An Italian-born jockey, Andrea Atzeni comes from the Mediterranean archipelago of Sardinia. Despite not coming from a racing background, this enigmatic winner has impressed time and time again. Horse riding historians and pundits have often attributed his  racing prowess to his undying interest in horses since a young age. The young Atzeni competed in low-key amateur showdowns around his Sardinia neighborhood.

Despite his fruitless quest for proper professional training in the neighboring vicinity, the aspiring jockey refused to give up and relocated to Milan. Starting a serious pupilage phase at the age of 15, the would-be racetrack champion steadily built an unparalleled career profile that extends beyond the present day. Restless with curiosity and penchant for riding titles, he moved residence two years later. At the ripe age of 17, Atzeni found himself in England’s extremely competitive sporting environment.

Pitching tent in Newmarket, Andrea Atzeni finally landed a career-shaping apprenticeship at the Prestige Palace stables that were owned by a renowned Alduino’s son – Marco. Both Marco and Atzeni spent quality periods together and at the same time, the fruitful engagement helped popularise the facility beyond its earlier confines, with many more upcoming trainees applying for tutelage vacancies.

In 2014 alone, Andrea Atzeni concluded the season with a whopping 125 wins. His numerous other triumphs include the Grosser Preis von Bayern – (1) – Seismos (2013), the British Champions Fillies’ and Mares’ Stakes – (1) – Simple Verse (2015), the Coronation Cup – (1) – Postponed (2016), the Dewhurst Stakes (2014), the International Stakes, and the George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Joe Mercer was born on 25th October 1934 and is a retired English  jockey. His most active career phase took place between 1974 and 1985. He steered more than 2,810 winners throughout his career, a record only surpassed by Sir Gordon Richards, Doug Smith, and Lester Piggott at the time of Mercer’s. As such, Joe Mercer can be said to be among the top four most illustrious jockeys of his time.

Joe Mercer’s attachment to Frederick Sneyd in a successful apprenticeship that lasted fairly long has been cited as one of the the key factors that catapulted him to auspicious sporting success.

Mercer won his first outstanding victory in the British Classic race riding on Ambiguity in 1953. This exemplary feat occured atop Ambiguity in the Epsom Oaks. As a result of his performance, the celebrated jockey received the title of the British flat racing Champion Apprentice on two consecutive years – 1952 and 1953. These triumphs set an enviable career foundation on which Mercer built.

After his promising 1953 showing, the talented flatracer further plunged himself into tireless training. Within less than twenty years after the 1953 success as an incomparably talented protege to Sneyd, Joe Mercer consistently set new highs for future generations of riders.

Later in his career, Joe Mercer operated as a stable jockey for Henry Cecil and Dick Hern. Under Cecil, the professional flat racer won his only British flat racing Champion Jockey title in 1979. His most successful horse remains Brigadier Gerald, a winner on whom Mercer registered 17 out of his 18 wins between 1970 and 1972. After winning the November Handicap in 1985 mounting Bold Rex, Joe Mercer retired after an admirabl and standout career.

Lanfranco “Frankie” Detorri is a UK-based award-wining horse racing jockey of Italian descent. Pronounced Champion Jockey three times and with the enviable record of having ridden well over 500 winners of group races, Frankie’s most outstanding feat was his 1996 riding of all the seven winning horses on the widely celebrated British Champions Day at Ascot.Detorri’s father, Gianfranco Detorri, was also a legendary horse jockey in Italy.

Frankie Detorri was recently described by Lester Piggott as the finest rider in racing. From the early years of 2012, Dettori has been operating as a freelance jockey after splitting with Godolphin Racing – for whom he’d acted as stable jockey and registered several exemplary triumphs.

Detorri was born in Milan, Italy. His very first experience with horses was at the tender age of 12 – when his dad bought him a Palomino pony. Slowly drifting into his lifelong passion, the young rider later became an apprentice jockey and a stable boy. At 14, he traveled to the United Kingdom where he became trainer Luca Cumani’s protege in 1985.

In 1990, he earned fame as the first teenager to steer 100 winners within a single sporting season – a breathtakingly rare feat only Lester Piggott had achieved at the time. His influence on the track soared rapidly throughout the following years until he scooped an honorary MBE.

On September 28, 1996 at age 25 Dettori became the first ever jockey to win all seven races on the card, at Ascot. This became known as the Magnificent 7. Plenty of punters cleaned up too, one even winning half a million pounds.

Frankie Detorri lives in Stetchworth close to Newmarket. The legend’s close-knit family includes his spouse Catherine and five children: Leo, Ella, Mia, Tallula, and Rocco. He’s undeniably one of the most noteworthy jockeys of all time – the leading racing champion of our times, as Piggott aptly opined.

Charlie Swan was a top Irish National Hunt jockey who thrilled racing fans throughout the 1990s. Although he had many winners, Swan liked to be associated with Istabraq, on whom he registered three of his most memorable victories. This outstanding rider remained a leading sporting figure in Ireland for lmost a decade. Now retired, Swan lives in Modreeny in County Tipperary.

Charlie Swan’s father was a long-serving British Army Captain, and the discipline from that upbringing helped as he grew into a racecourse legend. His father also had notable involvements in horse training and amateur racing. Before he joined the world of competitive riding, Charlie achieved his first amateur win at the age of just fifteen. The promising victory aboard Final Assault gave tell-tale hints of his untapped potential and he would later prove that he was indeed a racer of splendid capabilities.

Following a successful apprenticeship at Naas, Charlie Swan entered professional racing and worked tirelessly hard to become a top sportsman not only in Ireland but also throughout Europe. After a few seasons in the world of championship riding, Swan realised his very first noteworthy championship victory in 1989/90. For nine years, he held the prestigious title of the best Irish horse racer. He only lost this title when he chose to quit active professional riding to concentrate on his demanding training career.

Upon retiring from a successful racing career, Charlie Swan acquired a training license in 1998. He took over the training stable of his dad and launched operations as a coach, although he sometimes dabbled in some non-professional jockeying. Currently, he’s a widely influential trainer based in Cloughjordan.