Sam Twiston-Davies
British National Hunt racing jockey
Sam Twiston-Davies (born 15 October 1992) is a British National Hunt racing jockey who has multiple Grade 1 and Cheltenham Festival wins to his name.
Background
Twiston-Davies comes from a racing background. His father is trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies and his mother is a former point-to-point rider.[1] Younger brother William Twiston-Davies is also a former jockey.[2] Twiston Davies grew up in Naunton, Gloucestershire and attended The Cotswold School.[3] As a sixteen-year-old amateur rider, Twiston-Davies rode Baby Run, trained by his father, into third place in the Foxhunter Chase at the 2009 Cheltenham Festival. The following year the pair won the race.[4] In April 2010, he was granted special dispensation by the British Horseracing Authority to ride in the Grand National, although he was one win short of the fifteen required to qualify for the race.[5] He finished fifth on Hello Bud, trained by his father.[6]
Professional jockey
In the 2010/11 season he won the Conditional Jockeys championship.
His first century was in the 2013/14 season when he had 115 winners from 774 rides.
Paul Nicholls announced on 28 April 2014 that Sam would be his number one principal jockey in the 2014/15 season.[7]
In the 2015 Cheltenham Festival he had a day two double, the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Dodging Bullets and with Aux Ptits Soins in the Coral Cup.
In 2016 he had double on day one of the Cheltenham Festival with wins in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices' Handicap Hurdle and Champion Bumper. On Friday he won the Grand Annual Chase for his third win at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. In April 2016 he won the Scottish Grand National on Vincente.
In April 2017 he won the Scottish Grand National again on Vincente.
In May 2018 Sam announced he would become freelance.[8]
In 2023 he rode well on The Real Whacker and in turn won the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase (Grade 1) race.
Cheltenham Festival winners
| Year | Race | Mount |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | St James's Place Foxhunter Chase | Baby Run |
| 2013 | Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle | The New One |
| 2015 | Queen Mother Champion Chase | Dodging Bullets |
| Coral Cup | Aux Ptits Soins | |
| 2016 | Fred Winter Juvenile Novices' Handicap Hurdle | Diego du Charmil |
| Champion Bumper | Ballyandy | |
| Grand Annual Chase | Solar Impulse | |
| 2023 | Broadway Novices' Chase | The Real Whacker |
Major wins
Ireland
- Punchestown Gold Cup - (1) - Clan des Obeaux (2021)
France
- Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil - (1) Ptit Zig (2016)
References
- ^ "Colin Jackson's Raise your Game: Sam Twiston-Davies". BBC. April 2010.
- ^ "Willy Twiston-Davies: 23-year-old jockey retires to focus on breeding". BBC. 4 December 2017.
- ^ "Cheltenham 2014: From A-team to young pretender - Festival preview". BBC. 10 March 2024.
- ^ "Five of the best: Sam Twiston-Davies's most high-profile winning rides". Racing Post. 23 June 2019.
- ^ "Sam Twiston-Davies gets all clear to ride in the Grand National". The Guardian. 3 April 2010.
- ^ "Grand National Jockeys: Records of the riders". Sporting Life. 14 April 2023.
- ^ Cook, Chris (28 April 2014). "Sam Twiston-Davies made No1 jockey to champion trainer Paul Nicholls". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- ^ Cook, Chris (8 May 2018). "Talking Horses: has Sam Twiston-Davies made the right decision?". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- Sam Twiston-Davies becomes number one jockey for Nicholls
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