School's out for Newmarket's youngest work rider Harry Davies at just 14

Newmarket's youngest exercise rider, 14-year-old Harry Davies, spent the first day of the school summer holidays on Friday doing what he does best, riding work at the home of horseracing for leading trainer Hugo Palmer.

Davies has spent much of his childhood at Palmer's Kremlin Cottage Stables, where his mother Angie Shea is head girl. So while many pupils will have spent their morning lazing about, the Newmarket Academy student was getting the leg up to ride unraced two-year-old Ballerina Showgirl, a €275,000 purchase, in a workout on the Al Bahathri.

Davies's father Stephen was an apprentice to Sir Henry Cecil in the 1990s and had over 60 rides while at Warren Place.

Harry Davies : before tackling the Al Bahathri on Ballerina Showgirl

Times have changed since Lester Piggott rode his first winner aged 12 at Haydock in 1948, and boys or girls riding out at an early age is now a rarity at all training centres.

Davies said: "I haven't seen anyone my age riding out in Newmarket and I'll be in every morning now school has broken up. I pick up plenty of tips from the jockeys who come in to ride work, Pat Cosgrave, James Doyle and Jack Mitchell, and my ambition is to be a jockey myself."

Conveniently, if Davies makes it as a jockey he has a ready-made agent on hand as his stepfather Phil Shea has top jockeys Josephine Gordon, Nicola Currie and leading apprentice Cieren Fallon already on his books.

Harry Davies (right) after exercise

While riding thoroughbreds is a relatively recent development for Davies he has plenty of experience in races having partnered more than 25 winners on the pony circuit.

Shea said: "Harry weighs under seven stone and rides very well for his age. He's the youngest rider I know about around Newmarket as most of the kids come from the Racing School at 16.

“The plan is to send him down to Andrew Balding's next week for a spell and it's the place to be as he set the likes of Oisin Murphy, William Buick and David Probert on the road to success."

As to the safety aspect of allowing riders as young as Davies on to public training grounds, Jockey Club Estates director Nick Patton said: "I've not seen someone as young as Harry riding out in recent years, but if he's tied in with a licensed trainer that's good enough for us as their insurance will cover him in case of accidents.

"I think a few years ago Jack Quinlan was riding out for his uncle Mick when he was very young."

As regards his own favourite jockey, Davies added: "My favourite jockey is Ryan Moore, but the best at the moment has to be Frankie Dettori. To ride like he does in Group races is pretty special."

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