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

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 ...

. 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 Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

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

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

in March 1996. He won the 1996 Cesarewitch onboard Inchcailoch. His first Group win, the St. Simon Stakes 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 "Frankie" Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), is an Italian jockey who was based in England for a career spanning over 35 years. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey three times (1994, 1995 and 2004) and rode the winners of 287 ...

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

Preis von Europa The Preis von Europa is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Cologne-Weidenpesch Racecourse, Cologne over a distance ...

onboard Jukebox Jury. Ffrench had a successful winning partnership with the horse, having securing the Group 3 Rose of Lancaster Stakes and Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville just weeks prior. The following year, Jukebox Jury and Ffrench would win the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. In March 2010, whilst riding in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, 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 duty-free selling operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. Founded in December 1983, DDF recorded first-year sales of US$20 million. In 2023, its 40 ...

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

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

- ''Jukebox Jury'' (2009) * Deutsches Derby - ''Buzzword'' (2010)

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

- ''Al Shemali'' (2010)

External links

Royston Ffrench at Racing PostRoyston Ffrench at Emirates Racing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ffrench, Royston 1975 births Living people Black British sportsmen British Champion apprentice jockeys English jockeys English people of Jamaican descent Lester Award winners Sportspeople from Telford Sportspeople of Jamaican descent