Royston Ffrench (born 5 September 1975) is a professional flat

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 was the 1997 British Champion Apprentice Jockey and has won multiple Grade 1 races in Europe and the Middle East.

Early life

Ffrench was bought up in

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

, and is the son of a Jamaican migrant. He is one of 15 siblings. He credits his Uncle for getting him into horse racing, as Ffrench spent his teenage years working in a factory and valeting cars.

Racing career

Ffrench joined the British Racing School course in Newmarket in 1995. Ffrench was apprentice to

Luca Cumani Luca M. Cumani (born 7 April 1949, in Milan, Italy) is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer and breeder. He trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket from 1976 to 2019. He has trained a multitude of high-profile horses, including seven Clas ...

, and had his first public race ride in October 1995 before a first winner at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

in March 1996. He won the 1996

Cesarewitch The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 metres) ...

onboard Inchcailoch. His first Group win, the

St. Simon Stakes The St. Simon Stakes is a Group races, Group 3 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Newbury Racecourse, Newbury o ...

at Newbury, came in 1997 riding Kaliana for Cumani and owner HH Aga Khan IV. That year, Ffrench would be crowned Champion Apprentice Jockey. Ffrench was one of three Champion Apprentice's who had worked with Cumani, the other two being

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ...

and

Jason Weaver Jason Michael Weaver (born July 18, 1979) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Marcus Henderson on The WB sitcom ''Smart Guy,'' Jerome Turrell on the short-lived sitcom '' Thea'' from 1993 to 1994, and the pre-teenaged ...

. Ffrench continued riding in the UK, but also further afield in the United Arab Emirates and Germany. In 2005, he was appointed lead jockey for trainer Howard Johnson and prolific owner

Graham Wylie Sir Andrew William Graham Wylie (born 12 August 1959) is a British businessman and co-founder of Sage Group, the United Kingdom's largest software business. Early life Wylie was raised in the North East of England, the son of a Scottish miner ...

. His first Group 1 victory came in September 2009, when he won the

Preis von Europa The Preis von Europa is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Cologne over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place eac ...

onboard Jukebox Jury. Ffrench had a successful winning partnership with the horse, having securing the Group 3

Rose of Lancaster Stakes The Rose of Lancaster Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 100 yards (2, ...

and Group 2

Grand Prix de Deauville The Grand Prix de Deauville is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 2,500 metres (about 1 mile and 4½ furl ...

just weeks prior. The following year, Jukebox Jury and Ffrench would win the Group 2

Jockey Club Stakes The Jockey Club Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres) on t ...

at Newmarket. In March 2010, whilst riding in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, Ffrench scored another Group 1 success steering Al Shemali to victory in the

Dubai Duty Free Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is the company responsible for the duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. Founded in December 1983, DDF recorded first-year sales of US$20 million and has grown into one ...

at odds of 40/1. In July, he partnered Buzzword to victory in the Group 1

Deutsches Derby The Deutsches Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Hamburg-Horn over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to tak ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

for Godolphin. Ffrench continues to ride in the UK during the summer flat season, and the UAE during the winter season. In July 2018, he was involved in a fall on the flat whilst competing in the Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile which saw him out of action for seven months.

Major wins

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

- ''Jukebox Jury'' (2009) *

- ''Buzzword'' (2010)

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

- ''Al Shemali'' (2010)

External links

Royston Ffrench at Racing PostRoyston Ffrench at Emirates Racing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ffrench, Royston 1975 births Living people British_sportspeople_of_Jamaican_descent British Champion apprentice jockeys British jockeys