The local hero who reached out and touched the big time

Age catches up with all of us, even the best of us, as fans of Usain Bolt will testify, and racehorses are no different. Clever Cookie, however, seems intent on defying natural law for as long as possible and the nine-year-old heads to York this week for a crack at a race his trainer, former jump jockey Peter Niven, first earmarked for him five years ago.

Saturday’s Betfred Ebor will be a tough nut to crack for the popular veteran, but he has been a Group-race performer in his day and shows no sign of wilting just yet. There was a time, though, when he was simply a homebred bumper horse of unfashionable descent who looked destined for a working life around the northern jumps circuit.

Bred in the purple Clever Cookie most certainly was not, as Niven explains: “He was bred by my mother Joan from a mare I used to ride when I was teamed up with Mary Reveley called Mystic Memory, who won eight times over hurdles and three on the Flat.