Nick Scholfield announces retirement from the saddle

Nick Scholfield has announced his decision to retire from the saddle after riding in Saturday’s Randox and is planning on embarking on a training career by the end of the year having completed his training modules.

The Grade One-winning rider pulled up his mount, Monbeg Genius, who is owned by long-time supporter Martin Tedham, after the third last which was his eleventh ride in the Aintree showpiece, a race he finished third aboard Teaforthree in 2013, and fourth on Santini in 2022.

Scholfield has been helping a friend train horses in recent months and admitted combining the two jobs has been difficult. The 35-year-old only had four rides in March, and Monbeg Genius was his sole ride this month. 

Speaking on Luck On Sunday, Scholfield told Nick Luck: "A friend of mine asked me to help out with his horses, and that sort of materialised as I was trying to combine the riding and the training at the same time, but it's very difficult to do both jobs, so from Christmas time I've quietened down.

"It's very hard to combine the two, I'm not getting any younger and I've achieved a lot, and you've got to look to the future."

Scholfield started his career with Paul Nicholls at the age of 16 and guided Irving to victory for the 14-times champion trainer in the 2014 Fighting Fifth Hurdle. The pair also claimed Cheltenham Festival glory together with Qualando in the 2015 Fred Winter.