Scudamore's wait for win got him a rollicking

EIGHT-TIME champion jockey Peter Scudamore had to wait almost as long as Sean Bowen to ride the first of his 13 Cheltenham Festival winners.

- by JON LEES

And when he succeeded 40 years ago, it came totally out of the blue.

"I know what it's like, it took me seven or eight years," he recalls.

"I was riding for 'the Duke' [David Nicholson] who trained right near Cheltenham so there was tremendous pressure to do it.

"On the Wednesday in 1986 I rode Boland's Cross for Nick Gaselee who was favourite in the Sun Alliance.