Yorkshire Champions Celebrated At Go Racing In Yorkshire Annual Awards Lunch
Picture 1 shows Milestone Award Winners, Tom Midgley representing his father Paul for training his 500th winner, Ruth Carr for training 500 winners, Luci Hughes representing her husband Brian for riding his 1,500th winner, Mark Johnston for training 5,000 winners, David Carr representing Kevin Stott for riding his 500th winner, presented by Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the Tote.
Picture 2 shows John and Kitty Fairley, owners of Highfield Princess, receiving the Yorkshire Horse of the Year Award from Eleanor Tomlinson.
Yorkshire Champions Celebrated At Go Racing In Yorkshire Annual Awards Lunch
Yorkshire champions were celebrated at the annual go Racing In Yorkshire Awards Lunch, which was sponsored by the Tote, at York Racecourse yesterday, Thursday, December 1st.
With fantastic action on racecourses and some brilliant performances from Yorkshire trained horses, both within the county, country and internationally there was a lot for the 150 guests to celebrate. Films of the winners, kindly put together by RaceTech, recapped the excellent equine performances, as well as those from jockeys and trainers over the past year.
Champion Jump Jockey Brian Hughes was awarded the leading jump jockey in Yorkshire prize with 26 winners across the county’s three jump courses, Catterick, Doncaster and Wetherby, while Dan Skelton took the trainer’s equivalent prize with 25 victories during 2021/22.
On the flat, both prizes stayed closer to home with Tim Easterby well out in front on 67 winners, 19 ahead of his nearest rival, while Thirsk-based Danny Tudhope took the leading flat jockey award with 48 winners.
With four victories, Ryan Sexton, based in Malton with Adrian Keatley won the Go Racing In Yorkshire Future Stars Apprentice Series, sponsored by White Rose Saddlery. He competed in eight of the 11 races in the series, amassing an impressive 75 points.
The young Irishman reflected on his career so far,
“I came over from Ireland to join Adrian Keatley last year, but didn’t have my first ride until the end of August so this is my first full season. I’m delighted to win this award and my highlight of the season was winning on Look Out Louis at Chester for Julie Camacho.”
The remarkable rise through the ranks of Highfield Princess lead to her being unanimously voted Yorkshire Horse of the Year. The wonderful mare, trained in Malton by John Quinn and owned and bred by John Fairley, won three Group 1 contests in three different countries in 35 days before heading out to America and finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.
John Fairley said of his star mare,
“She’s having a little holiday right now and then will go back to John (Quinn) when he tells me the time is right. She has a wonderful custom mind that just wants to win races and we’re thinking about the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot.”
Milestone Awards were presented by Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the Tote, to Mark Johnston on account of him training 5,000 winners, Ruth Carr and Paul Midgley who both hit the 500 career winner mark, Brian Hughes for riding his 1,500th winner and flat jockey Kevin Stott for riding his 500th winner.
A special presentation was made to John Sexton, who retired after nine years as Chairman of Go Racing In Yorkshire back in 2021 and he received a caricature by well-renowned racing artist Birdie.
Ben Warn, Chairman of Go Racing In Yorkshire said:
“Having missed the last two award lunches due to Covid, it was a great opportunity to get everyone together to celebrate all that is good about racing in Yorkshire. We were delighted to have so many racing professionals and members of the media come and support the lunch and would also like to thank the Tote for sponsoring and York Racecourse for being such wonderful hosts. As a sport we have a great deal to be proud of in the county and we look forward to more incredible performances and supporting the continued success of our athletes, both equine and human, in 2023 and beyond.”
Alex Frost, Chief Executive of the Tote commented:
“We are delighted to have supported the Go Racing In Yorkshire annual lunch which was a really special occasion celebrating some of British racing’s leading stars and performances in 2022. The Tote is an integral part of the racecourse experience and we look forward to continuing to work with all of Yorkshire’s nine racecourses bringing innovation and an improved value proposition to the pool betting experience for all Yorkshire racegoers.”
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