Andrews riding high and in pole position for championship victory

Jack Andrews had a point to prove to himself when in September he quit the ranks of conditional jockeys and regained amateur status.

This article first appeared in the Racing Post on Friday 31st March.

In 2019/20 Andrews, now 24, won Britain’s men’s point-to-point championship with 21 winners, but the season had been shortened by Covid lockdown and the victory felt honeycombed, if not hollow.

Now the fight is fair and he leads the championship again, his 30 winners being two more than seven-time champion Will Biddick and 11 more than reigning title-holder James King. Nineteen of Andrews’ wins have been gained on runners trained by his brother-in-law, Warwickshire’s Tom Ellis, who is enjoying a phenomenal run of success, headed the weekend before last when ten runners became ten winners.

Andrews rode four and his sister, Tom’s wife Gina, also rode four. Sibling cooperation, rather than rivalry, has become a component of the yard’s success.

Jack says: “The season is going better than I expected, but we have been very fortunate that Tom’s horses have been in great form. When we had a quiet fortnight, the ground was very dry and we didn’t run much anyway.

“Nothing was planned in terms of which horses Gina would ride and which I would be on, we just work it out and agree. There are some horses Gina always rides, while I ride all the ‘sales’ horses [four- and five-year-olds].”

Holding Biddick at bay will not be easy, and Andrews says: “Will is still the best around; someone I have admired for a long time. Losing rides don’t always get the credit they deserve and his ride on Famous Clermont at Cheltenham was brilliant. Having said that it was fantastic for Bradley [Gibbs] and British pointing that Premier Magic won [the Festival Hunters’ Chase].”