'Look, this is a certainty, just don't fall off' - how Paul Nicholls prepared Harry Derham for December Gold Cup glory

Harry Derham has recalled the remarkably bullish words said to him in the paddock by trainer Paul Nicholls 13 years ago this weekend, when he won the December Gold Cup as a jockey.

Derham was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday’s newspaper in which he discusses former colleagues, the future of British training, the Punchestown chat in which he 'nearly fell over' and how he overcame the biggest challenge of his career.

Winning the December Gold Cup on Unioniste was never going to be much of a challenge, if Nicholls could be believed.

Derham said: “I remember in the parade ring, Paul coming over with me to the horse before mounting, which was really rare, and saying to me: ‘Look, this is a certainty, just don't f****** fall off.’

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is a £100,000 handicap and he’s just told me all I have to do is get round?’ And I did.

“I always joke that I rode 50 winners and on 48 of them I didn’t even have to push, it was literally just getting them round.”

Harry Derham now trains at Upper Farm Stables, Boxford near NewburyCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Within a year of winning on Unioniste, though, Derham’s career as a jockey was already winding down. A heavy fall from Fox Run at Chepstow in October 2013, which proved fatal for the horse, provoked a long period of soul-searching before he made the decision to quit the saddle aged just 19.

“I enjoyed it a lot, but I’ve never once missed it,” he said. “When I had the fall at Chepstow that made me want to quit, I rode in the next race and, even going to post, I was thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ I couldn’t lift my right arm properly and I had a broken nose. Why was I there? It was absolutely mental.

“I grew up wanting to be Ruby [Walsh]. That was all I would think. And then I rode against him for a little bit and I realised that as a jockey you have many more awful days than good days, and you're often in pain. There's this expectation on jockeys that if you fall off and even if you're really, really sore, you just get up and ride the next race. Most jockeys just have that mentality but I very quickly realised it wasn’t mine.”

Read more from Harry Derham in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Racing Post+ Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday.

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