Pony racing to Cheltenham winner, returning from serious injury, and a turkey that chases delivery drivers, jump jockey Lilly Pinchin tells us more about her route into racing, and the story behind that video on Facebook of her pet turkey Trev chasing the delivery man…
FOCUSED: Lilly Pinchin and her mount head out onto the track. Credit: Francesca Altoft
One of every jockey’s goals in their careers is to manage to ride a winner around Cheltenham, and for Lilly Pinchin she’s managed to do it on a horse and a pony.
Living only a stone’s throw away from the iconic racing track in Winchcombe, Pinchin was still in primary school when she got her first taste of success on course, winning a pony race.
She then went on to ride her first ever winner under rules at the same venue, and she still remembers both of those winners to this very day.
She said: “I was nine at the time, and it was around Cheltenham where I rode a pony called Magical Toffin to victory in one of those pony races.
“My first winner under rules was on a horse called Knockaderry Flyer in a Hunters Chase back in 2017, and the horse was 25/1.
“I remember riding him when I was younger and saying then he needs to go to Cheltenham because he is a Cheltenham horse, even though at the time I didn’t think I knew what I was on about, it showed that I actually probably did.
“He had only won a maiden at Mollington point-to-point up to then, but to go on win on him around Cheltenham by 11 lengths was just magical.”
READY TO START: Pinchin and her horse are on their way down to the start. Credit: Francesca Altoft
Despite never growing up in a horse racing household, the 23-year-old developed a love for her ponies at home, and eventually took up the dressage and one day events before moving on to horse racing, where a phone call to high flying trainer Fergal O’Brien got her up and running in the sport.
“It’s pretty tough getting into the sport”, Pinchin says.
“I was very lucky that I had ponies and pony racing, because even though I wasn’t established, I still knew how to ride.
“Then I rang Fergal up at the age of 15 after leaving school and just told him that I wanted a job, and I wanted to be a jockey.
“He said come and meet me and we’ll see what we think, and in the end he gave me the job and said that he would support me and help me out, which is exactly what he did.”
Being a jockey can be a full-time job, the long trips up and down the country, and the early starts to ride out at some of the yards can make the days very long at times.
On this day when I’m talking to Lilly, she’s making the three-and-a-half hour journey up to Sedgefield for one mount in the 2:07 on a horse called Now is the Winter for the Ben Pauling stable, eventually finishing 2nd.
The day previous she rode a winner at Lincolnshire track Market Rasen for John Groucott aboard the eight-year-old Jessie Lightfoot, running out a wide margin success by 19 lengths, but not everything runs smoothly in the sport.
WINNER: Pinchin celebrates one of her recent successes on twitter.
Injuries are very common in horse racing, with jump jockeys putting themselves considerably more at risk with the whole jumping an obstacle aspect in place.
Pinchin herself suffered a serious injury back in April 2021, which kept her out of action for six months, and at one point she admits she thought she might never return to the saddle.
“I broke my back in seven places and through the time off I was contemplating not returning", Pinchin said.
“I did a lot of courses online such as a midwife one and then I did something to get into the police, and I was thinking when I finish riding something like that will give me the same adrenaline rush, but you wouldn’t know until you tried it.”
When asked on whether the feeling she gets when she’s riding winners brought her back to racing, she said: “Definitely, 100%.
“It’s a job and it’s what we do, and the buzz you get when you ride a winner just makes me think that there is no better feeling in the world.”
Having a life away from the sport is also essential though, and the up and coming jockey spoke about how she liked to kick back and relax.
“I have a lot of animals at home, chickens, ducks and turkeys so I like to look after them, or else I’ll just chill out really, or go somewhere nice", she explained.
“In the summer we go out on the bikes or we go out on the horses at home, and in the winter we just like to sit down and relax in front of the fire.”
The turkey in particular holds a special place in Lilly’s heart, as she raised him since he was a chick.
However, Trev is also famous to many people on the internet for the video which Pinchin posted on Facebook back in 2020, which shows him warning off a delivery man who has come to the house to drop off some parcels.
The video has been seen 1.7 million times on the platform, and has since even seen Pinchin start up her own Facebook page for Trev, so that people can keep up to date with everything the internet star is doing.
FACEBOOK FAMOUS: Trev The Turkey's own page.
“He’s just so funny honestly”, Pinchin says when I mention the story about Trev.
“He’s so naughty, we’ve actually had to put a gate up to stop him coming out onto the drive because he will chase any delivery driver, and normally now they’ll just throw the parcels out by the gate because they are all scared of him, but it is funny.”
Away from the slightly less serious side though, Pinchin is very determined on achieving what she wants to achieve in the future with one clear thing on her mind.
“Riding out my claim”, is Pinchin’s immediate response.
A claim is a weight allowance, where jockeys who aren't experienced as some of their colleagues can take weight off their mount to make it a more level playing field.
“It would be brilliant to achieve that. I’m only in my second season since turning professional and with the long time I had out when I was injured it slowed my progress for that down but I can make up for it again now", Pinchin continued.
Pinchin has ridden four winners this campaign after being badly hampered by injury, and she’ll be looking to add to that tally before the season reaches its conclusion in April as she continues to ride out her claim.
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