Joe Nordoff chats to rising star of the weighing room Joanna Mason on the back of a remarkable first season as a professional.
It’s a cold, frosty morning in North Yorkshire, Sheriff Hutton to be precise, the home of Mick & David Easterby Racing, a dynasty that embarks on its 61st year of training thoroughbreds across the Ryedale land.
Understandably, it’s a quiet time, the focus on educating the next batch of two-year-olds who will hit the track in spring and summer of this year. Tales from the Easterby operation could fill a book let alone an article but I’m here to speak to an integral part of the set-up, jockey Joanna Mason, granddaughter of the indefatigable Mick.
Jo’s racing repertoire is an extensive one, from learning her trade at pony club to an obsession with pointing. She has gone on to establish herself as one of the best female amateurs on the circuit, sharing the ladies’ championship on two occasions with Serena Brotherton; another vital cog in the Easterby operation for many a year.
Mason, 32, is in the process of riding out her final lot of the day - she doesn’t do tired, she does busy - as she greets me in typical happy-go-lucky style. It’s a rare day off from race-riding for the self-confessed ‘workaholic’ and, as we head to the tack room for the interview, she admits she has made an “unorthodox switch to the professional ranks”.
“Bubbly, happy and positive” - Jo’s three words to describe herself, so there is an element of surprise on my part that she found a lack of self-confidence her biggest challenge in getting to where she is now.
“It had crossed my mind on numerous occasions (to go pro) and the push I needed was watching Hayley [Turner] and Hollie [Doyle] - their achievements have removed the stereotype it’s all about strength, there’s a lot more to race riding, balance, race positioning and co-ordination," says Mason.
Agent Hannity at heart of success
By her own admission her objective in a first season with a full licence was to just ride more than she did as an amateur, a period that spanned the best part of 15 years and 39 winners.
With that in mind she reflects with a wide smile that things couldn’t have gone any better, a year that yielded 44 winners, resulting in a third-place finish behind Hollie and Hayley in the female jockeys' table.
She credits a lot of her success to agent Niall Hannity.
“He’s brilliant, he’s got me a lot of rides I wouldn’t have been on, he’s easy to deal with and alongside sorting everything out he’s very helpful in post-race analysis and ways I can improve," she reveals.
It would be unthinkable not to mention the impact those at the helm at New House Farm have had, not only to Jo’s success but equally her grounding.
“Grandad & David are ultra-supportive, I’ve worked here for a long time and they’re keen to support me especially with constructive criticism, whilst my grandad is the first to emphasise seizing the opportunities for better outside rides to build up my contact list."
A tremendous work ethic has undoubtedly helped Jo along the way. A firm believer in the notion “you only get out what you put in” she sits in the knowledge that those who have backed her over the last year appreciate her efforts, which understandably she takes a lot of gratification from.
It’s clear as she sips her coffee, this is something she is passionate about. When she’s not riding, she’s keeping fit, utilising the excellent facility that is Jack Berry House in Malton, a resource which she credits with getting her up and running in double-quick time having broken her back in 2015. Proudly, she cites the words etched on a wall which inspire her week in week out.
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”
Squeezing the best out of every ride
Her positivity is unrelenting as the subject of her unorthodox route to the professional ranks resurfaces. Yes, she could have taken the plunge long ago, but admits “she’s mentally stronger now with an ability to deal with people better.” Something which your average teenage apprentice may struggle to juggle alongside everything else race riding demands.
On that subject of race-riding, she recalls wise words from weighing room colleague and fellow Sheriff Hutton graduate Paul Mulrennan ahead of her first ever ride as an amateur:
“Wind up your horse, imagine it’s a tube of toothpaste, you’re squeezing it out of it, and get lower to drive the horse to get as much energy out as you can rather than immediately going for the stick."
That advice stuck, and alongside her experience in amateur races has contributed to her being the jockey she is today.
“Yes, it’s different, we ride a lot closer in the professional ranks” she says. "It’s much tighter but the grounding is there, what I have built up over the years has proved invaluable.”
Inherently a good talker and constructive with it, Mason is strong in her belief that a key facet of race-riding is the connection with owners and trainers.
“Riding can often be the easy bit, it’s about spending time to relay information and in a lot of cases suggesting areas that can be built upon," she explains.
Mason places plenty of emphasis on pre-race research, whether that be assessing where the likely pace is coming from, consulting fellow weighing room colleagues on her upcoming mount or orchestrating a change of tactics, something she pulled off with great success having got the call up to ride the Ruth-Carr trained Copper And Five last year.
A frustrating sort given his tendency to take a keen hold, a good gallop to aim at looked a necessity for him if he was ever going to get his head in front.
“He appeared the type to me that would benefit from a switch to positive tactics and preferably a long straight to open up” she explains. "We needed to channel his energy more efficiently.”
