David Probert (born 1988) is a Welsh jockey who was joint

British flat racing Champion Apprentice The flat racing Champion Jockey and Champion Apprentice titles are awarded annually to the jockey(s) and apprentice(s) respectively that have ridden the most winners (both turf and all-weather) in Great Britain during a set period or championship ...

in 2008.

Background

Probert was born in

Bargoed Bargoed ( cy, Bargod) is a town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly. It straddles the ancient boundary of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, w ...

, Wales, attended

Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is a Welsh-medium school situated in the village of Fleur-de-Lys in the Rhymney Valley. Cwm Rhymni was founded in 1981 with just over 150 pupils and has since grown to 1,684 pupils with 1,164 at the Gellihaf campus and ...

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

school, and grew up competing in

pony 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 ...

and

Gymkhana Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...

in and around

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He attended the British Racing School in Newmarket.

Riding career

Since leaving the school, he has ridden for

Andrew Balding Andrew Matthews Balding (born 29 December 1972) is a British racehorse trainer based at Park House Stables, Kingsclere, near Newbury, Berkshire. Balding attended Caldicott School, a boys' preparatory school, and Radley College, a public school ...

, and has had

Ian Balding Ian Balding (born 7 November 1938) is a retired British horse trainer. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Matthews Balding and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Ian Balding was born in the US, but his fami ...

as a mentor, although his first winner was Mountain Pass for John Lewis Llewellyn in 2007. In 2008, he won the

title jointly with

William Buick William Buick (born 22 July 1988) is a Norwegian-British flat jockey. He shared the champion apprentice jockey title in 2008 with David Probert and won the Lester Award for Apprentice Jockey of the Year in 2007 and 2008. From 2010 to 2014 h ...

. In 2012, he won the

Investec Derby Trial The Blue Riband Trial Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 17 yards (2,027 metres) at ...

on Goldoni. That same year, he won his first

group race Group races, also known as Pattern races, or Graded races in some jurisdictions, are the highest level of races in Thoroughbred horse racing. They include most of the world's iconic races, such as, in Europe, the Derby, Irish Derby and Prix de ...

, the Group 2 Oettingen-Rennen on what he called "the best horse I've ever ridden", Highland Knight. The following year, he picked up the Group 3

Darley Stakes The Darley Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 1 furlong (1,811 met ...

on the same horse. June 2014 brought a number of milestones. He became the youngest

Welshman Welshman or The Welshman may refer to: * any male Welsh person * ''The Welshman'', one of two named passenger railway trains * ''The Welshman'' (newspaper), defunct weekly (1832–1984) * Adam the Welshman (), bishop of St. Asaph * Welshman Ncube ...

to ride in the

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

, finishing eleventh on Impulsive Moment. He got his first

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

winner came in the Britannia Stakes on the Balding-trained Born in Bombay Later that month, on 28 June, he recorded his first four-timer at Brighton, with combined odds of 8031/1 - Assertive Agent for Tony Carroll in the first, Curious Fox for Anthony Carson in the 2nd, Fashion Parade for Charlie Hills in the 3rd, Noverre to Go for Ron Harris in the 4th. Later in the year, he won the Oettingen-Rennen again for Balding on Here Comes When In 2015, he won the Group 3

Sandown Classic Trial The Sandown Classic Trial is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 1 furlong and 209 yards ...

on Master Apprentice and the

Doonside Cup The Doonside Cup is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ayr over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it is scheduled ...

on Scottish. Then in 2016, he won the Stewards Cup at Goodwood, three year old filly Dancing Star, only the second filly to do so since

Lochsong Lochsong (26 April 1988 – 27 May 2014) was a bay Thoroughbred filly who twice won the Cartier Award as Top European Sprinter and was voted 1993 European Horse of the Year. Background Lochsong was a bay mare bred by her owner, Jeff Smith's Li ...

, a horse to which she was related.

References

http://www.geegeez.co.uk/a-chat-with-david-probert/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Probert, David 1988 births Living people Welsh jockeys British Champion apprentice jockeys