Dobbs will keep a tight rein on his emotions as he rides out
Last updated 11:22, Wednesday, 09 April 2008
WHEN Tony Dobbin unsaddles Ballyvoge at Carlisle tomorrow after riding in his last ever race, it’s unlikely Cumbria’s favourite Irishman will shed a single tear.
It’s a well-known fact that jump jockeys don’t cry.
They’re tough. They’re focused. They’re ultra-competitive. And they’re not a sentimental breed.
Dobbin is all of those things and more, which explains why he’s the seventh most successful jockey in National Hunt racing history, and why he won’t be reaching for the Kleenex when he makes his way back to the weighing room after a race named in his honour, the Dobbs Finale Future Best Wishes Novices’ Chase.
Dobbin is too busy plotting his next move into the training ranks to be glancing over his shoulder at his riding career which will be history tomorrow after nearly 1,200 winners, including a Grand National triumph on Lord Gyllene in 1997.
At 35, the timing couldn’t be better for him to hang up his whip and open a new chapter in his life, but it brings to an end a glittering career which proved that being based in the far-flung north is not always handicap to sporting success.
There’s a glaring north-south divide in horseracing when it comes to prize money and the calibre of races and horses.
Dobbin has spent his entire career batting away questions about why he didn’t head to one of the bigger yards in Somerset, Berkshire or Gloucestershire instead of staying in Cumbria – his home for nearly 20 years.
It wasn’t a lack of ambition. He knew that to be successful he didn’t have to up sticks from Greystoke where he has been stable jockey since he was 21 when the late Gordon Richards handed him the plum role previously held by men like Neale Doughty, Jonjo O’Neill and Ron Barry.
Dobbin was probably in the top three jockeys in the country at one stage after Tony McCoy and Mick Fitzgerald, but being based in the north meant he never got the plaudits his riding skills deserved.
He was already a good rider when he arrived in Cumbria but working first for O’Neill smartened up his style and then Richards taught him how to properly ride the big, old-fashioned chasers which made Greystoke famous.
One Man, Unguided Missile, Monet’s Garden, The Grey Monk and Addington Boy were among the star names he was associated with.
Dobbin is so competitive and determined, he was probably obsessed about winning a game of tiddlywinks when he was three.
He instinctively knew what the other jockeys were going to do in a race and he knew the level of ability of the other horses.
When he was on a lazy so-and-so or a dodgy jumper going round Hexham, Catterick or Kelso, he could make their minds up for them, and punters knew they got value for money out of Dobbin.
He was also fiercely loyal. He stuck close to Greystoke through thick and thin and, when Carrutherstown trainer Len Lungo, below right, asked him to be his first-choice jockey a few years ago, he agreed only on the proviso that Nicky Richards, below left, would always have first claim on his services.
He had developed a sense of belonging to Cumbria, which was why he could never imagine himself living anywhere else during his riding career.
It was also the explanation why he chose Carlisle as the venue to hang up his whip tomorrow, and why he picked The Cumberland News to exclusively announce his decision. On retirement, Dobbin will assist his partner Rose Davidson with the training at a purpose-built yard which will be up and running next year. You just know it’s going to be a huge success.
But then with a name like Dobbin, he was always destined to excel with horses.
