Jockey Jason Watson talks to Fran Berry ahead of Quadrilateral ride in QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket

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Fran Berry: Jason, this is your fourth season riding in England - how did this journey start out for you?

Jason Watson: I started riding ponies when I was about six years old and my mentor was Ray Goldstein, who was a great jump jockey at the time. His sons were both still riding and seeing them turn up to the yard sometimes in their nice cars and all the gear made me feel a bit like I wanted to be like them.

I left school when I was 13 and started going to ride out for a few trainers. The first trainer I rode out for was Jerry Enwright when he only had seven or eight horses in training at the time. I then went into lots of other places and spent time at Gary Moore's before I got my apprenticeship.

FB: What about the apprenticeship at Andrew Balding's? The place has a strong reputation for producing quality riders doesn't it?

JW: It does but the time with Gary was a massive help to me as he has a mixture of everything there and nobody was going to take it easy on you. Andrew Balding's place is very competitive and being at Gary's first put me right before going to Kingsclere.

Oisin Murphy was the most recent to come through Andrew's yard and go to the top but also William Buick and the likes of David Probert, it's always been a place for jockeys to come through and that time helped me a lot.

My second season riding was great - my first season I only had two winners and it was quite tough but you know the only way forward is to keep cracking on and keep improving.

FB: And 2018 was a real breakthrough year for you...

I got off to a great start in 2018 and it was just after I lost my 7lb claim I joined Tony Hind as my new agent and he helped me out massively with that year.

Having his name next to yours is a big plus and I've been lucky to fall into the hands of the right people. It was a good start into my professional career.

It was a big deal winning on Gifted Master in the Stewards' Cup, it really stood out as one of the big ones that season. I lost my 5lb claim that day and to do it for a big owner and trainer was brilliant. I'm very thankful Hugo (Palmer) gave me that opportunity.

Getting the ride on God Given (Group One at Capannelle, Italy) for Luca Cumani was a big surprise too to be honest - he's such a well-recognised man in the sport and it was a great privilege. It was my first ever big win - my first Group win - and a special day as it was really start of my journey in a way and obviously the end of his as he was retiring the following month.

FB: From the outside looking in it appears you have a good relationship with current boss Roger Charlton - how did you find it at Beckhampton as it's another yard with a rich history.

JW: Before getting the job at Roger's I'd never ridden for him so that was a big shock as well.

It got to the end of the year (2018) and my agent was pretty sure something might pop up. It's a great stable to learn at and to grow, and I definitely felt that was the case last season.

Roger is just a great man to learn from and he and (his son) Harry are definitely two of the good guys who know their stuff.

Having a strong relationship with the boss is absolutely necessary and without that you don't really stand a chance.

The great thing with Roger is that it doesn't matter if you're riding at Windsor on a Monday night in handicaps, or whether you're in a Group race, he treats the situation the same.

The pressure there is great but it makes you feel very proud and gives you confidence to go out and do your job.

FB: You had a lucky escape last when falling at Kempton in January, how did that injury affect you?

JW: I broke three vertebrae in my neck and one in my back. It was one of those moments - you always go into this game with it at the back of your mind.

It was good in a way that it was right at the start of the year and not the middle of the season, but I'd just got the call-up to join Charlton's yard and it would have been nice to go in there and get a feel for everything for the season, but thankfully in the end it didn't make much of a difference.

It probably gave me a little bit of perspective, especially after the 2018 I'd had.

I was never nervous or worried about getting back on a horse again, I was just kicking myself that I was going to be off for the next three months. But it gave me a chance to mentally train myself to deal with those situations and you definitely come back a mentally stronger person for it.

I think it almost helped train me up for this year's situation and the pandemic - who knows, it might have been a little blessing in disguise.

FB: Take us back to the start with Quadrilateral, the favourite for Sunday's 1000 Guineas. Was she always considered to have top-class potential?

JW: I had four winners the day she made her debut, it was a great afternoon.

Withhold was a legend and did his job, showing the class that he has, but Quadrilateral was brilliant. She was quite late onto the scene last year and was hidden behind a corner, so to speak, but we always liked her.

She gave me a nice feel three weeks or so going into her debut and I thought she'd run well. I thought she could be a bit green, but won nicely thankfully. She followed up in really good style and then it was onto the Fillies' Mile.

Good horses can handle whatever comes along and it was nice that she finished off that way and showed a good attitude to win. That sort of race should stand her in good stead for the Guineas.

I remember the ground wasn't great, they'd had a lot of racing there and it was a bit wet and a bit dead. I don't think she's particularly ground dependent but that kind of ground isn't nice for any horse.

You could tell she was learning her job as the race went on but the way she finished makes you excited about what she could do this year.

I watched the race back about a hundred times in the car on the way home and I understood what was being said in that she could be more of an Oaks filly than a Guineas filly. But I think she will deal with the mile there better this weekend, now she knows what is required. I also think she's going to stay no problem as she's strengthened up this winter.

She's mentally more mature too and she looks great. We're very happy with her, I don't really ride her out at home but I sat on her again for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I think the time off has done her good, it seems to have done her mind some good too. It's an exciting time with her.

FB: Headman is another exciting candidate from the yard for some of the top races this time around - how high could he go?

JW: We've always liked Headman and that day (Irish Champion Stakes), nothing really went right. I didn't give him the best of rides - we lost lengths at the stalls and were struggling to catch up from the off, having to go wide.

I'd looked back at previous runnings of the race and felt that coming wide might not be an issue but I think because we'd done so much to make up that ground we lost at the start wasn't ideal. But if you watch if back he never slowed down, he never stopped galloping to the line.

Deirdre got stuck in traffic and flew late to get in front of us but Headman's was a good run, he was only beaten four lengths or so by an absolute champion (Magical) and it was a good end to his campaign. He's a big boy and has done well over the winter.

There was a question last year as to whether he'd stretch out to a mile and a half but he relaxes very well and I don't see why he wouldn't stay that trip but you don't know until you try.

FB: Another one I have picked out is Dancing Harry, who won at 16/1 on debut at Newbury in October. How has he done over the winter?

JW: Dancing Harry wasn't overly flashy in his work at home but that day first time out it was soft to heavy ground and, as a typical Beckhampton first-time-out horse, I just wanted to educate him and see where we were at with him.

But he finished off really pleasingly and never stopped right through the line.

He won quite well and he's become much stronger than last year, he looks twice the horse he was. His work hasn't really changed yet and I suppose we'll know more when he's back out on the track.

FB: How was your time in Australia over the winter and did you pick up any helpful hints?

JW: I went to Australia and I rode nearly 10 winners from around 30 rides but used that time to help learn my timings and do some track work out there, as much as anything.

I really enjoyed it, it was a big learning curve as they do things very differently but having that on your CV is a great help and I'm a big believer you can never educate yourself too much.

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