Sam Twiston-Davies believes a varied source of rides has been the key to his strong David Power Jockeys’ Cup performance this season.
The 32-year-old rider is currently in third place in the race for the £500,000 top prize awarded to the jockey who tops the leaderboard on the eve of the Grand National, and he attributes his success to support from a number of stables.
He told Sporting Life in the third of their David Power Jockeys’ Cup Podcast series: “To be competitive in the David Power Jockeys’ Cup means that you’re having a good season.
"It means you’re busy, you’re riding for the right people, and riding in the best races on the Saturdays. I’m lucky to ride for the likes of James Owen and Anthony Honeyball.
"The way I ride suits some people and I try to make owners enjoy their day. I do my homework and do my best and make sure I get everything as clinical as I can before a race so it goes as smoothly in the race itself."
WATCH: Sam Twiston-Davies speak to Niall Hannity
Twiston-Davies, who was stable jockey for Paul Nicholls for four years before returning to the family’s Grange Hill Farm stables, was also full of praise for his agents – first Chris Broad, and then Gordy Clarkson – who helped to rejuvenate his riding career.
He explained: “Chris Broad did so well for Carl Lewellyn and was just the best to deal with. You might have had a bad day with Paul [Nicholls] and Chris would just sit and listen and be really supportive. ‘You know you can ride so why would you let this get you down?’ he would say. He’s as busy as ever since he retired but has much less stress.
“Then Gordy Clarkson has done it since and has done too good a job really – sending me all over the country for one ride so he can pick up his percentage!”
Twiston-Davies and Jockeys’ Cup rival Harry Cobden share the rides on The Gredley Family-owned runners, and the former is looking forward to the Cheltenham Festival with leading Triumph Hurdle hope East India Dock.
He beamed: “I loved him winning over the course and distance [in the Triumph Trial in January] and he showed a great attitude winning on ground that wasn’t very nice. I’ve been reading a lot of the coverage, including from Timeform, and the figures he produced were quite impressive and I’m really looking forward to it. To have a horse as short as him in the betting – and the feel that he’s given me – is incredibly exciting.
“A lot more are tempted to go for the Boodles these days and there are only half a dozen who look likely to be really competitive."
Twiston-Davies will also ride Master Chewy in the Ryanair Chase, with connections keen to step him up in trip following his gutsy Game Spirit success at Newbury last time.
He explained: “Newbury is a straightforward track but he was in top gear everywhere. So, if they go as fast in the Champion Chase on the Old Course as they did in Ireland the other day, and he misses a fence, then you’re stuck. We are hoping he will be able to relax and get into a good rhythm in the Ryanair and if he does that then he might find the 10 lb or so of improvement to see him run a very big race.”
Having enjoyed plenty of success at the Cheltenham Festival between 2010 and 2016 for his father Nigel Twiston-Davies and Paul Nicholls – including three winners at the 2016 meeting – Sam endured some lean years before galvanising The Real Whacker to a short-head success in the 2023 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
He recalled: “I went a long time without a Cheltenham Festival winner and it was seven or so years before The Real Whacker won which was really special. When they called the photo finish and said he had won it was as special a day as I’d had in a long time.”
With Potters Charm – who will bid to follow in the footsteps of the yard’s The New One who was beaten in the Classic Novices’ Hurdle before winning the Turners Novices’ Hurdle – set to join East India Dock and Master Chewy at Cheltenham, there is every chance that Twiston-Davies will add significantly to his Jockeys’ Cup total over the next couple of months.
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