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!”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 12, 2019 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 12, 2019 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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