Choc’s ready to walk the walk

 
Robert Thornton16 November 2012

Robert ‘Choc’ Thornton, rider of more than 1,000 winners, looks ahead to the first big fixture of the jumps season at Cheltenham this weekend ...

There will be a real buzz among us jump jockeys as this is the moment the campaign hits top gear. All the star horses are appearing — including Sprinter Sacre, who runs on Sunday, and Grands Crus, another ex-novice and hot favourite for tomorrow’s Paddy Power Gold Cup.

I’ll be trying to beat him on Walkon and I’ve got a good chance. My horse runs well first time out, including last season when he was impressive at Exeter. He didn’t build on that but as a result he has a nice weight. He has finished close to Grands Crus on level terms and we’re getting a stone this time, so we must be bang there.

There’s bound to be something lurking towards the bottom of the weights so I’d give a good mention to Divers while the rapidly improving Hunt Ball is also a big danger.

My boss, Alan King, will be sending some of his better horses for other races at the meeting. McVicar, for instance, has won both his hurdle starts but the opposition in tomorrow’s JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial will be a whole different ball game. I’m pleased with his progression, though, and he’s going the right way.

The novice races are especially worth watching this weekend, with the Cheltenham Festival in mind.

It’s really helpful for young chasers, in particular, to get experience of the undulating track for when they return here in March.

My main aim this season is just to keep fit. I’ve broken an arm and a leg in the past couple of years or so but I don’t feel I’ve been especially unlucky. It’s part and parcel of what we jump jockeys do — the chance to ride winners at meetings like this makes it all worthwhile.

Choc Thornton is sponsored by Lycetts, specialist insurers to the bloodstock industry. Also offering insurance services for private clients, farm & estate, commercial business and financial planning.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT