Marcus Armytage orn is a journalist and former

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), 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 ...

who won the

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

as an amateur in 1990, riding Mr Frisk. He was educated at Scaitcliffe School and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. Armytage's win in the 1990 Grand National on Mr Frisk came in a record time of 8m 47.80sec. It remains now the only sub nine-minute National, smashing

Red Rum Red Rum (3 May 1965 – 18 October 1995) was an Irish champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1 ...

's previous record from 1973 by some 14 seconds, even though the race has been shortened since 2013. Armytage was the last amateur rider to win the race until

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, when

Sam Waley-Cohen Sam Bernard Waley-Cohen (born 15 April 1982) is an English entrepreneur and retired amateur National Hunt jockey. 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 ...

won on Noble Yeats. Mr Frisk and Armytage went on to complete the unique National- Whitbread Gold Cup double at

Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt racing, National Hunt races and one Group One, Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Sta ...

three weeks later. The same year, 1990, he was Fegentri European Champion Amateur. In 1992 he repeated a feat achieved by his sister Gee in 1987 by riding a double 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 Race ...

, winning the

Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain for amateur riders; it is open to horses aged five years or older. The chase i ...

on Tug of Gold and

National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup The National Hunt Challenge Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of abo ...

on Keep Talking. His third Festival winner was on Christmas Gorse in the National Hunt Chase in 1994. He retired in 2000 after riding his 100th winner – in Dubai. His father was Roddy Armytage, a racehorse trainer based in

East Ilsley East Ilsley is a village and civil parish in the Berkshire Downs in West Berkshire, north of Newbury. The village is centred immediately east of the A34 dual carriageway which passes the length of the village from north to south. It has the v ...

, near Newbury, and his mother was Sue Armytage, who as Sue Whitehead was an international showjumper. His younger sister Gee was also a National Hunt jockey.

Education

He attended

in same generation as politicians

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

and

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. He used to slip out of college to ride at Windsor Races as a fledgling amateur jockey. He went on to attend the

Royal Agricultural College The Royal Agricultural University (RAU), formerly the Royal Agricultural College, is a public university in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Established in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world. ...

, Cirencester, (irregularly) before graduating with a diploma in Rural Estate Management.

Journalism

He started writing while at agricultural college for the

Newbury Weekly News The ''Newbury Weekly News'' is an English local weekly newspaper, covering Newbury and West Berkshire. The paper's website is known as ''Newbury Today''. It is published by the Newbury Weekly News Group. The Newbury Weekly News featured in ...

. He joined the

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing, and sports betting publisher published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 ...

as Newmarket correspondent in 1990 and left to join the

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

racing team in 1993 and remains a racing correspondent there. He also contributes a column to

Horse and Hound ''Horse & Hound'' is the oldest equestrian weekly magazine of the United Kingdom. Its first edition was published in 1884. The magazine contains horse industry news, reports from equestrian events, veterinary advice about caring for horses, and ...

. He was champion tipster for the 2008-09 jump season.

Personal life

He married Amber in 2003. He has three children: Arthur, born in 2004; Molly, born in 2006; and Arabella, born in 2011.

References

1964 births Living people English jockeys People educated at Eton College Place of birth missing (living people) {{England-horseracing-bio-stub