Sam Twiston-Davies: the three defeats that have hurt me most

Leading Jump Jockey Sam Twiston-Davies has revealed the three losing rides that have hurt him the most.

The 32-year-old’s near 1600 winners in Britain have included many of the sport’s major prizes but on the latest edition of JockeysThe  Podcast he reflects on a trio of big-race defeats that still gnaw at him, even though one was now 11 years ago.

In the same episode, he also reflects on losing the coveted role as being No 1 jockey for Paul Nicholls, saying it was “a big relief” when told the job was no longer his.

Twiston-Davies says the first reverse that has always lived with him is The New One’s defeat in the 2011 Champion Hurdle.

The combination were beaten under three lengths behind Jezki and My Tent Or Yours after losing vital ground and momentum in an unfortunate incident early in the race.

“It was our first Champion Hurdle as a pair, and and we were in a beautiful position,” Twiston-Davies said. “Poor Our Conor sadly fell in front of us [at the third flight] and I’d say we lost at least the amount of ground we ended up getting beaten. I always felt that might have been the one, and I didn’t deal with that well.”

The second loss that has always lived with Twiston-Davies is when the Nicholls-trained Zarkandar was beaten a neck by Reve De Sivola in the 2014 Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

Sent off at 4-6, Zarkandar travelled powerfully and looked sure to win when leading two out. He held a clear advantage going to the final flight but was clawed back in the closing stages.

“I’ll never ever forget that day,” Twiston-Davies tells JockeysThe  Podcast  presenter Adam McNamara. “Nicholls came out to the track and ate me the whole way from getting off the track Ascot all the way into the second spot, and then carried on. That was a hard day.”

The third defeat that left him utterly deflated was East India Dock’s loss in this year’s Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Twiston-Davies had hoped the 5-4 favourite, previously unbeaten in three starts over hurdles, would give him a ninth success at the biggest meeting of the year, and believed he had victory in his grasp when jumping the final flight in the lead.

“We had just got past Lulamba [regarded as the main danger] and I was thinking ‘this is it, if I meet the last on a nice stride I've done it’,” he said.

Twiston-Davies thought he had Triumph Hurdle glory in his grasp after the final flight

“East India Dock had previous course and distance form, hitting the line strongly, so when we winged the last I was thinking ‘I've done this’ but then at half furlong pole Nico [De Boinville, on Lulamba] got me back, and Jonjo [O’Neill on Poniros] came over the top and got both of us.

“On pulling up, the first thing I said to Nico was ‘was that my fault, could I have done anything different?’.  He said no,  it’s just the occasion. And that's the one thing I’d said in the paddock before – that I’d ride the race, not the occasion, and that’s the hardest thing you have to remember.

“If you’d taken that race on a normal week day, I’d have been happy, I did my very best, but the occasion is the one thing that really killed me because I’d had it in my head he was going to be a Cheltenham Festival winner.”

He added: “I had one ride afterwards, Norman Fletcher [who finished eleventh] in the County Hurdle. I probably wasn't brilliant with his owners [beforehand] and even more awful with them afterwards.

“I stormed out [of Cheltenham] within 12 minutes of riding Norman Fletcher, and a nice lady on the gate said ‘excuse me sir, you need a stamp’. I said I don’t need a stamp, I won't be effing coming back. I wouldn't be rude normally and I stopped and I said ‘I'm so sorry. I've just had a bad day’ and then got in the car, came home and made myself spaghetti on toast.”

Twiston-Davies had a two-year spell as No 1 rider for Nicholls between 2014 and 2016 before being succeeded by Harry Cobden. He tells Jockeys The Podcast there was a symmetry. He got the job while holiday in Las Vegas – and ended it while on vacation at the same place.

The partnership enjoyed many memorable days – notably when Dodging Bullets won the 2015 Champion Chase – but things did not always go smoothly, with Zarkandar’s defeat being an example.

However, Twiston-Davies has continued to play a part in the Ditcheat success story.

“I was young and naive [when first getting the Nicholls role],” Twiston-Davies said. “Everything kept winning to start off, but when they started losing the pressure got more and more, and you kind of get the feeling that you are not really as wanted as maybe you once were.

“Paul said ‘you and Harry are going to share next year’ and for me it was the biggest relief ever. I said ‘no we are not. I’m done, I can’t do this anymore'.

“I didn’t step totally away. I still rode winners for Paul the next season and still ride for him now every now and again. We still have a good relationship, but you have to remember that there is so much more to life.”