James John Codd (born 1981/1982) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

jockey. Having won 972 races before retiring from point to points, he has the second highest amount of wins in point to point races of any jockey.

Racing career

Codd is a native of Mayglass,

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

. The son of trainer Billy Codd and the brother of point-to-point trainer Willie Codd, he was born into a horse racing family.

Point to points

Codd started his racing career in 1999, riding in point-to-points for his father Billy. His first win in a point-to-point came two years later in 2001, when he rode Eyze to victory at Bramblestown for trainer Mags Mullins. He went on to become one of the most successful point-to-point jockeys in recent history, and by the time he retired from point riding in 2021, he had a total of 972 wins under his belt. He also became the only jockey this century to win all the races on one point-to-point card, winning all six races at

Tinahely Tinahely () is a village in County Wicklow in Ireland. It is a market town in the valley of the River Derry, a tributary of the River Slaney. Location and access It is located on the R747 road which links the west Wicklow town of Baltingla ...

in 2011. He was noted "the luckiest winner of a Point to Point" ever after winning at Borris on Rebel Benefit in 2014, after every other horse in the race made errors and did not complete.

Under rules

Codd won his first Grade One race in 2014, winning the Irish Champion Bumper at

Punchestown Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish Nationa ...

on Shaneshill. As of 2021, Codd has a total of 299 wins under rules, including 32 class one wins and five Grade One wins. In the 2016–17, Codd narrowly defeated Patrick Mullins to win the title of champion amateur jockey for the season. Codd suffered a collapsed lung in 2018, which ruled him out of racing for a month.

Cheltenham wins

Codd has a total of ten wins at the

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 ...

so far. He is the leading jockey since 1946 in the

Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain for amateur riders; it is open to horses aged five years or older. The chase is run on the New Course at Che ...

, having won the race on four runnings - his first Cheltenham win came in the 2009 running of the race on Character Building, then in 2012 on Junior, in 2015 on The Package and most recently in 2016 on Cause of Causes. Codd also partnered Cause of Causes to two more Cheltenham wins, winning in the 2015

National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup The National Hunt Challenge Cup is a Grade 2 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain for amateur riders which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenh ...

and scoring a third win with the horse in three festivals in the 2017 in the

Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase is a National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Cross-Country Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles ...

. His other wins came in the National Hunt Chase in 2019 and 2020 on Le Breuil and Ravenhill respectively, and in the

Champion Bumper The Champion Bumper is a Grade 1 National Hunt flat race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four to six years. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ f ...

, winning in 2017 with Fayonagh and again in 2019 with Envoi Allen. He later hailed Fayonagh as "the greatest horse ehad ever ridden". Codd notably missed the 2012 festival due to a fall sustained in a point to point race.

Grand National

Codd's first

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

run came in

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, when he rode his Cheltenham triple winner Cause of Causes to a second-place finish in the race, behind eventual winner One For Arthur, for trainer

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and owner

J. P. McManus John Patrick McManus (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish businessman and racehorse owner. His career lasted from the 1980s to the 2010s. He was one of the biggest shareholders of Manchester United, until his stake was bought out by Malcolm Glazer ...

. He rode in the Grand National again in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

on Mala Beach and Milan Native, but both horses pulled up before the finish.

Personal life

Codd is married and has two children.

Cheltenham Festival winners (10)

- (2) Fayonagh (2017), Envoi Allen (2019) *

- (4) Character Building (2009), Junior (2011), The Package (2015), Cause of Causes (2016) *

- (3) Cause of Causes (2015), Le Breuil (2019), Ravenhill (2020) *

- (1) Cause of Causes (2017)

Major wins

Ireland *

Champion INH Flat Race The Champion INH Flat Race is a Grade 1 National Hunt flat race in Ireland for amateur riders which is open to horses aged four to seven years. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong ( ...

- (3) Shaneshill (2014), Fayonagh (2017), Colreevy (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Codd, Jamie Living people Irish jockeys Equestrians from County Wexford Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people)