David Probert: Welsh jockey reaches 'dream' career milestone
- Published
Jockey David Probert celebrates 1,000th winner at Lingfield
Bargoed-born jockey David Probert landed his 1,000th winner at a deserted Lingfield this week.
There were no crowds to cheer him past the finishing post, nor embraces from the successful owners, but the 32-year-old's career milestone was none the less special.
Horseracing returned to Great Britain on 1 June.
It was the first sport to do so behind closed doors after coronavirus ground the sporting world to a halt.
Trained at the British Racing School in Newmarket and primarily riding for trainer Andrew Balding, brother to sports broadcaster Clare, Probert has notched up multiple achievements throughout his career.
In 2014 he was the youngest Welshman ever to ride in the Epsom Derby.
"I still remember having my first winner at Wolverhampton for a Welsh trainer (John Llewellyn). To think I would get to 1,000 winners would have been a dream back then," Probert said.
"At the end of last season I'd had a really good year and I'd finished on 112 winners. I spoke to my agent and he said 'do you realise you're only 25 winners away from 1,000?' I said 'oh wow, really?'
"Of course then I was chasing it. Then the lockdown arrived and set things back. We were wondering when racing would happen but the British Horseracing Authority and the racecourses have done such a great job to get us back working again.
"To reach 1,000 winners in the first week back racing was crazy."
Probert says "winning has always been in my blood"
With strict social distancing measures in place, Probert admits racing feels very different now.
"We arrive at the racecourse and have to complete a survey with lots of questions and then we have our temperature checked," he said.
"There are security checks and it's a different experience with no crowd. We have our own cubicles and have to keep our distance. Wearing a mask is very bizarre, but we're getting used to it."
There is no image more synonymous with flat racing than Royal Ascot packed with race goers, which this year starts on the 16 June.
Probert will be riding, but is expecting a very different atmosphere to that of 2014, where he won the Britannia Stakes on Andrew Balding trained Born in Bombay.
"The weird thing will be competing at Royal Ascot next week without the racegoers being there," Probert said.
"Ascot is a big place with so many people but this time it's going to be a ghost town.
"But you can't take away the fact it's still Royal Ascot with prestigious races. If I can get another winner there, even without a crowd, the buzz will definitely still be there."