'Real team player' Tom Bellamy lands Lavelle stable jockey role

Emma Lavelle has made Tom Bellamy her stable jockey, making him the first retained rider for the yard in almost a decade.

Bellamy, 26, partnered ten winners for the yard last season with his most recent victory for Lavelle coming at Worcester on Thursday when partnering 20-1 shot Jemima P to victory in a 2m4f handicap chase.

Lavelle previously relied on the services of Jack Doyle, up until 2012, before Noel Fehily had a spell at the top of the pecking order. In the last few years Adam Wedge, Aidan Coleman, Ben Jones and Bellamy have shared the rides for the Wiltshire stable.

Having impressed Lavelle with his work ethic and race-riding, Bellamy will partner the yard's leading horses, although Coleman will remain Paisley Park's jockey.

Lavelle said: "Tom will be our jockey for this season. The lads we use are brilliant – this is no reflection on them – and it's purely that we wanted to try to have a bit of consistency and Tom's growing as a jockey. It's really exciting.

Emma Lavelle: 'Tom's growing as a jockey. It's really exciting'Credit: Edward Whitaker

"Aidan will stay on Paisley Park as he's been on him all the way through but Tom will ride the rest of them. He fits with how we like the horses to be ridden and he's a real team player. It's great for us and we haven't had a stable jockey for a long time."

The yard recorded 32 winners last season, their fifth-best campaign numerically, and Bellamy enjoyed his biggest winner for Lavelle last month when landing the Grade 2 Silver Trophy at Cheltenham on Manofthemountain.

In the last five seasons, Adam Wedge has ridden 39 of Lavelle's 126 winners, more than any jockey, but having Bellamy as the go-to man was felt to be the best move.

"Tom's a very straightforward person to work with and he's in the right place in his career," the trainer added.

"While Adam [Wedge] is brilliant, he's with Evan Williams, so we're always waiting to see where he is available. That's just how it is. I just felt it was time, so it's onwards and upwards from here."

Tom Bellamy career statistics

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