Record-breaking female jockey Gina Andrews (pictured on Fumet D'Oudairies, her 304th pointing winner) has been passing milestones in a hurry this season. December saw her notch-up her 300th victory between the flags then, later the same month, break the record for most wins by a female rider in points. Last month, she rode her 400th career winner and last weekend, she had her 400th success in Britain. Her tally now stands at 404 – 322 in point-to-points, 72 over jumps and seven on the flat in Britain, plus two points and a bumper in Ireland – and she has ridden more winners over fences than any other British female, not a bad achievement for an amateur! On track for a ninth point-to-point jockey’s title – another record (David Turner and Polly Gundry have eight), Gina is not resting on her laurels and still has mountains to climb. Jake Exelby speaks to the 30-year-old about her time in the saddle, career highlights, unfulfilled ambitions and plans for next week’s Cheltenham Festival.
Gina, from Lilley near Hitchin in Hertfordshire, has a background steeped in point-to-pointing. Father Simon rode 170 winners in points and landed the 1988 Aintree Foxhunters on Newnham and mother Joanna was also a successful rider on the East Anglian scene. Like so many riders, Gina cut her teeth on the pony racing circuit. “I sat on my first pony – Cleo – when I was three,” she recalls. “She was horrible. I always had ponies that no one else could ride,” she admitted. “You don’t learn properly on a ‘push-button’ horse, you get good by riding the bad ones! We used to go to France,” she continues. “The racing was like a village fete. There were races for under-8s and different sizes of pony – on the flat and over hurdles! My sister Bridget won over hurdles there when she was eight, while I was second in a flat race.”
Simon and Joanna have sired three national point-to-point champion jockeys – Bridget and Jack, both now riding as professionals under rules, won their respective titles in 2014 and 2020. However, unlike her two younger siblings, Gina was not national novice champion. She had her first ride – and winner - between the flags a week after her 16th birthday and went on to notch up eight successes in her debut season in 2008, but missed out on the Ladies Novices title to Lucy Jones (whose four wins on Fruitfull Citizen from mid-May pipped Gina by one). “I went to Trecoed and led all the way (on Rockville) but was beaten on the line, and Lucy won there and at Umberleigh,” recalls Gina ruefully.
Gina completing a five-timer at Mollington
Gina’s successes include a Cheltenham Festival victory in 2017. “Trainer Stuart Edmunds rang me when I was at Horseheath and said, ‘I’ve got a horse for the Kim Muir for you – I didn't think any more of it but the horse was Domesday Book. I’d never ridden him in a race before and I’d only ever had one ride for Stuart!” Gina cites that victory, along with her five-timer at Mollington (four of which were for husband Tom) that same year and breaking the all-time record on Fumet D’Oudairies as her career highlights. She’s too modest to mention a fourth – the 2018/2019 campaign, her 58 wins smashing the previous seasonal record by a female rider, when she ticked off a career ambition by “beating the boys”, finishing 15 ahead of men’s’ champion Will Biddick.
Ambitions that remain include taking her total of national championships between the flags to ten and winning both the Cheltenham and Aintree Foxhunters. Talk turns to her hopes for the 2022 ‘Amateurs Gold Cup’ next week, in which her trainer husband Tom Ellis intends to run both Dubai Quest and Fumet D’Oudairies. “I’ve spoken to both sets of owners and, all being well, will ride Dubai Quest,” confirms Gina. “Zac Baker will ride Fumet D’Oudairies. It was a hard decision and I’m not saying ‘Dubai’ is a better horse, but I’ve won six on him and only two on ‘Fumet’. I also think that the way the race usually pans out might suit him better. He’s a strong stayer and the harder they go, the better – I’m confident he’ll stay up the hill.” For Aintree, Gina has Sunday’s easy Charm Park winner Latenightpass, aiming to go one better than when second over the famous fences in 2021.
Gina on Dubai Quest - Cheltenham hope
Gina with Latenightpass - Aintree hope
Other Cheltenham plans include potential rides in the Kim Muir on Mint Condition for Jennie Candlish – “The owner lives nearby, called in the other day and asked me to ride” and on Rapper for Henry Daly in the National Hunt race, but a bugbear of Gina’s is the tendency of British trainers to employ Irish riders in the amateur races at the Cheltenham Festival, ignoring local talent. “It infuriates me every year,” she says vehemently. “I only got the ride on Domesday Book because Stuart is a family friend What more can I do to prove I’m capable? And it’s not just me, it’s the same for Will Biddick, who’s a class above everyone else. We’re just as good as any Irish amateurs. Maybe people think Irish jockeys are better because they have such a good record at the Festival.”
Gina winning at Cheltenham on Domesday Book
Although she’s only just turned 30, Gina will not go on for ever, so who does she see as her likely successor as national champion when she eventually hangs up her boots? “Izzie Marshall,” she says with barely a pause for breath. “She chases me every year, is well-supported by Alan Hill and she’s got to a very capable level. She just needs to ride more maidens and to get more outside rides.”
My final question does stump Gina, however, when I ask about the reasons for the incredible success of her and Tom’s G & T Racing operation. Their winners tally leapt from seven in 2017/2018 to an amazing 43 – and a first trainers title – the following year. Two more championships followed in the subsequent COVID-affected campaigns and, with 35 winners already this season, they are on course – not only for another title – but to beat their personal best.
“I don’t know, really,” Gina admits. “We don’t spend stupid money on youngsters, lots of ours are home-bred and we get a few from the likes of Dan Skelton and Olly Murphy. We get them fit, feed them well, look after them and don’t over-race them. It’s taken us a while to get the hang of training four-year-olds. You can’t be as hard on them and they do all their work at home (rather than being taken away to gallop). It’s about getting the balance right – suddenly the penny drops and they tell you when they’re ready. Pointing is an amateur sport, but Tom and I aren’t amateur – it’s not just a hobby. We dedicate our lives to our horses.”
Thanks to Carl Evans for his help with the statistics.