Andrew Thornton

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Andrew Thornton on The Listener, March 13 2005

Andrew Thornton is a National Hunt jockey. He was born on October 28, 1972 in Cleveland and schooled at Barnard Castle School in County Durham. He is the current stable jockey to Dorset trainer Robert Alner but is also strongly assiocated with other lesser known National Hunt trainers such as Seamus Mullins, Caroline Bailey, John Spearing and Emma Lavelle. He is also the older brother of another of England's greatest jockeys Robert Thornton. Andrew is one of the very few National Hunt jockeys who wears contact lenses while riding and it is for this reason that he has ascertained the nicknames "Lensio" and "Blindman" [1]. He is married to Claire.

Despite having to endure many setbacks and injuries throughout his career, Andrew is now widely regarded as one of the best jumps jockeys around. He is also very highly respected among his weighing room collegues. His opinion on horse racing is also well sought after by members of the Racing Post, Racing UK and At The Races.

Many criticise Andrew's riding style. However, it is quite effective in most expert's opinions. Because he is taller than the average jump jockey, he is forced to ride very low in the stirrups. It's not always attractive to look at but it rarely fails to get the job done. Its benefits are also highlighted by the record Andrew has in staying Handicap Chases and staying Handicap Hurdles. Along with Tony McCoy, he is probably the strongest jump jockey in a finish. He can push along from a mile out and galvanise the horse. His strength has been seen in many exciting finishes when he looked beaten turning for home.

Andrew has rode many great horses including Cool Dawn, Gingembre and See More Business to victory in many a big race. However the best he has ridden and his favourite has to be 8 time winner French Holly. She won two Grade 1s and only just failed to win the Champion Hurdle in 1999 having encountered one of the greatest horses ever Istabraq. Her death in a schooling accident in the Winter of 1999 was a major dissappointment to Andrew. He has plenty of big race rides to look forward to for the new jumps season including Miko De Beauchene (who has been mentioned as a likely candidate to overturn Denman and Kauto Star in next season's Gold Cup), Grand National fancy Simon, Miss Mitch, Arnold Layne and Honour High.