At the age of 35, legendary jockey Charlie Swan made the difficult decision to step away from the saddle and never ride again as a professional – but does he ever wish he hadn’t? Would he do it differently if given the chance?
Swan was candid with us in answering those questions and reflecting on whether he left too soon. The 17-time Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey also reminisced on the brilliance of Istabraq – the horse he rode to 3 consecutive Cheltenham Champion Hurdles – why his son is probably a better jockey than him plus his insight as to why today’s jockeys are lasting longer than ever.
Retiring At 35 – Regrets?
Sometimes I do regret retiring at 35. Maybe I could have got another year out of it. But overall, I am happy with my decision.
I could have had to get out because of injury. I had young kids as well. When you start thinking about retiring that’s when it is time to go.
Nowadays everything is getting better. The protectors, the helmets, safety is a big thing. Jockeys are way fitter than they used to be when I was riding. They are way more professional. That is why they are lasting longer which is a good thing.
The Great Istabraq Was Simply ‘The Best’
From day one when we started jumping him, he had a great technique. He loved it. He would attack his hurdles. He was very quick and landed very quick. His jumping was the big part of him.
He did stay well, but he seemed to get quicker because his jumping was so quick. He would almost land with his hind legs down first. He would never peck. He always landed running which gained lengths.
He was an easy horse to ride. It was a great thrill. It always is when you ride these great horses. The crowd is always behind you. The main thing is you hope you don’t mess up on them and make a bad mistake!!
When he won his third champion hurdle and went by the line, all I could think was, ‘Thank God that is over.’ You don't get much of a thrill until afterwards and you watch it again and know you have won! He was the best.
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My Son Harry Swan Is Probably A Better Rider Than Me!
Harry Swan’s Success As A Jockey
Harry is doing really well. He is still in college. He goes into Gordon’s two or three times a week. He works hard. He seems to be a good judge of pace and knows the time of day!
It is hard because people will compare him and me. Actually, he is probably a better rider than me!
I am really enjoying watching him ride. It would be nice if he could get a Cheltenham winner sometime soon!
I still don’t know whether he will turn professional or not. He has been studying hard and has a very good job at Gordon’s riding all those Bumper horses.
It will be a hard decision to make for him. He could have a great time in a decent job outside racing and still ride lots of winners as an amateur and really enjoy his riding.
Obviously, the choice is his, but I’d be half hoping he’ll say he will stay an amateur.
He is studying biomedical science, so he has options, maybe medicine. He is also thinking about doing a Masters. He is 22.
My Son Harry’s Take On Gordon Elliott’s Bumper Horses After Having Ridden All of Them
He likes them all! On their homework, he rode Classical Creek last time out at Navan. And it was the wrong choice because Kalypso’chance won!
I’d say that Kalypso’chance would be his choice. To me, he looks like a horse that will keep improving.
The Tough Life of a Professional Jockey
It is a tough life as a professional. At Gordon’s, there’s Jack Kennedy, Sam Ewing, Danny Gilligan and Jordan Gainford, all very good jockeys, ahead of him.
Being a professional you are going to get injuries, you are going to get hurt. Being an amateur you can pick and choose a little bit. He rides point to points, but he doesn’t ride every day. He picks and chooses which ones he wants to ride.
It is probably better that way than going professional. I retired at 35. Nowadays, 35 is quite young.
You do have to think about the future. You have 25 years after riding to be working. You’re not on this earth for long so it is about enjoying yourself as well as working hard. I think being an amateur with the career he’ll follow would be an ideal combination.
Being a National Hunt jockey, there’s probably only three or four jockeys in any year that are going to make decent enough money. The rest of them will just about make a living. And then they have to deal with the falls and all the knocks.
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What JP McManus Is Like & His Importance To Horse Racing
He’s a great man. And a lovely man too. I have known him for a long time. He was a great man to ride for, very understanding. He is so good for the game and has horses with so many different trainers in Ireland and England.
He is a businessman and obviously likes winners. But above all, he really loves the game.
It’s great too that all his family are involved. They share his passion.
At one stage I was counting it up and he had horses with something like 60 trainers in Ireland and 40 in England. There may not be as many now. He has helped so many different trainers. He certainly helped me when I was training.
The Success Of French Horses In Recent Years
To me, it is their system. They break them earlier than we do in England and Ireland.
They start when they are younger, and progress with their muscles and development. It has taken us a long time to cop onto that. We are starting to break them a little bit earlier now. Hopefully, we’ll have a few more three-year-old National Hunt races.
The French horses are broken earlier, but they do everything quite slowly. They break them, they let them off, they do a bit of schooling. They have done lots of conditioning and their muscles are right and they probably last longer in the long term because they haven’t been rushed or pushed too quickly.
How Irish Super Yards Became Dominant
They have proved themselves and they have all come up the hard way. They deserve everything they get. Joseph O’Brien is bang up there as well. He’s an amazing trainer. He doesn’t have as many jumpers now but he’s brilliant.
There are a lot more horses in Ireland than in England and not as much racing. In England, they have too much racing and it is not competitive enough. There are a lot of races where there are only three or four runners. If you had fewer races, you’d have more prize money to go around.
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