National Hunt jump jockey Nathan Moscrop enjoyed his finest season to date last campaign with 17 winners, here in this piece he tells me more about life in and away from the saddle, his partnership with trainer Rebecca Menzies and just how good that win at Newbury felt in 2020...
Nathan Moscrop on Sao who gave him a Class 3 winner at Newbury last season. Credit: Francesca Altoft.
It's 9am on a Wednesday morning, and National Hunt jump jockey Nathan Moscrop is making the journey all the way down to Fakenham for one ride on their afternoon card.
The 30-year-old has already been to his trainer Rebecca Menzies and schooled some horses out in her base in Sedgefield, before setting off on his long four hour trip down south.
Moscrop enjoyed his best season to date last campaign, racking up 17 winners, but being a jockey is far from easy, and the job can be demanding, with Moscrop riding out most mornings in the week.
“You’ve got to be in the right mindset I suppose", Moscrop said.
"Obviously you want to be riding at the big meetings on Saturdays and getting on the better horses, but I say that you’ve got to make a bit of a living as well, and if your agent gets you a ride, wherever it is, you’ve just got to go and get on with it.
"If it runs well you never know you might build more contacts with different people.”
Any professional sportsperson needs to have that ability to switch off from their game from time to time, and Moscrop seems to love the adrenaline rush that much that he transfers some of it into his hobbies as well.
Moscrop said: “I got into motocross and things like that and I try and get out on the bike a bit.
Adrenaline rush: Moscrop took up biking through Covid to help keep fit.
“I think it’s like anything, you need that little switch off from racing, because you’ve got to be on the ball all the time, it’s a bit of a pleasing game where you need results and you’ve got to keep owners happy, and if things don’t go right you’ve got to explain that to the owners.”
After having spells with trainers James Ewart and Brian Ellison, Moscrop was in the right place at the right time to strike up a partnership with Menzies, after her regular rider Tony Kelly was injured one day and Moscrop stood in to take the spare ride.
He guided his mount to a placed finish, before riding the horse again at Cartmel where he won, and things developed from there.
Menzies has played a big part in Moscrop's career over the past few seasons, and he was quick to point out how important she has been.
Above: Moscrop thanks the people who supported him through the 2020/2021 season.
“I couldn’t do it without Rebecca (Menzies)”, Moscrop said, when asked on how he's got to this point in his career.
"We met when I was a lot younger, when I was based with Ferdy Murphy as a kid, she was working as travelling head lass at the time, and I’ve always known her and we’ve always got on.
"I started riding out a bit more and helping out in the mornings and then the next season through Covid I lived at the yard and I just worked away all summer, trying to keep busy more than anything."
Menzies is a dual-purpose trainer who in the last few seasons has gone from strength to strength, with last year being her most successful with 26 winners in total.
She already has six this campaign, with Moscrop riding four of them, including recently on Set In Stone who won a Handicap Hurdle around Carlisle on the 14th October, and she was also full of praise of Moscrop's commitment to the job.
"He's the ultimate professional really", Menzies said.
"We normally start in a morning on the yard at seven, but Nathan’s car is usually parked up well before then and he’s never late.
“He even stays behind to do stuff in the gym afterwards, and he’s probably one of the fittest jockeys that is in that weighing room."
Moscrop also believes that social media has played a big part in him becoming stable jockey for the yard over jumps.
Menzies has a good social media presence, posting regularly when her horses are running and who's riding them and where they are due to run.
Moscrop explained: "A lot of the owners can just go on around Facebook and twitter and watch the horses and they started to realise that I’m in there quite a bit, and I think it’s just worked out where people were happy to use me and results just started to come in."
Above: Rebecca Menzies and her team celebrated reaching 100 national hunt winners earlier in the year.
Riding winners around any track can be a brilliant feeling, but it seems to always feel extra special around some of the bigger tracks, as Moscrop found out December last year.
Sao was a horse purchased out of the Paul Nicholls yard, and after finishing 4th on debut for the yard before falling next time out, he finally got his act together at the third attempt to get off the mark for his new stable around Hexham, a track both trainer and jockey know very well.
A long trip from the north east down south to Newbury then beckoned, and after being sent off 5/2 favourite, Sao brushed aside the field with ease to land the £7,000 winning prize money.
Reminiscing about that moment, Moscrop said: "Just before that happened that winner, I was getting used a lot more and my confidence was up."
Southern delight: Moscrop expresses his joy after Sao won at Newbury last year.
"He wasn’t the easiest from Paul Nicholls, but we always thought this is quite a nice horse this that we just need to get right.
"Rebecca (Menzies), said we’re going to run this at Newbury, it’s the perfect race for him, the ground should be spot on and it was unbelievable and everything went right.
"I remember coming back in, and seeing Rebecca, and I think she was more delighted than me, It was a brilliant feeling, and I still watch the replay now when I’ve got time.”
Menzies also remembers that winter's day down in Newbury, and she also had a feeling that the horse would run a big race.
"That day on Sao, I was always confident, and I sort of went down there thinking we wouldn't get beat.
"It was all about trying to pass that confidence onto Nathan really, and I think from that winner, it gave him just that, which was just great to see."
With all the thrills come the spills though in horse racing, and sometimes you can't help but wonder what drives these people to ride these animals ride around a track at 30-40mph at times with the risk of a fall never too far away.
Horses runs through the family though for Moscrop, his mum used to be a professional show jumper and had a permit licence for point-to-pointers, but growing up he always fancied himself as a footballer, not a jockey at first.
Moscrop said: "I was quite good at football but I’m not sure what happened, I didn’t fall out with it but I was quite small then and I’m tall now.
"My mum had a permit licence for point-to-pointers and she used to take me racing with her and I always thought I wouldn’t mind having a go at that, and she put me on one of her showjumpers and I just fell in love with it really.
"It doesn’t matter where it is, I watch a lot of racing, I think my missus goes mad because at night if she’s not in I put American racing and I’m just always watching, like replays from different races.”
The switch from the summer jumps to the winter season has fully taken place now, and it's full steam ahead up until Cheltenham for these jockeys and trainers.
Moscrop already has four winners on the board and he also set out his intentions for what he wants to achieve this time around.
“The season ahead, I’d like to match or maybe get one more winner than I did last season", Moscrop said, as he eyes up another career best campaign.
"Rebecca is getting stronger every season now, and I think she’s grown in confidence as well so I think it’s working both sides where she grows with confidence and so do I.
"Obviously there’s always going to be the owners who want the bigger jockeys, but she always fights my corner."
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