Richard Johnson admitted to private fear that upon the retirement of his great rival and friend AP McCoy, the loss of competition from him might see him lose his appetite for victory.
Instead it proved a spur to even greater levels of achievement and helped ensure his legacy as one of the great modern-day heroes of British jumps racing.
For rather than winning the next four jockeys’ championship titles by default, he simply crushed his rivals with a mixture of industry, determination and riding performances arguably better than those he had produced over the previous two decades.
It is often said that Johnson lived in McCoy’s shadow, which is true to the extent that on an incredible 16 occasions he finished runner-up in the end-of-season standings without quite managing to bag that first championship.
But such a simple analysis fails to do justice to the nature of their relationship: as McCoy has repeatedly said, the combination of the close friendship and simultaneous intense rivalry that they shared acted as a spur for both.
Johnson comes from a farming family in Herefordshire with a racing background and it was for his permit-holder mum, Sue, that he rode his first winner under Rules on Rusty Bridge.
As a student, Johnson was more focused upon making it as a jockey than academic achievement. He sacrificed weekends and school holidays to spend time at the stables of David Nicholson, under whose tutelage champion jockeys such as Peter Scudamore and Richard Dunwoody had flourished.
At 16, he left school to work full-time for Nicholson. Nicholson was a hard taskmaster but Johnson’s good manners and work ethic went a long way and his riding talent was already evident. He rode at first as an amateur but switched to the conditional ranks and was crowned champion in that division as an 18-year-old at the end of the 1995/96 season. The following season, he became the youngest British jumps jockey to ever reach the landmark of 100 winners in a campaign.
Further success came easily and quickly. Within the next five years, he had joined an elite group in riding the winners of the four main championship contests at the Cheltenham Festival.
A first Gold Cup victory came in 2000, aboard Looks Like Trouble for Noel Chance, the man who would subsequently become his father-in-law.
Johnson had only come in for the mount when former jockey Norman Williamson was replaced by owner Tim Collins who had voiced dissatisfaction over the ride given to the horse previously in the King George.
He grasped the opportunity and his mount got the best of Florida Pearl, the high-class Willie Mullins trained chaser on whom he would later go on to enjoy further big-race success.
Johnson told reporters: “He jumped very well apart from a bad mistake coming down the hill on the first circuit. To be honest, halfway up the straight he wasn’t doing much either. He was enjoying it as much as me!” Looks Like Trouble went on to live out a happy retirement with Johnson and his family.
The wait for a second success in jumps racing’s supreme steeplechase was ended in 2018 when Native River made all under a typically swashbuckling ride, breaking the heart of Might Bite by finding more every time he was asked.
“It wouldn’t be fair to say I didn’t appreciate my first Gold Cup,” he reflected. “But I don’t think I realised just how hard it is to win this race and the hard work and good luck required.
“My love for what I’m doing and the sport is still as strong now as ever and to be able to sit on a horse like this, who gives you his all, is still the ultimate dream for me. I’m not sure that will ever end.”
Renowned for mileage that would embarrass a trucker in his search for winners at all points of the compass, Johnson is a rarity: despite reaching the summit of a ruthlessly tough profession, he has a decency and humility that has never left him, still true to that mannerly youngster to which Nicholson had first warmed.
What they say about him:
Sir Anthony McCoy: “On a professional level I probably got to know him better than anyone and he’s a brilliant man to be around, a fantastic jockey and unbelievably competitive. He also has a great work ethic and is the fairest jockey you could ever ride against, so he has deserved all of his success. As I’ve said many times, having Richard to compete against for all of those years definitely made me a better jockey. But however good a jockey you think he is, he’s an even better person.”
Ruby Walsh: “What everyone knows about Richard Johnson is what an excellent jockey he is and what a great asset he is to racing. But what they might not know so much is that he is also a hard man, who has toughness and determination and an incredible pain threshold, as well as being a thoroughly decent human being.”
Philip Hobbs: “He started riding for us because he was the best jockey available at that time when Richard Dunwoody retired. There was no great plan, as such. I was at Punchestown talking to David Nicholson about it and it started from there. Richard is obviously a very good rider, but for somebody to be top-end successful, just being a good rider is not good enough. He is massively good with owners, particularly when one has run badly, which is the important time. Rather than run away like a lot want to, Richard will spend longer with the owners, which is very important. He is completely dedicated and there is no side to him. He is a fantastic jockey, a gentleman and a fine ambassador to the sport of racing.”
Nicky Henderson: “He spent all those years in AP’s shadow, but if anything he has developed further as a jockey since AP’s retirement. The input that he gives you is enormous and his work ethic is unbelievable – he’ll go to Timbuktu for a ride. He’s tireless and a true asset to racing.”
