Johnson passes Francome total
His initial success, which put him into clear fourth place in the standings, came when the Henry Daly-trained Green Tango made a successful bow over timber in the Manny Bernstein Don’t Be Disqualified Again EBF NH Novices’ Hurdle.
And 30 minutes later, he was off in pursuit of third-placed Peter Scudamore (1,678) when Saragann outjumped his rivals to take the Manny Bernstein Pay Double Result Handicap Chase for the back-to-form Philip Hobbs stable.
Fresh from riding the 1,140th jumps winner of his career in Britain on Saragann, Johnson admitted passing the landmark had come as a welcome surprise.
“To be honest, I didn’t know anything about it, but it is always going to be special to ride more winners than someone like John, who I looked up to for so long when I was a boy,” he said.
“It’s great for Mr Daly and Mr Hobbs, who along with Richard Phillips, are the three trainers who give me most support.
“To have three stables like that getting behind you is always going to be a big help and I am very lucky to be riding horses every day that have good chances.
“I also owe a lot to all the team behind me, especially my agent Dave Roberts.”
Only 26, Johnson has made remarkable progress to reach his lofty position in the standings and without the unique determination and talents of Tony McCoy to hinder his title claims, he would surely have been champion jockey by now.
But thanks to a five-day suspension which forced McCoy to take an unplanned holiday in Dubai this week, Johnson has been able to close the gap right up in this year’s championship race, his double yesterday drawing him just two behind at 138-136.
“If we both stay injury-free and have a good run for the next couple of months, then hopefully it will be close,” said Johnson.
Winning-most jump jockeys in British racing: 1 Tony McCoy, 1,998, 2 Richard Dunwoody 1,699, 3 Peter Scudamore, 1,678, 4 Richard Johnson, 1,140, 5 John Francome, 1,138 , 6 Stan Mellor, 1,035, 7 Mick Fitzgerald 1,030, 8 Adrian Maguire, 1,024, 9 Peter Niven, 1,002, 10 Norman Williamson, 966.
Meanwhile, McCoy has a full book of seven rides at Wincanton today in his bid to ride the two winners he needs to take his career total to 2,000.
The eight-times champion will be returning from the suspension handed to him for his highly-publicised handling of Deano’s Beeno at Cheltenham on New Year’s Eve.
