Sam Bernard Waley-Cohen (born 15 April 1982) is a retired amateur English

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 and entrepreneur.

Horse racing

Waley-Cohen was reported in the sports pages in 2007 when he came 5th on his father's horse Liberthine in the

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 ...

. He won the delayed 2010

King George VI Chase The King George VI Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of ...

in January 2011 on

Long Run In economics, the long-run is a theoretical concept in which all markets are in equilibrium, and all prices and quantities have fully adjusted and are in equilibrium. The long-run contrasts with the short-run, in which there are some constraints an ...

, preventing

Kauto Star Kauto Star (19 March 2000 – 29 June 2015) was a French-bred National Hunt champion racehorse trained by Paul Nicholls in Somerset and owned by Clive Smith. He was known for his versatility and longevity, being the only horse ever to be top ...

from winning the race for a record fifth consecutive year. In 2011 Waley-Cohen also won the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

on Long Run.

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

, 9 Mar 2012
Online
accessed 9 Mar 12 He is the first amateur jockey in 30 years to win the race. In the 2012 and 2013 runnings they finished third to Synchronised and Bobs Worth respectively. In 2022 Waley-Cohen announced that he would be retiring and that his 2022 Grand National ride on Noble Yeats would be his last. He went on to win the race with final odds at 50/1. Waley-Cohen became the first amateur jockey to win the Grand National since

Marcus Armytage Marcus Armytage orn is a journalist and former National Hunt jockey who won the Grand National as an amateur in 1990, riding Mr Frisk. He was educated at Eton College. Armytage's win in the 1990 Grand National on Mr Frisk came in a record time ...

Mr Frisk Mr Frisk (c.1979 – September 2000) was a Thoroughbred racehorse, famous for his victory in the 1990 Grand National. He completed the course in record time of 8 minutes and 47.80 seconds, ridden by Marcus Armytage; this still stands, even ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. Having also finished second in the 2011 Grand National on Oscar Time, and won seven races on the Grand National course from 41 rides, this made him the most successful course jockey of the modern era.

Business interests

Waley-Cohen started his career at Louis Dreyfus Trading Ltd in London, spending time with the successful sugar trading division. Waley-Cohen has also built up the Portman Dentalcare chain of dental practices since he started the business in 2009. By March 2011 the business had grown to eight dental practices employing 170 staff and by 2013 it has grown to 15 dental practices. His business activities saw him nominated as Spears young entrepreneur of the year in 2011. In 2020 the Portman Group had grown to over 160 practices and expanded to operate across Europe.

Personal life

Waley-Cohen is the son of Felicity Ann (Samuel) and businessman, racehorse breeder and trainer

Robert Waley-Cohen Robert Bernard Waley-Cohen DL (born 10 November 1948 in Westminster, London) is an English entrepreneur. Biography He is the son of Bernard Waley-Cohen and Joyce Waley-Cohen, and grandson of Sir Robert Waley Cohen and Harry Nathan, 1st Baron ...

, nephew of the theatre owner and producer Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen Bt.

Joanna Waley-Cohen Joanna Waley-Cohen (born 1952) is the Provost for New York University Shanghai and Silver Professor of History at New York University, where she has taught Chinese history since 1992. As Provost, she serves as NYU Shanghai's chief academic office ...

, provost at NYU Shanghai, and collegiate professor and professor of history in the NYU History Department in New York and grandson of Lord Mayor of London, Sir

Bernard Waley-Cohen Sir Bernard Nathaniel Waley-Cohen, 1st Baronet (29 May 1914 – 3 July 1991) was a British businessman. He was the 633rd Lord Mayor of London, elected in 1960. Biography The son of Sir Robert Waley Cohen and Alice (''née'' Beddington), Waley-C ...

. The founder of Shell Oil -

Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, (5 November 1853 – 17 January 1927), known as Sir Marcus Samuel between 1898 and 1921 and subsequently as The Lord Bearsted until 1925, was a Lord Mayor of London and the founder of the Shell Transport and ...

- was his great-great-grandfather. Waley-Cohen was educated at

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

and

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...

followed by the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. Waley-Cohen married Annabel Ballin in 2012.

Charity links

Waley-Cohen is a celebrity ambassador for The Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT). He is also a trustee of th
Injured Jockeys Fund
and founder of the TAWC Fund.

References

External links

Portman Healthcare
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waley-Cohen, Sam 1982 births Living people People educated at The Dragon School People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English jockeys English businesspeople English Jews Cohen family