Richard Johnson, born in Hereford in 1977, is a younger jockey than most I’ve covered of late, and so for some his achievements are still flesh in their thoughts. The National Hunt jockey came fromw hat you could term a ‘racing family’. His father was a jockey, and his Mother, Sue Johnson is a well known horse trainer in her own right. Success for Johnson started young, as racing appears to fits him like a glove.
At age 18 he was Champion Conditional Jockey and this effectively set the tone for the rest of his successful career which still continues today.
Some of the stand out wins so far in his career include a 1999 win in the Cheltenham Festival’s Stayers Hurdle aboard Anzum. Further success at Cheltenham were a Cheltenham Gold Cup win the following year and a win in the Queen Mother Champion Chase two years later. There was also success in the Champion Hurdle. Richard Johnson is not shy of royal connections having spend 5 years in a relationship with Zara Phillips over a decade ago.
Success at the Cheltenham Festival can be contrasted against a rather unique record in the Grand National. I say unique because while Johnson has riden in the National 20 times in total, which is a record, he also has the record for the most rides in the Grand National without a winner. His best result is second place, experienced twice, once upon What’s Up Boy’s in 2002, and again in 2014 on Balthazar King. I’m sure he doesn’t dwell on this too much though, as perspective is granted by the fact that Johnson by early 2016 had riden a staggering 3000 winners. It’s no surpise then that Richard Johnson has been named Champion Jockey 16 times in his career so far.
