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photo: Phil Britt

On 12th March 1994 17-year-old Richard Burton rode his first winner between the flags, Fence Judge at Eaton Hall. Six days short of 17 years later he recorded his 385th on Sin E An Capaill at Garnons to overtake Julian Pritchard's tally which had stood since 2007.

The celebrations amounted to a few glasses of champagne at the racecourse - "The South Herefordshire kindly produced a magnum, and Dad had some in the car, but we didn't have a babysitter so we were home by 8.30" - and the following day the new British record-holder was back at his day job at Jackson Equestrian, the company which he set up with a colleague three years ago to rent and sell equestrian property, and which, he smiled, "Is in danger of making a profit this year!"

Having dropped out of a Reading University course after a year, Richard decided on a career in racing, and his father Rob thought that the ideal place for him to go would be the David Nicholson academy. "I think he wanted me to have a tough taskmaster, and thought "The Duke" would knock some sense into me."

Richard was at Condicote for 2½ years, but admits that it was always just a dream to become a jockey. Among his colleagues at the yard were Dickie Johnson and Choc Thornton, both smaller and lighter than Richard and ahead of him in the riding stakes. "Unless you're in the top ten and have a good yard to ride for you're a journeyman, and I wouldn't have wanted to be a middle-ranking jockey. It's a hard life, and I'm better off being an amateur."

He did, though, earn the biggest compliment he could have asked for from "The Duke," who had told him shortly after his arrival he would never make a jockey and would be better sticking to cricket, a sport at which Richard represented his county, Shropshire, on many occasions. After Richard had ridden his second Cheltenham Festival winner the trainer confessed that he'd been mistaken, and told his one-time employee "You're the only one I've ever been wrong about."

Richard was national champion in 2003, 2005 and 2006, but although he is well to the fore in this season's title race he is under no illusions. "I'm sure that I'll never win another championship," he stated. "There's a balance with work and family life. In the old days you'd go anywhere for a ride, but travelling miles every week is such a selfish thing to do and isn't fair on Hannah and Bella [his wife and daughter].

"And the drive probably isn't there any more - it's much more enjoyable riding now without the pressure of chasing championships. I've got some really nice horses to ride," he continued, "and I'd rather deal in quality than quantity."

He switches off completely from horses in the summer, and admits that he finds it tough in the autumn when he's trying to get back to fitness. "You wonder if it's really worth it," is his thought, "though once you've done it you know it is!"

It would be very hard to find anyone to say a bad word about Burtie, as his weighing room colleagues refer to him, although being so much in demand he has sometimes found it impossible to keep owners and trainers happy.

"You need to be a politician, and to be able to hold your tongue sometimes," he said. He has to be careful, too, when commenting for his "Horse & Hound" column, that his opinions are not too contentious.

Julian Pritchard was not at Garnons on Sunday, but Richard called him for a chat on the way home. "We're great friends and have been good sparring partners over the years. We're cut from the same cloth in that neither of us has had family horses to rely on and have ridden for lots of different people."

He certainly has no thoughts of retiring, despite considering that he is getting long in the tooth compared to many of the lads riding today. "I have to keep Dave Mansell very close to me these days," he laughed, "though neither of us is likely to outlast Dai Jones!" He is, though, loath to look too far ahead and is content to take things season by season. Nor does he like to set targets, although 400 winners is an obvious objective, be it this year or maybe next. Whenever it comes, it will be the perfect excuse, if one was needed, for another champagne celebration.

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