Felix de Giles (born February 1989) is a Grade 1 winning British jockey who has been based in France since 2015 and competes in races over jumps. In 2023 he was crowned champion French jump jockey.

Background

De Giles grew up in

Stanton Fitzwarren Stanton Fitzwarren is a village and civil parish northeast of Swindon, in Wiltshire, England. It is part of the unitary authority of Swindon. Parish church The Church of England parish church of Saint Leonard is Norman.Pevsner & Cherry, 1 ...

, near

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, where his father trained horses. He started riding at a young age and competed in show jumping and pony racing, winning the pony racing championship in 2004. He attended

Highworth Warneford School Highworth Warneford School is a mixed academy status secondary school in the small town of Highworth, north of Swindon, Wiltshire, England for pupils aged 11 to 16. Since July 2011, the school has been an academy. History The modern Highwo ...

until he was sixteen and then studied for

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

in the sixth form at

Farmor's School Farmor's School is a secondary school with academy status in Fairford, Gloucestershire. Including the Sixth Form, the school currently has about 1,000 students on roll. After receiving an inspection from Ofsted in 2017, the school was given ...

, Fairford. Whilst still at school, he rode out for his father and local trainer John Manners. He rode his first point-to-point winner on the Manners-trained Hi Rudolph in March 2005 and had his first ride under rules in a hunters' chase at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

the following month, coming fourth of Father Jim, trained by his father.

Career as a jockey

After completing his A-levels, de Giles joined the yard of Nicky Henderson at Lambourn as conditional jockey. At the 2009

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

he won the

Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle is a National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain for conditional jockeys which is open to horses aged four years or older. I ...

on 25/1 Andytown for Martin Henderson. De Giles rode about 250 winners in Britain before moving to France in 2015 to ride as stable jockey at the yard of trainer Emmanuel Clayeux in

Vaumas Vaumas is a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and t ...

. After several seasons with Clayeux, he went free-lance. He won his first Grade race in April 2019, on Docteur De Ballon for Louisa Carberry in the Grade 3 Prix Ingre Chase at Auteuil Racecourse. He has ridden twice in the Grand National at Aintree and on both occasions completed the course. In 2012 he came thirteenth on Neptune Equester for Brian Ellison and in 2023 he came seventh on Roi Mage for Patrick Griffin. In May 2023, de Giles achieved his first Grade 1 win, riding Juntos Ganamos to victory in the

Prix Ferdinand Dufaure The Prix Ferdinand Dufaure is a Group 1 Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in France which is open to four-year-old Horse racing, horses. It is run at Auteuil Hippodrome, Auteuil over a distance of 4,100 metres (a ...

for David Cottin. That season, he also won a Grade 2 and eight Grade 3 winners. He finished the year with 92 winners and was crowned champion jump jockey of France.

Personal life

Outside of racing, de Giles participates in other sports, including boxing, and goes to rock concerts. In 2023 he married Orane Hurstel.

Major wins

France *

- (1) - Juntos Ganamos (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Giles, Felix 1989 births Living people British jockeys