Bill Smith came, literally, within inches of a fairytale end to his riding career when, on April 28, 1984, he was involved in what was later described in the ‘Sunday Times’ as ‘the race of a lifetime’. The race in question was, of course, the Whitbread Gold Cup (now the Bet365 Gold Cup), which the history books record was won by Special Cargo, owned by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and trained by Fulke Walwyn. Since 1974, Smith had ridden 65 winners for the Queen Mother – whom he described as ‘ one of the nicest owners you could ever wish to ride for’ – and was, in fact, the regular jockey of Special Cargo.

However, for his farewell ride, Smith chose to remain loyal to the 13-year-old Diamond Edge, a stable companion of the eventual winner, on whom he had won the Whitbread Gold Cup twice, in 1979 and 1981, and the Hennessy Gold Cup (now the Coral Gold Cup) at Newbury, again in 1981. In a pulsating finish, Diamond Edge narrowly missed out on becoming the first horse to win the Hennessy Gold Cup three times, going down to Special Cargo and Lettoch, trained by Michael Dickinson, in a three-way photograph, with the first three separated by just two short heads.

Born on October 30, 1948, Smith rode his first winner, Silver Meade, trained by John Blake, as an amateur, on November 28, 1969. Two years later, on his first ride for Edward Courage, he won the SGB Chase (now the Ascot Silver Cup) on Spanish Steps and would twice finish placed in the Grand National – fourth, under 11st 9lb, in 1974 and third, under 10st 3lb, in 1975 – on the same horse. Away from Aintree, other notable winners included Royal Relief, trained by Fred Rimmell, in the Two-Mile Champion Chase (now the Queen Mother Champion Chase) twice, in 1972 and 1974, and Comedy Of Errors, also trained by Rimmell, in the Champion Hurdle in 1973.

The late Stanley ‘Stan’ Mellor MBE, who died at the age on July 31, 2020 after a long illness, was one of the outstanding jockeys of his generation. He won the National Hunt Jockeys’ Championship three years running, in 1959/60, 1960/61 and 1961/62, and may well have done so again in 1962/63, but for suffering serious facial injuries in a fall from Eastern Harvest in the inaugural running of the Schweppes Gold Trophy (now the Betfair Hurdle) at Aintree. Mellor had led the championship by 20 winners beforehand, but that mishap allowed his nearest rival, Josh Gifford, to make up lost ground and win his first jockeys’ title by six winners.

On December 18, 1971, Mellor rode Ouzo to victory in a novice chase at Nottingham, thereby becoming the first National Hunt jockey to ride 1,000 winners. The following year, in which he was also awarded an MBE for services to racing, he retired on a winning note, courtesy of Arne Folly at Stratford on June 2, with a then record 1,035 winners to his name. For all his success elsewhere, Mellor will probably always be best remembered for his canny, half-length defeat of the legendary Arkle on Stalybridge Colonist in the 1966 Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury.

As a jockey, Mellor did return to the saddle for one last hurrah in the aptly-titled ‘Old and Bold Stakes’, a ‘celebrity’ race run over a mile and a half at Uttoexeter on September 9, 1991, in aid of the Injured Jockeys’ Fund. He justified odds-on favouritism on Rock Face, trained by Sir Mark Prescott and in so doing defeated the likes of Brough Scott and Lord Oaksey. Aside from his 1,035 winners over jumps in Britain, Mellor rode nine more in Ireland, five further abroad and five on the Flat.

At the time of writing Sean Bowen currently leads the 2024/25 National Hunt Jockeys’ Championship, albeit narrowly, having ridden 38 winners from 216 rides at a strike rate of 18%. Of course, he narrowly missed out on his maiden title in 2023/24, eventually finishing just seven winners behind Harry Cobden, after a knee injury sustained in a fall at Aintree on Boxing Day caused him to miss the whole of January.

Born on September 5, 1997 in Little Newcastle in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, Bowen is the eldest son of trainer Peter Bowen, but it was for compatriot Bernard Llewellyn that he rode his first winner, Kozmina Bay, in a ‘Hands and Heels’ novices’ handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter on December 20, 2013. In 2014/15, with the backing of Paul Nicholls, he rode 51 winners, clinching the conditional jockeys’ title with victory on Lil Rockefeller, trained by Neil King, in the first race of the final meeting of the season, Bet365 Jumps Finale Day at Sandown Park, on April 25, 2015. By way of celebrating becoming, at the time, the youngest-ever Champion Conditional Jockey, at the age of 17, he also won the feature race of the day, the Bet365 Gold Cup, on Just A Par, trained by Nicholls, the same afternoon.

Two years later, on April 29, 2017, Bowen won the Bet365 Gold Cup again, on 40/1 outsider Henllan Harri, trained by his father, a victory that he later said had given him the ‘most pleasure’ in his career. In that same interview, he also said that his first Grade 1 winner, If The Cap Fits, in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree on April 6, 2019, was ‘special’. He has since added three more to his career tally, namely Metier in the Tolworth Hurdle in 2021, Not So Sleepy in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle in 2024 and, most recently, Strong Leader in the Liverpool Hurdle, again, in 2024. Not bad for a jockey who is, ironically, allergic to horses.