Interview with fully-qualified chef who swapped hors d’oeuvres for horses and is now following his dream of riding in the US
Enthusiastic. If you had to sum up Gavin Ashton in one word, that would be it. Chatty, driven and sunny might be three others. He’s a breath of fresh air, but that is a cliché and this young jockey is anything but.
At 7.30am on a sweaty morning at Colonial Downs, Virginia, Ashton looks as if he’s just stepped out of the shower; hair-gelled, smiling and relaxed. Half-an-hour later, after putting two horses through their paces as the mist rises from the track, he’s a little less fresh. But he’s still chatty, which is what matters.
You might not have heard of Ashton, but one day you probably will, because he’s on the up. The Manchester-born lad has made a real go of things in the States, recently riding his first stakes winner and in the Top Ten on the jockey leaderboard at the Colonial Downs meet.
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This, despite a very unlikely start, horses-wise. “It’s not in my background at all,” he says, leaning on a fence as horses trickle by.
“I didn’t sit on a horse until I was 20 years old. I wanted to play football; size held me back but I was never good enough. I played every sport imaginable, I wanted to be a professional athlete at something.”
Ashton has succeeded, riding nearly 100 winners so far. It’s a journey which started, bizarrely, in a Manchester kitchen.
“When I was about 15, I worked as a pot-washer,” says the staunch Manchester United fan in his matching accent. “I worked my way up through the ranks and ended up being a fully-qualified chef.
‘Right size to be a jockey’
“I did that for about seven years, moving down to work in The Kentford in Bury St Edmunds. While I was there, someo
ne said I was the right size to be a jockey.”
Right, but it’s a still a long way from soufflés to saddles, surely?
“I went home and told my Mum and Dad that I was going to be a jockey and they laughed at me because It was coming out of nowhere,” he says.
“I went to the racing school and did three months there. I was very green at first, but because I was older, I took everything they said as gospel. I didn’t have any bad habits, as I’d never sat on a horse before. Most of the others were 16- to 18-year-olds and I was about 21.
“I was determined,” he goes on. “I’ve always set my own private goals and most of the others had ridden before, but my goal was to be better than them when I left.”
From there it was a short trip to join the team of veteran Arc-winning trainer Sir Mark Prescott. “The best place I could have gone was Sir Mark Prescott’s,” says Ashton. “He took me on straight out of the racing school. I learned from some great people there – they saw how much I wanted to succeed and they helped me a lot.
“After about 18 months of being at Sir Mark’s, he said ‘Gavin, you’re going to be put forward for your licence.’ By that point I’d only been in horses for two years.
“I couldn’t believe it when a week later I saw my name down for a horse at Lingfield, called Alternative Route. He finished second. I waited a few more months for my next ride and it was a winner for Elite Racing, Harmonica, at Lingfield. That was a day I’ll never forget and Sir Mark was so happy for me.”
Stints elsewhere in Newmarket with Ian Williams and Roger Varian followed. “My time in Newmarket really made me as a rider and I’m very grateful for that,” says Ashton.
‘Best advice I’ve ever been given’
“But I’ve only had 19 winners in England, because when I was at Roger’s an opportunity came up to ride in Germany. A friend invited me over and I asked my agent who encouraged me to do it. It was the best advice I’ve ever been given, as I ended up riding a lot of winners over there, riding in Group 2s, for Markus Klug and Rottgen Stud, one of the biggest stables over there. The next season I went over there and rode full-time.
“No disrespect to German racing, but the quality isn’t as high as in England and you have to ride the horses differently; get hold of them. I think it made me a stronger rider.”
However, it wasn’t long before he was tempted even further away from home. “I’ve always wanted to come to America,” he explains.
“As a young boy I fell in love with the people, the weather, the food. Once I’d learned a bit more about American racing I came and did two winters here – one with Graham Motion in Palm Meadows and one with Joe Sharp at Fair Grounds. In my final season in Germany, I met Liz Morris who is a jockey agent who looked after Adam Beschizza for five years. Once she said she’d look after me I knew the time was right to move over here.”
An American girlfriend might also have helped. Ashton is in a long-term relationship with Isabella Leslie, who works for America’s Best Racing.
“I’ve been here a year now,” he says. “I started at Colonial because the turf course here is amazing and it’s 80% turf races, which was the big sell to American trainers.
‘Can’t regret decision to come over here’
“It was good to get me going and to show people that I could really ride. I rode a winner through the middle of the meet and towards end of the meet I was riding the whole card, including stakes races, so I can’t regret the decision to come over here.
Ashton’s passion bubbles out of him. According to one regular onlooker, he is often the only jockey out in the mornings at Colonial Downs when others are content to leave the daily toil to work riders.
“I ride three or four Monday to Wednesday, but by the end of the week I could be getting on between five and twelve,” he says. “Twelve is intense; running between the barns, it’s crazy but I just love riding, so the more I can get on the better. It helps me improve every day and the hard work all pays off.”
However, jockeys in the US move with the meets and Ashton will soon be packing up his Virginia home. “I did the winter at Turfway, which is North Kentucky – cold!” he laughs. “I thought I was coming to America to get away from the cold! But when you’re winning $74,000 allowance races, $70,000 maidens … the cold doesn’t bother you one bit.”
Layer of determination
While you get the sense that nothing much bothers him at all, behind the cheery face there’s a layer of determination as he doesn’t want to be riding the smaller tracks forever.
“When you get to Keeneland, Churchill Downs, it’s very tough,” he admits. “You’ve got all the big boys in town – you’re not going to turn down Tyler Gaffalione for me. But I’ve been very lucky with the business I’ve built; I’m grateful to the trainers who have supported me.”
“Before this meet I rode my first stakes winner and a lot of people took notice of that. That’s the next step – to get a barn behind me. I need to start getting on more stakes rides, more winners.”
Ashton has his eyes firmly on the big days. His colleague Ben Curtis, a fellow expat, had his first ride in the Kentucky Derby this year and Ashton wants to follow suit.
“If I’m ever lucky enough to pick up a mount in the Kentucky Derby, I’d be very grateful and honoured,” he says “I was at the Oaks and it’s a spectacle like you’ve never seen; it’s insane. There are thousands and thousands of people there. To ride in front of that many would be incredible – that’s the dream.”
• Visit the Colonial Downs website
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