Racing world pays tribute to legend Eddery

The complete professional. That is the unanimous view of all those who have worked with and ridden against Pat Eddery.

The 11-times champion Flat jockey, 51, who has the final rides of his long and illustrious career in Britain tomorrow, has been been associated with some of the greatest names of the Turf over the years, both human and equine.

The Guy Harwood-trained Dancing Brave, brilliant winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe under Eddery in 1986, figures high on that list.

“He was – and still is – a fine jockey,” Harwood said. “He’s amazing really, he’s kept up the very highest standards. He had a lot of ability and a great racing brain.

“He was prepared to go out on a limb – on Dancing Brave in the Arc you’d have to say he went out on a limb.

“I was holding my breath at the two-and-a-half marker and thinking ‘where the heck are you’? Then whoosh! He had great confidence in his horses.

“Once he’d got to know them and he was a very good judge of how to ride a horse. It is very important to a trainer that somebody can come back and say this horse wants burying or this horse wants to make the running.

“He had a photographic memory too – he could always remember every horse he had ever ridden.

“He’s kept going over the years and on the big day there’s nobody you’d rather have on your horse than Pat.”

Eddery got the ride on Dancing Brave prior to taking a retainer with Prince Khalid Abdullah, for whom he partnered a stream of big winners.

“Pat rode 583 winners for me, including 33 Group Ones, most memorably Dancing Brave, Jolypha, Quest For Fame, Rainbow Quest and Zafonic,” said His Highness.

“We enjoyed a close partnership which was both exciting and fruitful. His skill, drive and professionalism in the saddle was a pleasure to behold and I wish him a very happy retirement.”

Eddery’s big-race successes started with Peter Walwyn back in the 1970s.

One of the top-class horses he rode in a fruitful partnership with the Lambourn trainer was Grundy, winner of the Dewhurst Stakes, Derby and King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.

“He rode a total of 689 winners for us in England, Ireland, France, Germany and the United States,” Walwyn said.

“His first ride for me was at Newmarket in 1970 – Frenchie Nicholson had said he’d definitely do the weight and he put up 3lb over!

“I gave Frenchie a bollocking and said ‘look, I don’t want this boy, who you tell me is very good, putting up overweight’.

“But off we went and we had some wonderful seasons together with an awful lot of winners. We are still great friends, that’s the wonderful thing.

“A lot of my success was down to Pat. He was a marvellous jockey, he had wonderful hands. If he went through a bad spell, he would get up and bounce back again, just like that. He was just a natural.”

Grundy’s win in the King George is part of racing folklore, with Eddery’s mount prevailing only after a titanic battle with the Joe Mercer-ridden Bustino, who had two pacemakers running for him.

“I was in a daze really by the end of it,” remembers Walwyn. “But I still think to win one’s first Derby was an even bigger thrill. It’s still the best Flat race in the world.

“A lot of the races Pat won for us were miracles and a lot of them probably weren’t very good horses.

“It’s sad he’s retiring but he’s in terrific health – actually he’s riding better than ever – look at his ride on Reel Buddy (in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in July).

“We’re having a party for him at the Savoy on November 17 to give him a great farewell. There’s still tickets available so anybody who hasn’t been asked, we’d love to see them – the more the merrier!”

Mercer said: “I suppose the worst memory I have was when he beat me on Grundy, but he is just an out-and-out true professional jockey. He is a fine example for a lot of people to follow.

“I have a lot of memories of Pat as I have known him since he was a ‘wee lad’. I was the one who originally named him ‘Polyfilla’. That was his nickname years ago.

“When he was an apprentice, Peter Walwyn asked me what I thought of Pat Eddery, so I told him, I think he’s brilliant.

“I called him Polyfilla because he fills every hole in the racecourse. Every gap that appeared, Pat was there.

“I loved riding with Pat. We rode against each other for about 15 years and I have lots of very happy memories about those times.

“I rode abroad with him, and of course he is married to my niece, so in a funny sort of way he is family.

“He is a wonderful person and has been a great ambassador for British racing worldwide. He is very dedicated and a truly professional jockey.

“His new venture should be very good for him and I am certain he will enjoy it. He knows everybody in the industry – or at least there are very few people he doesn’t know – and they all know him. Hopefully he’ll make a very big success of it.”

John Dunlop, who teamed up with the Irishman to win the St Leger with Moon Madness in 1986 and Silver Patriarch in 1997, said: “He’s had a wonderful innings.

“He rode his first winner for me 30 years ago this year – September 1973 at Bath. The sad thing was that he missed out on his hundred last year (when Eddery ended the season on 99).

