Sunday Review: riveting examination of the physical and psychological demands placed on jump jockeys

Jumping Into Jeopardy by Chris Haslam
£20.00, can be purchased here

The life of a jockey is rarely simple. Their lives are marred by injuries, weight troubles and the neverending pressure to win, a career unique among other sports which tempts only the bravest and boldest to the saddle. 

The depths of the challenges they face are hard to envision from the outside, but the inner workings of one of the most gruelling roles in racing is thrown into the spotlight by Jumping Into Jeopardy, an in-depth look at physical and psychological demands of jump riders. 

Curated by Chris Haslam over nine years, Jumping Into Jeopardy delves into the mentality of some of jump racing's leading figures, who readily offer compelling insights into their lives. 

Brian Hughes, Peter Scudamore, Bryony Frost and Sir AP McCoy are among many whose stories paint a picture of the true nature of jump jockeys, but Haslam opens with a homage to the horse, showing a love and respect of the sport which underpins his work. In that same opening chapter though, he also addresses equine deaths – an illustration that his work is willing to tackle its subject matter with unflinching resolve. 

Those darker elements of the sport are brought into harsh relief throughout the book, with explorations into injuries, the demands of weight and the pressures of losing all examined through Haslam's honest, yet sympathetic, lens. 

Jumping Into Jeopardy's most thought-provoking sections are perhaps its dives into mental health, which the author brands as the "greatest challenge" to riders. 

That challenge can range from the difficult to the devastating, with the loss of James Banks and Liam Treadwell handled delicately alongside tales of the daily grind all riders face. It is through the extensive insight of Haslam's numerous sources that he is able to shed light on these difficult topics, which in turn makes for absorbing reading. 

Amid the cast of illustrious names to lend their voice to Jumping Into Jeopardy, Tom Scudamore, David Bass, apprentice Nick Oliver and Sam Thomas are awarded the book's dedication. It was the last-named who was the original subject of Haslam's early writing project, but a plan in 2015 to write a biography of Thomas's career soon took on more scope and morphed into an all-encompassing tale of the profession. 

Thomas's contribution is still evident, with five chapters devoted to his rise up the jockey ranks, Denman's 2008 triumph in the Gold Cup and the rider's subsequent move into training. These pages are just some of the moments where the joys of a jockey's career are celebrated as much as the pressures, with other chapters also championing the rise of female jockeys, the thrill of victory and the strength of jump racing in Ireland, complete with words from Paul Townend. 

Bass and Scudamore are also given their own chapters alongside the vital contribution of the Injured Jockeys Fund, whose influence in the inner workings of the sport is repeatedly acknowledged throughout the book's 330 pages.

"Few of us can understand the depth of focus and emotion jump jockeys have to possess, the compromises they have to make – and make daily – the cost of what it has taken to get where they are, the amount of energy, physical, mental, spiritual, to capture this out-of-body experience in their aim to reach what, for each of them, would be their pinnacle," writes Haslam, towards the end of a book that strives to provide exactly that for its readers. 

The result, thanks to the author's compassion and unwavering honesty, is a riveting tale which will may just reshape the way you look at racing.
Catherine Macrae

From Pushkar to Windsor - the unmistakeable essence of the horse

Marcus Hodge at the Osborne Studio Gallery

He made his name as a portrait artist and once painted Norman Tebbit, but Marcus Hodge, like many of us, seems to have ended up on the racecourse, painting horses and what looks very much like Sean Levey, although poor Sean, looking very distinguished in front of an unnamed grandstand in the colours of Abdulla Al Mansoori, is listed simply as Jockey (oil on canvas).

In the meantime, Hodge has clearly spent a lot of time in India, where the gleaming yellow silks find their reflection in rich red and orange turbans, and Egypt, Spain, Dubai and Oxford, where the colours and the moods shift with the demography and geography. The constant, though, is the horse, which is where the heart of Hodge's latest show at the Osborne Studio Gallery lies.

For the grandest manifestation of his work, go to the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket to see the spectacular three-metre long commission, Polo, Then and Now, which traces the evolution of the game from Manipur to Cowdray Park, peacocks and all. But at the OSG you'll find more intimate (and wall-sized) pieces that stretch from Windsor to Goodwood via Newbury, along with plenty of courses from the artist's imagination, where familiar colours, shapes and moments from your racing day find their place in his imagination.

You'll probably swear you were there on the afternoon that Jockeys at Goodwood circled in the dappled shade of the trees, and I know I've been to Newbury in my sturdy brogues on a day very much like Winter Sunlight at Newbury, where a handsome grey is backlit by the pale rays sinking over the paddock.

These are very much racing days of the mind's eye, yet the essence of them is unmistakable. The Tea Seller at Pushkar (not a low-grade race sponsored by Lipton's but a fetching sub-continental market trader) is earthy and exotic, while Setting Sun on the Nile is a riverscape of fascination, but it's the horses that dominate among the 40 paintings on show, from Ascot to the City Palace in Jaipur, showcasing Hodge's immediate and dynamic 'alla prima' style of wet paint on wet paint (for the aficionados among you). 

The show, quite fittingly, runs through Royal Ascot and beyond, from one regal equestrian display to another.
Peter Thomas

Marcus Hodge is at the Osborne Studio Gallery, 2 Motcomb Street, London SW1X 8JU, from June 17 to July 6

One-stop resource for all your royal requirements

Royal Ascot 2024 Guide, edited by Nick Pulford
Pitch Publishing, can be purchased here for £16.99

Royal Ascot is just over a week away and it seems like a fitting time to dust off top hats and secure the 2024 Racing Post Guide ahead of one of Flat racing's most popular events. 

This year's edition is full of everything you need for five days of top-class action, with key information, race-by-race guides and top tips all sure to prove invaluable. 

Edited by Nick Pulford, the 2024 Royal Ascot Guide is as informative as ever, with details on all 35 races including past records and winning trends designed to help you find winners. 

In its 160 pages you'll find Graeme Rodway's notes on the trainers and jockeys to watch alongside David Jennings, Tom Segal, Richard Birch and Nick Watts all providing their best bets for the meeting. 

Racing Post Ratings handicapper Matt Gardner and analysts Mark Brown and Richard Young offer even more insight, and will ensure you have plenty of betting options across the host of Group action and competitive handicaps on offer. 

The book also has profiles on some of this year's major players, including Classic winners Notable Speech and Elmalka, alongside juvenile hopefuls and international stars. 

The 2024 Guide is a one-stop resource primed to get your Royal Ascot off to a perfect start.

Catherine Macrae

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