The Racing Lad

Former pro footballer Jay Tabb on starting riding aged 35 and learning the ropes at a successful jump-racing yard

- Kate Johnson

A Coventry team-mate got me into racing and I was involved in a few syndicates, then a friend and I got our own colours — white body, black stars, blue sleeves and black hat — and two horses. Our best was Mister Miyagi; we bought him as we’d been fans of The Karate Kid.

He took us to two Cheltenham Festivals; he won seven races in total and came sixth in the Supreme Novice Hurdle in 2016, won by Altior. He’s now retired; I keep him at a nearby yard and tend him three times a day.

When I played for Reading, we won the championship in 2012 and got promoted to the Premier League. Having a season playing against some of the best players in the world makes you realise how inferior you are to them. Manchester City had 11 top-class players; you’re chasing shadows. I retired from football at 32; I wasn’t enjoying it too much so I called it a day.

I’d never ridden; when I watched my horses in training with Dan Skelton, Stuart Edmunds and Willie Mullins, I was always jealous of the stable lads and lasses. I thought, “One day I’d love to give that a go.”

When the Northern Horseracing College accepted me on the 12-week course in March, I went to a riding school and had six one-hour lessons on a cob. When I first sat on a racehorse, I thought, “There’s nothing under me!”