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THEMANFROMFRAAM: Gave Adrian Wintle his last win following a long and successful career between the flags
photo: Jackie Oliver

Adrian Wintle, one of the sport's most successful riders over the past 15 seasons, has hung up his boots.

"I'd even got out my licence again this year, but about a week ago I started to think about it, and when you do that you realise it's time to stop," he said. "And for some time I've got just as much enjoyment helping novice riders - we've given a few their first winner."

Adrian, 36, opened his account at Howick in 1994 on Up The Ladder. "It was nice to ride my first winner on a family horse, and I suppose it was apt that my last one should be for one of my best mates," he pointed out. He was referring to leading National Hunt jockey Richard Johnson, whose wife Fiona trained Themanfromfraam, partnered by Adrian, to score at Maisemore in May.

He confessed that he had often wondered whether he would want to continue racing if he ever had a really bad fall, but this thought was sunk without trace when he broke his back in 2002. "You don't realise what you've got until you don't have it any more, so it made me even more determined to carry on," he admitted. The enforced lay-off had obviously not affected his ability, as he triumphed on his first ride back the following season - Philtre at Cottenham - and ended the campaign on 19 winners, his best seasonal total.

Last year Adrian had a mere 14 rides which yielded four successes and five placings, a strike rate of which anyone would be proud. His final tally between the flags was 161, plus a further 26 under Rules. He was twice West Midlands area champion, but like Johnson with McCoy he finished runner-up countless times to Julian Pritchard, for whom he has nothing but praise. "He took me under his wing when I started, and was a great help to me," he stressed, adding "I've been honoured to ride with really great people. It's a life you can't buy."

Happily, he will not disappear from the sport, as he will be supporting his wife Hannah (Lewis), who is training half a dozen Pointers this time. Adrian himself has a permit, although taking out a full licence is not something he is contemplating. "I'm involved with other things, and I think you can sometimes spread yourself too thinly," is his reasoning.

The "other things" are the family farm, which runs sheep as well as producing hay and haylage, a small property portfolio, and the horses which he and Hannah take in for pre-training.

One thing which Adrian won't miss is the dieting which became part of his lifestyle while he was racing, so this year, guess who's looking forward to Christmas?

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