Hywel Davies is a retired

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

professional

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. He rode for 16 years with 761 wins in the UK and he ended his riding career in 1994.

Early life

Davies is a Welsh speaker and didn't speak

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until he was 7 years of age. He attended Cardigan Comprehensive School from 1969 until 1975.

Racing career

Davies was the retained jockey for

Tim Forster Captain Timothy Arthur Forster, OBE (27 February 1934 – 21 April 1999) commonly known as Tim Forster, was an English racehorse trainer and previously an amateur jockey. As a trainer he had 1,346 winners, including 3 Grand Nationals at Ain ...

for 8 years at his

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stables near

Lambourn Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...

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. He became a freelance jockey and rode for several other trainers like

Josh Gifford Josh Gifford (3 August 1941 – 9 February 2012) was a jockey and trainer in National Hunt racing. He was a four-time Champion Jockey, riding 642 winners in his career. He retired from training in 2002, aged 60, and his son Nick Gifford took ...

and

Nicky Henderson Nicholas John Henderson (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. Background His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Tru ...

. He won the

1985 Grand National The 1985 Grand National (officially known as the Seagram Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 139th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 30 March 1985. The rac ...

on Last Suspect a 50-1 outsider. He retired from riding at the age of 37 in 1994. Since retiring Davies has been the UK representative Gain Horse Feeds.

Career after racing

Davies has been a guest

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

commentator on

At the Races Sky Sports Racing (formerly At The Races) is a British pay television channel devoted to horse racing. A joint venture between Sky Group and Arena Racing Company, it broadcasts coverage of domestic, European and international horse racing eve ...

Channel 4 Racing ''Channel 4 Racing'' was the name given to the horse racing coverage on the British television stations Channel 4 and More4. History The first transmission of racing on the channel was on 22 March 1984 from Doncaster, as it took over midweek cov ...

BBC Cymru BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

(TV and radio) and co-presenter of "Rasus" ( S4C) from 1995–present day

Personal life

Davies was born in Cardigan in 1957. He was married to Rachel Davies for 13 years. He has a son, James Davies, who is also a professional jockey. His current partner is Vikki Dunn, who is a co-founder of The Farm Group a post-production television company.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Hywel 1957 births Living people Welsh jockeys People from Cardigan, Ceredigion Sportspeople from Ceredigion