Little man with high ambitions

13 April 2012

Ben Hitchcott is still glowing from his post Christmas double at Kempton. Yet the amateur jockey, who makes up through sheer dynamism what he lacks in inches, was always going to walk tall in the sport where he rode his first winner in a Grand National and followed up with a Derby victory.

Last Wednesday, the 5ft 21/2 in powerhouse - "don't forget the half inch," - enjoyed success on Eau de Cologne and Struggles Glory at the Sunbury track.

The combined prize money amounted to over £26,000, but unlike a professional rider who would have got a hefty percentage of the winnings, he didn't make a penny.

"That doesn't worry me at this stage of my career," he said. "As an advertisement for myself it was priceless and I'm still high on the glory."

Coming back to that Grand National and Derby, Hitchcott, 20, admits they might not be quite what they seem. His first winner was in a 'National', but it was on Celtic Silver in the point-to-point version at Detling in Kent - the most prestigious four-mile event between the flags in that part of the world. The 'Derby' was the amateur version at Epsom in August where he scored on Rare Talent for Steve Gollings.

With no real racing background - his father is something in the City and his mother a housewife, Hitchcott's size predicted the sporting route he would take and he went to the British Racing School at New-market in 1996.

Although the right height for a Flat jockey, his bones were just that bit too big and it seemed his future lay in a jumping stable. He couldn't have picked a better one than Henrietta Knight's establishment in Oxfordshire.

Although he did not get many opportunities at the Wantage stable he got help from Knight's husband, former National Hunt champion jockey Terry Biddlecombe, who instilled the basics and a bit more into him.

"Whatever he told me made s e n s e , "Hitchcott said. "Although I've had a couple of rides for them I have yet to ride a winner for them, which I would love to do to repay the compliment."

Hitchcott moved back to his Kent home to renew his point-to-point connections and was signed up by trainer Gardie Grissell who is based just over the border at Brightling Park in East Sussex. Grissell's wife Di is a big name in the point-to-point world and complements her husband's 20-strong racing string with a team of talented hunter chasers, so Hitchcott is kept busy on both fronts.

You would expect that with his legs that much shorter than the average jump jockey, Hitchcott would find it difficult to grip a big burly chaser or a chunky hurdler, but he is seldom dislodged. He is also tidy on a flat racer and has ridden two winners on the all-weather surface - and of course that one over the Epsom Derby distance.

With 18 career victories over jumps so far, Hitchcott is at present sitting third in the amateur jumping list behind Tom Scud-amore and Tommy Doyle.

Jockey's agent David Roberts has signed Hitchcott for his gentlemen riders' section following his great performance at the National Hunt Festival last year, where he partnered Real Value into second place in the Christies Foxhunters Chase.

"At the end of this season I shall really be thinking seriously about turning pro," Hitchcott said.

It may be a case of reaching for the stars but little big man Ben won't be asking anyone to provide a ladder in his quest to reach the top.

Little man with high ambitions

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