Book Review

Mick Fitzgerald is best known for saying to Des Lynam after winning the Grand National on Rough Quest "After that Des, even sex is an anti-climax." Yet he emerges in this book, not as a man for the flippant one-liners, but as a serious analytical athlete.

Perhaps because he started his career without advantages, he has shown a rare dedication in his rise to become a 'Top Five' National Hunt rider. The book has many intelligent insights into the racing game, is mercifully lacking in self-promotion and we are spared the current fashion of denigrating others.

His evaluations of fellow jockeys are illuminating. On champion Tony McCoy "… he still has some way to go to be as good as Richard (Dunwoody), particularly in his use of the whip." On the driven Richard Dunwoody, seeking a ride vacated by an injured colleague … "We don't want to be seen to be dancing on the poor bloke's grave but business is business … Yet Richard is the master of doing this research, almost before the person has hit the floor. If you go to find the trainer of the spare horse you can bet he got there first." says Fitzgerald.

On the journeyman jockey Terry Hogan he sees an unappreciated talent: "… he is simply a great rider. He has a beautiful pair of hands - meaning he has a natural talent for pacifying horses and getting them to do what he wants - and has the situation under control long before a fight occurs."

Fitzgerald gives a considered view of the many trainers whose horses he has ridden - the now retired Jackie Retter, with her skill for getting inside the head of quirky horses, to his brother-in-law Paul Nicholls … "he has probably trodden on a few toes when acquiring horses to train …". He obviously enjoys a mutual respect with his current employer Nicky Henderson … "after sitting on about 1,000 runners from the yard, he has given me a roasting on only two occasions."

But, needless to say, the best story (and now obligatory tale) is about the redoubtable Jenny Pitman. When Fitzgerald and veteran Graham Bradley had failed to school horses to her satisfaction she turned to her embarrassed son Mark "I told you to bring the helmet in case you had to show these jockeys how to ride."

 

Mick Fitzgerald

This book, which disappointingly has no index, will not reach the wide public of Mrs Pitman's recent work which poured out her feelings, but it reveals with clarity the dangers of life as a National Hunt jockey. Earnings for a top National Hunt jockey are only around £70,000 per annum. Compare that with the £56,000 per week for which footballer Nicholas Anelka left Arsenal to join Real Madrid. Long hours travelling, every ride a potential danger, a constant battle to control weight, the national Hunt rider does not enjoy as glamorous a life as some might imagine.

This book contains much about the background of racing - life in racing stables, the school and injuries to the horses, the difficulty of staying within the rules of racing, the work of the Jockeys' Association - but naturally it is most vivid in Fitzgerald's race-riding experiences, for example, when falling from Wheal Prosper at Newton Abbot at the last when 30 lengths clear: "Dazed, definitely confused … I reasoned that if I could find the horse there would be time to remount and still win, so I got to my feet. Wham! I was hit broadside by another runner … it taught me not to stand up on the landing side of a fence … I also learnt not to hold on to the reins when falling from a horse … the result is bound to mean getting dragged into the path of oncoming horses …"

This dramatic look at the dangers of race-riding could only be written by a jockey from first-hand experience. Although Fitzgerald seems anything but an egotist, he still successfully conveys the triumphs - such as Rough Quest's National success, and Raymylette's Cheltenham Festival win which cemented the relationship between Fitzgerald and Henderson.

In fact, this book shows that you don't need sensationalism to make an engrossing read. Mick Fitzgerald is a well-balanced, sensible character who looks sure to stay at the very top of his profession and not be distracted by periphery temptations.

Mainstream Publishing

Price £15.99