Will Biddick Racing. Pre-training is my business and I want to make a success of it. I’ve got no interest in training under rules – I’d need so much financial backing and it would ruin my social life! Pointing’s fun and so is this – I enjoy it and I want to be the go-to guy in the South West for breaking and pre-training.”

Will is particularly keen to show off two three-year-olds – one by Getaway and a Sholokhov – he is preparing. “They’ve got class and can do things they shouldn’t be able to,” Will says. “They know how to breathe, canter and jump naturally – they haven’t been taught.” On the pointing front, he is keen on the prospects for Robin Waters, a six-year-old owned by Colm Donlon, who is returning between the flags following a spell under rules. “He’s rated 139 and we’re giving him a second chance to see if he can get his mojo back.”

Asked about his background, Will is in full flow. “I’m a boy from Cornwall,” he says proudly. “My Dad, Mike, was Master of the North Cornwall Hunt and I grew up with ponies and hunting. But I had no interest in racing to start with – I was happy playing rugby and tinkering on the farm.” While Will started riding in points at the age of 16, in 2003, and rode his first winner on Let’s Fly a year later, he admits, “I hated pointing then – I didn’t get it or understand it. I was a proper amateur and didn’t know what I was doing. I rode too short, rubbed my legs raw and fell off a lot! After two years, I was wondering how to tell Dad that I didn’t want to do it any more and just wanted to be a farmer. Luckily I didn’t.”

In Will’s words, he was “ushered” out of home, courtesy of Len Vickery, a key influence on Will’s career and still a good friend. “Len said I should go to Herefordshire and work for Venetia Williams, where his daughter (and former Ladies champion rider) Shirley was secretary,” he tells me. “I’d never left Cornwall and didn’t know anyone, but I moved in with Sam Thomas and Liam Treadwell, who took me under their wing – they were like brothers to me.”

Will soon changed his mind about wanting to be a jockey and took out a Category B licence, riding his first winner for Venetia – on his very first mount for her – at Ashgreen at Hereford in November 2005. “Venetia helped me massively,” Will confirms. “I learnt to slip my reins, get better over a fence and sit lower and more forward. Riding under rules improved me as a rider and I started riding more point-to-point winners back in Devon and Cornwall.”

After four years at the Williams yard, Will “felt like a change” and went to work for Paul Nicholls. However, this stint only lasted five months. “Venetia contacted me and asked me if I’d like to be third jockey behind Sam and Aidan Coleman,” he explains. “I was still an amateur, but was riding winners, including Something Wells against professionals at the Cheltenham Festival in 2009.” Turning conditional, which Will did the next season, was the obvious next step, but it didn’t work out quite as he hoped.

“It took me several months to ride a winner,” Will recalls. “I was wasting to do ten and a half stone, struggling and it was playing with my head. At the time, you could turn amateur again if you’d ridden less than ten winners and I rode four. So I told Venetia I was going to call it a day and went back home to Cornwall. I’d had a go, but wasn’t good enough.” A self-deprecating statement from a record-breaking champion between the flags.

Will’s big break came courtesy of his friendship, from his time with Paul Nicholls, with Harry Fry. He explains, “Harry was running Richard Barber’s satellite yard and he phoned me up and said, ‘I hear you’re no longer a conditional – come in once a week and it’ll be worth it.’ So I rode for a season as second jockey to Ryan Mahon. I had my first five rides for Richard one day at Larkhill. The first three got tired two out and Richard took me aside and said, ‘You’re making too much ground up at a certain place – don’t push them on too much.’ The next two won – and I’m not revealing the ‘certain place’ as I don’t want to give away my secrets!”

After Ryan Mahon turned conditional, Will became first jockey to the powerful Barber string and promptly won six titles in a row! “We had 35 horses,” he recalls, “And while they weren’t all good, we knew the ability of all of them and never punched too high – even the moderate ones could win. And I developed my own style riding for Richard,” Will goes on. “I had no problem jumping off last in an 18-runner race and was happy to be patient and win by half a length.

Richard sadly passed away towards the end of last season and Will isn’t afraid to admit his emotions. “I don’t cry, but I cried when Richard died. He was like a grandfather and a mentor to me. He gave me self-belief and I felt superior knowing Richard was backing me. He obviously thought I was alright and always stood by me. I never had instructions other than ‘Get them jumping and don’t be too hard on them.'”

Will tells the poignant tale of the last winner he rode in the famous dark and light green colours, on So When – trained by grandson Chris – at Upcott Cross less than a fortnight before Richard’s passing. “The horse (form figures RPR4UR) was a nutter! He’d run off the course and bucked me off at the start and I wouldn’t have ridden him if he wasn’t owned by Richard. He was too ill to come but I picked up the DVD afterwards and went with Chris to show him the race – it was something for him to look forward to.”

Richard scaled down his operation in 2013, retired a year later and his yard was taken over by grandson Jack, for whom Will became stable jockey and had his annus mirabilus in 2014/2015. However, when Jack took out a professional licence two years later, Will – by his own admission – “Found it really difficult. I rode for 40 trainers last year (when he lost his title to Alex Edwards) while staying loyal to Ed Walker. But I’ve ridden with more confidence this season – I think that I’m better… and stronger… than anyone else! I’ve improved as a rider in the last two years because I’ve had to win on horses that – unlike the Barber ones – weren’t the best, the fittest or good jumpers.”

“The mental side is so important,” Will adds. “And social media can be a real killer for people with self-confidence issues – it’s not brave to sit behind a screen abusing people. There’s one individual in particular on the Pointing Forum who really drove me on last season with their comments. It’s like a red rag to a bull.”

As for his ambitions, Will is clear. “To win the championship, that’s my goal every year. And if I can ride 40 winners, I know I’ll be there or thereabouts. I’d like to beat David Turner’s record, I’d like to get to 500 winners and I’d like to be regarded as the best of my age. I think I’ve got a minimum of five years in me but I want to stop, not fizzle out – I’ve got no interest in bumbling along riding a few winners a year. Do you really think I’d ride better if my heart wasn’t in it?” he asks rhetorically.

“Quite a lot needs shaking up,” is Will’s response to my now-familiar question of what he’d do if he was in charge of the sport. “There are people out there that don’t want change – I thought this six or seven years ago and things are the same. We’ve got a good generation of enthusiastic (younger) people, the likes of Tom Ellis and Fran Nimmo, who are trying to make pointing pay as a business. The sport needs to accommodate them and make pointing attractive, not stop them or make it hard for them.”

Will is also not a fan of the introduction of point-to-point flat races. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get rid of them and restrict National Hunt bumpers to amateur riders,” he offers. “There’s a lack of runners in maidens, partly because of the flat races – the sport is called point-to-point steeplechasing, after all. When I was first riding, there were more horses and the season started later. With fewer horses running in point-to-points nowadays, wouldn’t it be an idea to consider a shorter season, to make for more competitive racing?”

While Will welcomes the younger band of trainers, he feels that many jockeys nowadays may benefit from more traditional methods. “When I started,” Will reminisces, “There were a lot of old-school riders – like Ashley Farrant, Polly Gundry and Richard Woolacott. They hunted, they were horsemen and they were hard men… and hard to ride against. I stayed out of their way – I was scared of them! Hunting teaches you how to see a stride, kick on, jump, land and avoid obstacles – and it teaches you stickability!”

Asked about the main improvements he is seen during his time in the saddle, Will is unequivocal. “Safety,” he answers immediately. “We moan about the price of helmets and body protectors, but you’d pay any price to avoid having a smashed helmet – you’d be busted up without it!” He’s also, despite his views on jockeys not hunting, a keen advocate of the help given to riders nowadays. “Pony racing, jockey coaching, the assessment courses… I didn’t have any of that – that’s why I didn’t start off so well!”

On that positive note, we adjourn to Will’s local pub, the Alhampton Inn, for a well-earned pint! Before we go, I ask if he has any last words. He smiles, before concluding, “I’m going nowhere, I’m totally driven and I’ll keep riding to the best of my ability – that’s the long and the short of it.”