Richard Patrick the latest promising jockey from Welsh production line

If at the start of November someone had said a conditional jockey with a Welsh background would win the BetVictor Gold Cup it is odds-on the names of Connor Brace or Ben Jones would have been in the frame.

Then up pops Pembrokeshire’s Richard Patrick for victory on the mare Happy Diva, continuing the production line of young Welsh riders making a name under rules after leaping into the challenging world of jump racing via the point-to-point circuit. In many cases that came after a stint of pony racing.

The Bowen boys, Sean and James, now fully fledged, led the clutch of talent that has emerged over the past six years, Brace and Jones are fighting for the conditional jockeys’ title and Charlie Price is not out of it, while Patrick has now put a marker down in his claim for recognition.