Winners galore: Ben Curtis on a 'fantastic' year from all-weather to Royal Ascot

For many people the end of 2020 cannot come soon enough, but there have still been plenty of success stories with Ben Curtis enjoying his best year in the saddle.

Curtis was in flying form at the start of the year, which led to a maiden all-weather jockeys' championship, and that fast start continued on the turf.

Before Wednesday's racing, Curtis had ridden 156 winners for the year, not only a career-best but also the most winners any jockey has ridden in Britain this year, and he added to his tally with a treble at Nottingham.

Ben Curtis partnered the multi-talented Main Fact to victory at Catterick and Nottingham recently

He also has the chance to be crowned Cock O'The North rider at Doncaster on Saturday, and is in contention for the Go Racing in Yorkshire equivalent, in which he is tied with Danny Tudhope on 40 winners.

Reflecting on the year, Curtis, 31, said on Wednesday: "Since the first of January it's been fantastic. The all-weather at the start of the year was hard work but when I made the move over [from Ireland in 2014] I wanted more rides and opportunities and that came to fruition this year.

"That carried on to the grass though lockdown did take away a bit of momentum for me. Saying that, it's been brilliant. The quality [of rides] has really upped this year, I've picked up contacts and got more winners."

Curtis has certainly advertised his skills to a wide swathe of trainers and owners, with the jockey riding at least one winner for 49 different yards. Among those are loyal supporters including Roger Fell, Mick Appleby and Karl Burke, with the last-named providing the rider with a maiden Royal Ascot success.

Dandalla was ridden to victory by Curtis in the Group 3 Albany Stakes, and he added: "It's any jockey's dream to have a Royal Ascot winner. It's not easy to do, it's so competitive so ticking that one off the bucket list was one of the highlights of the year."

Dandalla was an easy winner of the Albany for CurtisCredit: Edward Whitaker

Fev Rover, who like Dandalla is owned by Nick Bradley Racing, Nayef Road and Freyja have been other notable winners so far for Curtis this year, and the jockey said: "I've ridden loads of winners for Roger Fell and he's a good friend and it's the same with Karl Burke. They've always been big supporters and I'm very thankful for that."

Looking forward, Curtis is keen to take a break during the winter rather than prioritise a defence of his all-weather crown, but does harbour ambitions of chasing a maiden jockeys' championship in 2021 if the opportunity presents itself.

"I've always been busy in the winter and never really had a spell off so it will be nice to recharge the batteries," he said. "I'm looking forward to spending Christmas with my wife Shauna and two-year-old son Brodi. I'll be still be busy and going to the all-weather but won't be doing the amount I did last year.

"Your stables have to be in form at the start of the year to get rolling and if I was in the situation [to challenge] I'd give it 110 per cent."

Read more if you were interested in this . . .

'I can't believe how well it's gone' – Curtis looks back on stunning month

A year to remember continues for Curtis after Derby call-up

New all-weather champion jockey reveals his one regret of the season

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