Lizzie Kelly (born 24 April 1993) [1] is a retired British jockey who participated in National Hunt racing.
Kelly predominately rode horses for her horse trainer stepfather, Nick Williams as well as her mother, Jane Williams, and also for trainer Neil King. [2]
In early November 2015 she came second on Aubusson in the Grand Prix d'Automne at Auteuil. If she had won she would have been the first female jockey to win a Grade 1 race in France. [3] On Boxing Day 2015 however she gained what was then her most notable success to date when Tea For Two won the Kauto Star Novices' Chase, making her the first female jockey to win a Grade One race in Britain, [4] the horse being trained by Nick Williams and owned by her mother Jane Williams. [5] In February 2016 she won Europe's richest handicap hurdle, the Betfair Hurdle, on Agrapart at Newbury, [6] and the following year she became only the second woman to ride in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, again on Tea For Two, but she was unseated from her horse at the second fence. [7] A few weeks later she won the Grade 1 Betfred Bowl on Tea For Two. The following year, she won the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, riding Coo Star Sivola, trained by Nick Williams. She rode in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Tea For Two for the second year in a row, where she finished seventh.
In July 2020, Kelly announced her immediate retirement from race riding following the news she was expecting her first child. [8]
Kelly married her partner of more than 12-years in July 2019.[ citation needed ]
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100-120 lb. and physically fit. They are typically self employed and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer and a percentage of the horse's winnings.
Rupert "Ruby" Walsh is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Walsh is the third most prolific winner in British and Irish jump racing history behind only Sir Anthony McCoy and Richard Johnson.
Charlie Swan is a former top National Hunt jockey in Ireland in the 1990s. He is associated with the great Istabraq, on whom he won three Champion Hurdles. He was twice top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and was champion National Hunt jockey in Ireland for nine consecutive years. After retiring as a jockey he spent several years a trainer, based in Modreeny near Cloughjordan, County Tipperary.
The Kauto Star Novices' Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 3 miles, and during its running there are eighteen fences to be jumped. The race is for novice chasers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the King George VI Chase meeting on Boxing Day. The race was originally known as the Feltham Novices' Chase. The 2012 running additionally carried the name of Kauto Star pending a permanent change of name. The permanent name change was confirmed by the BHA in July 2013.
Kauto Star was a French-bred National Hunt champion racehorse trained by Paul Nicholls in Somerset and owned by Clive Smith. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, in 2007 and 2009, becoming the first horse to regain the cup after losing it in 2008 by seven lengths behind Denman. He tried for three more years to win the race again, but the best placing he could achieve was in 2011, coming third behind Long Run. He also won the King George VI Chase a record five times. He was one of the most successful steeplechasers of modern era finishing his racing career with a National Hunt record of £3,775,883 in earnings, which consisted of £2,375,883 in race prize money, £1,000,000 bonus for the completion of the 2006/2007 Stayers Chase Triple Crown and also a £400,000 reward for heading the BHA Table of Merit in the same 2006/2007 season.
Paul Frank Nicholls is a British National Hunt horse trainer with stables at Ditcheat, Somerset. A relatively successful jump jockey, Nicholls has become the leading National Hunt trainer of his generation, finishing the 2007–08 season with 155 winners and a record £4 million in prize money. To date, he has trained over 3000 winners, won the 2012 Grand National, four Cheltenham Gold Cups and has been crowned British jump racing Champion Trainer eleven times.
Nicholas John Henderson is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times.
Mick Fitzgerald is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey and current television racing presenter. Fitzgerald rode for the majority of his career in Great Britain and less often Ireland.
Richard Johnson is a retired English National Hunt jockey. Johnson is the second most prolific winner in the history of National Hunt Racing behind Sir Anthony McCoy, a long-time rival of Johnson's, with over 3500 winners. Richard Dunwoody previously held the record with 1874.
Denman was an Irish-bred National Hunt racehorse sired by Presenting. Known as The Tank, Denman was widely known for his great rivalry with Kauto Star for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This large horse with a front-running style won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2008.
Andrew Thornton is a retired National Hunt jockey.
Timothy James Murphy is a former National Hunt and now current Flat racing jockey who overcame difficult personal problems to win the 2008 Grand National at Aintree Racecourse on the horse Comply or Die. He recorded his 1,000th winner at Taunton on 21 January 2010. He won the Scottish Grand National on Merigo in 2010 and 2012. He was the winner of the 2005 Jump Jockey of the Year at the Lester Awards.
Paddy Brennan is an Irish jockey who won the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Imperial Commander. He rode his 1,000th winner over jumps in Britain and Ireland with Fergal O’Brien-trained Colin’s Sister at Warwick. Brennan has won six races on board Cue Card, including five grade ones.
Synchronised was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist long-distance steeplechaser, he was best known for his performances in the 2011–2012 National Hunt season, when he won the Grade I Lexus Chase in Ireland before winning Britain's most prestigious steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on 17 March. He was euthanised after incurring a leg fracture in the Grand National on 14 April 2012.
Daryl Jacob is an Irish National Hunt jockey who rode for trainer Paul Nicholls as second jockey to Ruby Walsh. When Walsh left the Nicholas yard Jacob took over as principal rider. He won at the Cheltenham festival for the first time in 2011 on Zarkandar in the Triumph Hurdle. His second Cheltenham Festival win was in 2014 on Lac Fontana in the Vincent O Brien County Handicap Hurdle on the last day of the festival. However, before the start of the next race he suffered a broken leg, knee and elbow after Port Melon crashed into the rail.
Dessie Hughes was an Irish racehorse trainer and jockey. He was the father of British champion jockey, Richard Hughes, and won at the Cheltenham Festival as both jockey and trainer.
Coneygree is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career which ran from November 2010 to February 2019 he ran in eighteen races, winning nine times. In March 2015, he became the first novice chaser to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for more than forty years. His subsequent career was hampered by injury and he did not run again in the Cheltenham Gold Cup after winning it.
Noel Fehily is a retired Irish professional horse racing jockey. Throughout his professional career, he has enjoyed substantial success including the King George VI Chase and Champion Hurdle, despite enduring significant injuries.
Tiger Roll is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing and won the Grand National in 2018 and 2019. He has also won five times at the Cheltenham Festival: the Triumph Hurdle in 2014, the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup in 2017 and the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Rachael Blackmore is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing.