Jim Crowley celebrates 2,000th winner at Goodwood on Modmin

The former champion jockey enjoyed a memorable Ebor Festival at York, with six winners highlighted by sprint sensation Battaash’s Nunthorpe victory as part of a fabulous Friday four-timer.

He needed two more winners for his landmark heading into a new week, and suffered a few frustrating days before getting Zahratty home at Newmarket on Saturday.

The Marcus Tregoning-trained Modmin looked to hold every chance of giving Crowley his milestone, and so it proved as the 30/100 favourite made all in the Ladbrokes Supporting ‘Children With Cancer UK’ Novice Stakes.

It is 14 years since the former northern-based jumps rider switched codes.

Exactly a decade later, he was crowned Britain’s champion Flat jockey – before being appointed number one rider to one of the sport’s most prominent owners in Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum.

That association has borne great fruit, never more so than this season as Crowley dominated Royal Ascot with a string of winners in the blue and white before heading to Goodwood in similar form, and then on to York.

Battaash has been pre-eminent among his big-race winners since racing resumed in June, adding a fourth King George Stakes in record time at Goodwood to his King’s Stand at Ascot, en route to York.

Mohaather, Nazeef, Hukum and Enbihaar all kept Crowley centre stage at Group level too – among others this summer.

Their names are famous additions to a roll of honour which began when Karl Burke’s Lord Shanakill provided his first Group One breakthrough in the 2009 Prix Jean Prat.

Before then, there was a smattering of big handicap and lesser Group-race success for a variety of trainers.

Crowley had first made a name for himself, however, on the northern jumps circuit – with the odd foray south.

On one such, Mark Rimell’s Crossbow Creek became one of his highest-profile National Hunt winners in the Lanzarote Hurdle.

It has been a long, highly successful road from Kempton in January to Goodwood in late August – but 15 years on, Crowley is surely far from done yet.

On reaching the landmark, West Sussex-based Crowley, said: “I never dreamed of riding this amount of winners in my career, but it’s fantastic to have done so and to be joining some racing greats in reaching the landmark.

“When I started off as a Jump Jockey, particularly when I was with Sue and Harvey Smith in Yorkshire, it was magic up there and I learned so much from them and was such a good time in my life, but at the same time I never in a million years thought I would end up being Champion Jockey and then going on to ride 2,000 winners.

On his decision to switch codes and turn to flat racing in 2006, Jim said: “It was such a big decision. I never really got to the heights I wanted to over jumps, I kept getting injured and had my collarbone removed after breaking it for the tenth or eleventh time. I was lucky to have my sister-in-law in Amanda Perrett who had some great horses and showed me fantastic support, as did other trainers and owners.

“I’ve then gone on to win some fantastic races, most notably the Juddmonte International and Coral Eclipse with Ulysses and all of the wins with Battaash. It has been a great journey and long may it continue. I’m still hungry and want to ride in and win as many races as I can.”

Video courtesy of Great British Racing and Racing TV...

Crowley, who is number one jockey to Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum, has enjoyed the most success with trainers Ralph Beckett (224) for whom in the past he was retained jockey, and sister-in-law Amanda Perrett (140).

Angus Gold, Racing Manager to Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum, said: "Reaching 2,000 winners is an unbelievable achievement for Jim, and even more unique in that it has come over both jumps and flat. He has been fantastic for us over the last four years or so and we have shared many great days as a team.

"He’s everything we wanted in a stable jockey, and you’d have to say in terms of highlights, the ones that stand out most recently are obviously the superb wins with Mohaather and Battaash. But as an example of just how good of a jockey Jim is, was a win at Wolverhampton the other week with Daheer who is trained by Owen Burrows. He is considered a very ordinary horse but the way Jim rode him to victory was fantastic, and proves it’s not just about the big occasions and why having a stable jockey in Jim is so important to us. He’s such a good guy to work with, a very knowledgeable jockey with a great racing brain, who is very thorough in his work and a joy to be around."

Amanda Perrett commented: “It is a remarkable achievement. From his days on the jumps he has shown tremendous hard work and dedication, which is paying off now. He is a world-class jockey and we are all very proud of him.”