Jockeys are the ‘bravest of the brave’ who risk their lives every day, but is the huge prize money worth the risk?
FOR a man with 19 French aristocrat ancestors who died at the guillotine, it is perhaps surprising Nicolai William Chastel de Boinville chooses weekly to risk his own neck.
English veteran National Hunt jockey Nico, 34, has escaped with that part of his body intact but has broken almost every-thing else.
From his collarbone, arm, ribs, hand, thumb and ankle to cheekbone and eye socket, you name it and De Bonville has crocked it.
But despite smashing himself up in too many falls to remember, he has won more than 740 races and £3.5million in prize money during his 15 years in the saddle.
Public school-educated Nico, who dropped out of university at 19 to become a jockey, is one of the stars of new ITV docu-series Champions: Full Gallop which starts tomorrow and takes viewers behind the scenes of National Hunt racing.
It is a sport so perilous that TWO ambulances follow the riders as they thunder along at 40mph, chasing the big prizes, on horses each weighing about a ton.
Nico, born in the Hampshire village of Baughurst, says: “If I’d followed the family blueprint I should have gone into the City but it just wasn’t adventurous enough for me.”
He adds of the jockey lifestyle: “Every time we go to the races, you know we could not be coming back that night. That is the reality. If you start thinking about the danger then it’s probably time you should stop.
Producers of the six-part series now hope it will do for jump-racing what Drive To Survive did for Formula One and Unchained for cycling’s Tour de France.
‘Face down in the dirt’
Viewers are taken into the changing rooms and, for the first time, we hear what jockeys discuss while making their way from paddock to starting line. We also follow their battles to recover from injuries.
ITV Racing host Ed Chamberlin says: “They are the bravest of the brave when it comes to sport.
“Injuries are a matter of when, not if. You have to admire their bravery.
“They are as tough and determined as they come.”
Father-of-two Nico says of the TV series: “There were jockeys who didn’t want any part of it and just wanted to get on with their job, but there were others who I guess were trying to show the bigger picture.
“You get to know these characters.
“Hopefully, it will spark an interest, because jump-racing is unpredictable, it’s thrilling. But for all these characters, the majesty of the horse is what makes it so spectacular.”
The drama featured in the series begins on Boxing Day last year at Kempton Park, near Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, for the King George VI Chase where the winner collects more than £150,000.
Nico — who schooled at Bradfield College, Berks then enrolled at Newcastle University to study politics but quit in year one — lines up in the big race on fancied horse Shishkin from the stable of star trainer Nicky Henderson.
Viewers also get the low-down on other riders in the field.
One is Champion Jockey Harry Cobden, 24, who quit school on his 16th birthday with no qualifications.
That day, he should have been taking his maths GCSE but was at Leicester for his first race as a pro jockey.
Every time we go to the races, you know we could not be coming back that night
De Boinville
Viewers see him in the King George VI Chase riding the previous year’s winner, Bravemansgame — while Bryony Frost is aboard another former winner, Frodon, and Gavin Sheehan takes the reins of Hewick.
Viewers hear how Irish trainer John “Shark” Hanlon bought Hewick for £800 at auction when the horse he had hoped to land never showed up at the sale.
Hanlon, a former cattle dealer and trucker, has 40 horses at his yard in County Carlow in southern Ireland, compared to the 200-plus that top English trainer Paul Nicholls looks after including Bravemansgame.
Shark knew nothing about Hewick but bought him because he “liked the way the horse walked”.
Hewick’s rider Sheehan — who won more than £1million in prize money last year — has never ridden the horse before he arrives in Kempton and discovers just how tiny Hewick is compared to the other five runners.
With two fences to go, De Boinville and Shishkin are leading, Cobden is third on Bravemansgame, Frost’s mount Frodon is fading and Sheehan is last with Hewick — so far back he is considering pulling up.
But then Shishkin trips, dumping De Boinville on to the turf as hooves thunder past his head.
He recalls: “Second last [jump], he winged it. Two strides later, the next thing I know I’m on the floor. You’ve gone from thinking you’re king of the world and the next you’re face down in the dirt.
“That’s jump-racing. That’s why a lot of the people in this sport are kept fairly humble.
“It doesn’t matter how well you think you’re doing, the next thing you could be on your ar*e at the back of a fence or a hurdle.”
Ed Chamberlain adds: “It was the most thrilling day of the season — proper drama. Shishkin had the race in the bag then he and Nico part company, which is brilliantly filmed.
“There’s amazing footage from Gavin Sheehan’s jockey cam where you see Nico lying on the ground as he comes past.”
‘Jelly Babies in his tea’
But Nico tries to get to his feet as quickly as possible, in case his wife Serena and their two young daughters are watching at home in the Cotswolds.
Meanwhile the race is in its final throes — and Hewick is making a last-gasp charge.
Rider Sheehan recalls: “I was out the back on my own, praying for a set of wings, jumped the second last, and as I passed Nico on the ground I felt like I’m taking off.
“It’s the others that are slowing in front of me.”
Cobden says: “Going into the last, I thought, ‘Right, nearly won this now . . . then all of a sudden I could hear one coming.”
It is Hewick, the smallest horse in the race, coming from the back of the field to the front — overtaking all in his way.
Harry adds: “This little whippet has flown down the outside and done the lot of us.”
It’s brutal on your family life. In any elite sport there has to be sacrifices
De Boinville
In scenes of wild jubilation, Hewick wins the £150,000, which will help pay trainer Shark’s bills for much of the coming year.
Ed Chamberlin says: “It’s a result that shows you can dream, you can do it and win one of the biggest races in the world with a horse that costs £800. It’s a bit bonkers, isn’t it, but it’s brilliant.”
This time De Boinville has escaped without injury and, back in the changing room, he thanks the other jockeys for avoiding him when he fell. He says: “I just saw two hooves that went straight past my head.”
But next day, back at Kempton, he is not so lucky and breaks a finger.
The day after that, riding with a patched-up finger at Doncaster, he then smashes his right collarbone in another fall, putting him out of action for weeks.
Jockeys are all self-employed. If they do not work they get no pay and the pressure is on to recover sooner rather than later.
The documentary shows injured riders being treated at one of three recovery centres set up by legendary jockey John Oaksey, who died in 2012 at the age of 83.
Ed Chamberlin says: “I remember Champion Jockey AP McCoy 20 years ago lived on a diet of Jelly Babies and sugar in his tea. Now these guys have got all the help they need for nutrition, for mental health, and also for strength and conditioning.
“So they’re in good nick but they’re also incredibly brave.”
Nico will try to ignore his 35th birthday next month and not think about the impending end of his glorious career.
But he says of his job: “It’s brutal on your family life. In any elite sport there has to be sacrifices.
“Ultimately it’s how long your body holds out, and what happens with connections and the people who employ you and whether owners want you.
“I’ll be riding as long as I enjoy it and as long as I think that I can do myself and my family justice.
“But as soon as I feel the wane, I’d like to think I’ve got loyal people around me who would have the difficult conversation with me.”
- Champions: Full Gallop starts tomorrow at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.