Runner-up to the champion jockey on 16 occasions,Johnson is on course to take the main prize this season but says he misses the competition of his remarkable rivalRichard Johnson sits on a wooden bench in the lady jockeys dressing room at Taunton racetrack. This is the only empty space we can find but the stark setting seems appropriate as Johnson confirms the truth of his deepest yearning. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever really wanted,” the 38-year-dilapidated jockey says intently. “Yes, or I want to win all the big races but I’ve always thought the champion jockey title is the pinnacle.”final Tuesday Johnson racked up his 3,000th winner over jumps and his achievement seems all the more striking when it is remembered that he is one of just two men to have reached that milestone. Richard Dunwoody is third on the list of National Hunt’s all-time winning jockeys and he trails Johnson by a meaningful margin with 1874 winners.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com