Tudhope and Stott Locked in Battle for Leading Jockey Title at Beverley

Daniel Tudhope and Kevin Stott are locked in a battle to be the leading jockey at Beverley at the end of the Flat season at the Yorkshire racecourse in 2021.

Both riders are at the top of their game this season and it is set to be a close tussle between the two northern-based jockeys, with only a handful of meetings left on the calendar this year.

Tudhope is on course for having his best campaign on the track. He is fifth in the UK Flat Jockeys’ Championship. The defending champion is long odds-on in the online betting for the title as he has already recorded over 100 winners for the season.

In fact, 2019 is Tudhope’s best year on the track so far. He notched up 159 winners in the calendar year. Many of those came on the all-weather surface. As of early August, he had ridden 72 winners in 2021.

Like many of the courses in the north, Tudhope knows Beverley very well. Over the last five seasons, no jockey has had more winners there. The multiple Group-One-winning riders has been successful 51 times in that period.

Tudhope has yet to win either of the two Listed races at Beverley each year, the Hilary Needler Trophy and Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes. But he will still get the chance to prevail in the latter in 2021 as the sprint contest has yet to take place.

The highlight of the year so far for Tudhope came in the UAE. He partnered Lord Glitters to victory in the Group One Jebel Hatta at Meydan Racecourse during the Dubai World Cup Carnival. 

Stott Targeting a Ton Of Winners In 2021

Stott is also riding with a lot of confidence this year. He rode 80 winners in 2020 and he looks well on course to surpass that number in 2021. Earlier this year, Stott partnered Lady Ayresome to victory in the Hilary Needler for trainer Kevin Ryan. That was the filly’s second straight success over the C&D. They had a patient ride before making her move two furlongs from home.

The Danish-born jockey rode a double at Royal Ascot in 2020 with wins coming in the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes and then Wokingham Stakes. Those were breakthrough victories for the 26-year-old and since then he has been given more opportunities in big races.

Beverley continues to be a happy hunting ground for Stott. Newcastle’s all-weather course is the only track he has ridden more winners at during his career so far. Many owners book his services at the East Yorkshire venue due to his record there.

Stott’s latest victory at Beverley came on board Wynford, a horse trained by Rebecca Menzies. That success arrived in a class six handicap contest over 2m. After a slow start, the eight-year-old gelding got up by a short-head in a close finish to the stayer’s race.

Both Tudhope and Stott will take a great amount of pride in finishing the season as the leading Beverley jockey. Hopefully, it goes down to the wire and there is a great battle on the final meeting of the year.