Her instinct was spot on a Copper And Five shed his maiden tag at Doncaster, and under Mason’s guidance the gelding would go on to taste success three times in total, ending the campaign on a remarkable 16lb higher mark than for the first of those victories in June.
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That was only one highlight of her stellar 2021 campaign and unsurprisingly her infectious smile rises at the prospect of discussing her achievements further.
It was mid-pandemic and with her amateur head still on she reflects: “I was used to riding a couple of times a week maybe, I suppose 4-5 rides a week was where I was hoping to be by the spring.”
With the spring came progress. Success in a Class 3 handicap for Ed Walker at Kempton proved a catalyst, and soon after her weekly riding target seamlessly become a daily occurrence.
Treble tops at Ripon a glorious day
She achieved another career-high when riding a treble at Ripon in July for three different trainers. “I suppose it’s like any job, confidence breeds confidence. I was riding on the crest of a wave, I was steering them in the right direction and the horses were doing the rest.”
Those who keep close tabs on Mason’s rise would hardly have been surprised. She’s proud of her “Gods Own Country” roots and Yorkshire racecourses have become her playground - her record at Ripon in 2021 was six wins from 18 rides and a 50% place rate.
If those statistics make for impressive reading, fast forward the clock two months and she found herself crowned leading rider at Beverley with a win strike rate of 34% and £45.00 profit to a £1 level stake.
“It’s not something I can put my finger on” she admits, “I have had plenty of rides there as an amateur and as a stable we like having runners there, but I rode winners for a host of trainers on the Westwood last year, it’s a track I’d usually want to be positive around, but they were going in from all over the place."
The fact it came down to needing to win the last race on the final day added a little extra pressure and a slow start meant her mount Carey Street had it all to do.
Yet, as the pace collapsed upfront, she recalls extricating him off the rail to gain a most unlikely victory. Just as significant was the fact Mason was riding yet another winner for one of her most loyal band of supporters in Linda Stubbs, who, along with Harriet Bethell, has been wholly behind her since day one and contributed to her upwardly mobile profile.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits“Yes, they are only small yards, their numbers are in single figures,” she explains, “but they know how to place them correctly and crucially get results I love being part of their success”
More to come with support network growing
Whilst on the subject of key supporters Archie Watson is another to have built up a good rapport with Mason. “I aim to ride out there [at Saxon Gate] every couple of weeks during the summer, he’s supported me with winners and I hope that can continue," she says.
Her schedule is unrelenting, the decision to ride on the all-weather over the winter meaning the hours on the road continue to take their toll. Yet, one who has been worth putting the hard miles in for for is Ring of Gold, one of Jo’s horses to follow for the season.
“I think he was brought here as a hurdler really, he’s a tall, scopey sort but we’ve worked him out and he’s found his niche, seven furlong all-weather handicaps with blinkers on. The form of his latest Kempton victory has been boosted and I’d like to think there is still more under the bonnet.”
It wouldn’t be unfair to say the second horse worth monitoring in 2022 holds an even closer place in her heart, the aptly named Yorkshire Lady. A typical improving Easterby handicapper, the home-bred impressed in landing back-to-back Sky Bet Sunday Series handicaps last term before signing off with a creditable midfield effort in a French listed race.
“She just loves coming through horses and is still low-mileage at around a mile-and-a-quarter," Mason says. "A mark in the mid-late 80’s shouldn’t prove beyond her.”
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsAt this juncture, it seems apt the conversation should switch to aspirations for the year ahead, the ridder saying: “I suppose it’s just to better last season really, stay injury-free and hopefully build up more connections”
Modest with her assessment, she has got off to a solid start, and an emotional success on the Bethell-trained Lopes Dancer recently leaves her just six victories short of the 95-winner mark which will see her lose her 3-lb claim.
It's a milestone all jockeys seek to reach and without doubt thought-provoking as to how it may affect their trajectory. It did play on Mason's mind before a call with Hannity only recently.
“At first I thought I will just need to work harder, but Niall’s been reassuring, people are booking me because they like how I ride and how I come across, it’s been a while since anybody rung and mentioned the claim.”
Who could disagree? She’s long since married style with substance, and the imminent next chapter in her career means in her own words she must "embrace the fact I will soon be on an equal footing with everyone and see how far I really can go.”
It’s evident she’s relishing the prospect, that alongside hopefully getting a winner at her beloved York this summer.
“I never managed a win on the Knavesmire last year so that would be nice, but success in a big Saturday handicap anywhere would be a dream.”
The mention of the outside chance of a call up to the Ladies Shergar Cup Team later this year also strikes a chord with Mason.
“Wow that would be amazing! To have a winner at Ascot would be fantastic in its own right. I’d love to be involved if given the opportunity.”
Afternoon stables is fast approaching, and she is on duty. With that we sign off but not before she offers the advice she would give her younger self: “Work hard, stay positive and don’t regret anything.”
Words that have propelled her into the position she finds herself in today.