For Tom Scudamore, jockeying comes as second nature. The Condicote, Gloucestershire native comes from generations of jockeys, and winning is without a doubt embedded in his DNA. He is son to Peter Scudamore, who is a legend in his own right, with 8 championships under his belt. It stretches back even further to Tom’s grandfather, who took part in 16 Grand Nationals, year after year, winning once, in 1957. The grandfather is famous for riding Linwell and Snakestone.
Early beginnings
Born in 1982, Scudamore was already riding horses at the age of two, showcasing that his pedigree was from the finest stock. Over a decade later, while at Cheltenham College, he embarked upon a part-time career in flat and steeplechase, and has never looked back since then. All through his career, Scudamore has always come across as a highly disciplined jockey, combining flashes of brilliance with mettle born out of years of practice and pushing limits. While he has had several injury setbacks, Scudamore is known as the kind of jockey who dusts his shoes and gets right back to the game.
Professional highlights
The first flat in a slew of grand victories for Tom Scudamore came in 1998, when he pulled up ahead on the homestretch astride Nordic Breeze in Warwick. Toward the end of the same year, the jockey grabbed his second popular trophy, this time a steeplechase victory while riding Young Thruster. In 2001, Scudamore became the Amateur Jockey Champion for Britain. In all these victories, he was considered an amateur until he won the Chepstow Racecourse toward the end of the year 2001. Since then, the jockey has won an avalanche of accolades, with the most popular ones being the Red Square Gold(astride Heltornic), VC Casino Gold Cup(astride Madison Du Berlais), Ladbroke Hurdle(astride Desert Air), as well as Eider Chase on the back of Nil Desperandum.
One of Tom’s most recent victories was the King George Chase, coming on the back of Thistlecrack towards the close of 2016, where he walked away with a cool £119,026 prize. His biggest payday was back in March 2016, when he took home £170,850 at Ryanair World Hurdle.