TWO GREATLY REGRETTED RETIREMENTS.

​As someone who has championed the cause of female jockeys for far longer than the recent rolling of the media band-wagon, it is beholden on me to put on record my disappointment at the early retirement of Sammy-Jo Bell.
I predicted after she won the leading rider award at the Shergar Cup that her success would have no influence on her career. Sadly, it was one of the few occasions when I was proved correct.
Sammy-Jo could have been a great asset to racing. This will sound sexist because it is sexist; Sammy-Jo is pretty, and combined with her bubbly personality she could have done for flat racing what Bryony Frost is currently achieving for National Hunt. If she had been given greater opportunities in the subsequent months after the Shergar Cup flat racing might have achieved a pin-up girl. A pin-up girl with talent and dedication. If anything, the opposite happened, allied to the bad injury she received when a horse reared and rolled over on her. You cannot blame Richard Fahey; the problem lies, for all female riders, not only Sammy-Jo, with the reticence of the majority of owners to put a female jockey on their horses. The very reason why their hand should be pushed by the introduction of more races on the flat for professional female riders.
Although I wish Sammy-Jo the best in whatever direction her future lies, I hope also that in being partner to a successful jockey his success might persuade her in the near future to give it another go, especially if more opportunities do come along for female flat jockeys. Strangely, Philip Makin has gone largely unnoticed an unappreciated by me in the past; now I know he is all loved-up with Sammy-Jo I will be rooting for him in the future.
Good luck, Sammy-Jo, you will be missed more than you presently appreciate.
 
The retirement of Liam Treadwell is a fish of a different batter.
As with Sammy-Jo he enjoyed one magnificent day in the sun only to continue his career labouring at the everyday coal-face of the sport. Both successes were unexpected and were made more joyful because of how unprepared we were for such newsworthy results.
Many people made note of the brilliant ride Mon Mome received that day from Liam and yet he was never given the opportunity, except by Venetia Williams, to build a more spectacular career on the back of his great win. Of course he famously got a new set of teeth thanks to Clare Balding’s faux-pas, a side of a jockey’s life that might have enlightened the once-a-year punter; that jockeys of the stature of Liam Treadwell cannot necessarily afford to augment their looks with regular trips to the dentist.
If Liam needs a fillip to his morale over the next few days and months he might want to keep a record of all the great tributes paid to him by his now ex-colleagues and remember how well-liked and respected he was. He earned such fulsome praise not by winning the Grand National but because of who he is and how he has conducted himself throughout his career. He should retire with a heart filled with pride for what he achieved.
Good luck Liam Treadwell. I only hope you find another niche within the racing fold as racing cannot afford to lose someone of your integrity and quality.