Jockey celebrates 1,000 winners

Richard Johnson, who has spent most of his career in the shadow of Tony McCoy, became the eighth jump jockey to ride 1,000 winners on Quedex at Stratford on Easter Saturday.

Johnson had spent a frustrating week on the 999 mark following a treble at Ayr the previous Saturday. He was understandably delighted to have reached the landmark. At 25, he is the second youngest jockey to have done so.

He joins Stan Mellor, John Francome, Peter Scudamore, Richard Dunwoody, Tony McCoy, Peter Niven and Adrian Maguire in the elite 1,000 Club.

Johnson’s first winner was on Rusty Bridge at Hereford in April 1994 and he is the second fastest, to McCoy, to have completed the 1,000. This is his sixth successive season when he has finished runner-up to McCoy in the jockeys’ championship.

“I was fortunate to start so young,” said Johnson. “And I owe so much to the ‘Duke’ (David Nicholson) for the faith he showed in me, also to Philip Hobbs, Henry Daly and Richard Phillips. But you can’t get anywhere without the horses.”

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