“He’s been the same man with the same wonderful manners and wonderful enthusiasm over all those years.

“He’s never changed one iota and was the most charming man to work for you and to work with.

“He rode two Leger winners for us and just missed out on a Derby (Silver Patriarch). He’ll be sadly, sadly missed by us all.

“It was lovely that he happened to be on a horse of mine (when he reached 4,000 British winners) in the St Leger, which was great.”

“We shall miss him badly, but we wish him well in the future.”

Roger Charlton, for whom Eddery won the Derby on Quest For Fame, said: “I’ve always found Pat to be very professional. In all the time I have been at Beckhampton and he has ridden work here, he was always early.

“He never complained, and was obviously an outstanding jockey.

“I have a lot of affection for him and am very grateful for the great races he rode, particularly on Quest For Fame and Sanglamore (the French Derby winner). He was a real pro and a very nice person to go with it.”

Several of Eddery’s biggest winners were abroad, and he twice teamed up with Newmarket trainer Clive Brittain to garner major international prizes.

Brittain said: “Without Pat Eddery in the saddle I would not have won a Breeders’ Cup with Pebbles. He gave her a fantastic ride, like he did almost everything he rode.

“Only a real champion would have won on her that day and he proved to be just that. She had a 14 draw, which the Americans said she couldn’t win from, but Pat made the 14 draw to his advantage.

“The other great race he rode for me was the Japan Cup on Jupiter Island. Turning for home you couldn’t have given him any chance of winning, but Pat got down to his job and got him in front right on the line.

“So really, my two biggest exploits abroad are all down to Pat.”

He added: “And I still feel to this day that had he been able to ride Bold Arrangement (who finished second) in the Kentucky Derby, we could well have won. He rode him in the Blue Grass, but was claimed to ride in England on Kentucky Derby day, and I think as good as Chris McCarron was, Pat was just the type of jockey that suited the horse.

“In my career he certainly stood out. He had the courage of a lion and nerves of steel. I have a lot to thank Pat for.”

Another trainer who had plenty of big-race success in partnership with Eddery was Luca Cumani.

The Italian said: “Pat has been as great a jockey to grace the British Turf in the past 50 years as there has been.

“He rates alongside Lester Piggott and Willie Carson as the three best jockeys in the last 50 years and it is sad that it is coming to the end of an era.

“He has been a true professional throughout and I owe quite a few big wins to him. He won the Arlington Million for me on Tolomeo, he won the Italian Derby on Old Country – he has won lots and lots of big races for me in fact, and I will forever be grateful to him.

“His skill has been remarkable for so many years, and as I say he is a true professional – it is rather sad to see that he will no longer be riding, but we wish him all the very best for his future.

Henry Cecil said: “Pat is a marvellous jockey, a real gentleman and a tremendous ambassador for racing – he will not easily be replaced.

“We had some very good moments, and in particular he rode a fantastic race on Commander In Chief when he beat Hernando in the Irish Derby.”

Willie Carson, now a BBC pundit, said: “Pat is the true professional, through and through. It is a shame he is not going to beat Sir Gordon Richards’ record for winners, but I suppose sitting in the weighing-room day in day out watching lesser lights, as it were, getting the jobs he can do is difficult to stand.

“But he has done everything, he has nothing to prove and he has had a marvellous career. He was never late for a race meeting, and he was always completely focused. He is riding as well as ever and no-one can criticise him.

“He had a different (riding) style to me, but it is all about getting the job done and Pat always did.”

Eddery’s current weighing-room colleagues were also full of praise for the man who rode his first winner in 1969.

Richard Quinn said: “He’s been a great ambassador for the sport. All the apprentices look up to him. I wish him all the best with his new venture.”

Kevin Darley added: “What you see is what you get with Pat Eddery. There are no frills. He has been a great ambassador and role model.

“When I was starting out all the young jockeys looked up to him. You’ve got to take your hat off to him for what he’s done. I’d rather have 99 per cent of the jockeys against me in a finish than Pat Eddery.”

Veteran George Duffield, whose name also features in the table of Britain’s top 10 winning-most jockeys, said: “It will be a sad loss to racing. He’s been a great all-round jockey. What he has achieved all over the world is amazing. If I’d achieved a third of that I’d be delighted.”

Michael Hills said: “When I started riding Pat was the benchmark and he has remained that all through my career. He’s been a true pro and a real character of the weighing-room, willing to take the micky and crack a joke. I can’t think of a better bloke.”