Speaking exclusively to BOYLESPORTS, Bryony Frost – the jockey who partnered the unforgettable Frodon to victory in the 2020 King George VI Chase – has looked back on the race she calls “the pinnacle of Christmas” and the horse that changed her life forever.
From the shock of being handed the ride when still claiming 5 lb, to cementing one of National Hunt racing’s greatest modern partnerships, Frost relives how they grew together from handicap winners to Grade 1 heroes always the underdogs, always front-running, always wearing their hearts on their sleeves.
In this exclusive interview, she recalls the goosebump-inducing magic of that empty Kempton triumph, why the lack of crowd remains her one regret, Frodon’s lightning jumping and limitless heart, and why even in retirement he is still the Tom Cruise of the equine world: laid-back at home, pure superstar the moment the cameras roll.
From Moorland Ponies To The Big Time
The King George: “The Pinnacle of Christmas”
It’s the pinnacle of Christmas, the top of the tree. To say that Frodon won it with me still gives me goosebumps and has me thinking, actually, that really happened. To be honest with you, when I was younger, I never really saw something in terms of dreams. I was very much a living-in-the-moment sort of kid, living in the moment with the pony that I was riding.
I had some amazing ponies, and the number of hours I spent with them galloping across the moors, then to my show jumping and my pony racing was huge. They created me.
When I start to look back on the chapters of my life, how it led me to where I was, there was never any plan to fall upon the victories I have. I've been so fortunate. I've worked really hard. There's been a lot of nights, there's been a lot of tears.
There's been a lot of “do they believe in me? What more do I need to prove?” All of those questions that any young person asks in sport, when they're trying to be the best they can be, it's those questions that you're always asking yourself.
But the mentality of just step by step, and if that step is going forward, then doing well. So don't try and look too far ahead because it's impossible. So much can change in the direction of your life and what you're doing.
So as long as in the moment that you're in, you're doing it as well as you can, you're being as professional and being the best person you can and loving them, that’s all you can ask of yourself.
You’ve got to love it, otherwise what's the point?
The Day Everything Changed: First Ride On Frodon
Riding Frodon
I do remember the day vividly. I was schooling at Paul Nicholls’ yard, and he said out of the blue, ‘You're on Frodon at the weekend.’ It was a total shock. Up until then, I wasn't even allowed to ride him at home. So, I had a little sit on him, and there you go, we blossomed. At the time, I was claiming five pounds, and he needed some weight off his back in a big handicap because at this time, he wasn't a Grade 1 horse.
He was a top of the class handicapper, and because I was claiming at the time and as I had also struck up a wonderful partnership with Black Corton, the momentum was behind me. I got the opportunity, and then there you go. We stayed together from then on. I rode out my claim three days before he was running in the Caspian Cup at Cheltenham. Paul got quite angry that I'd lost my claim before Frodon, and it was a worrying moment because he indicated I might not ride him at Cheltenham.
But Mr Vogt stuck with me and said, ‘Well, what's the difference, it’s only three pounds?!’ Away we went, we won the Caspian Cup, and that's when the partnership really cemented, and the wedding ring was firmly on the finger. I couldn’t blame Paul because Frodon was off top weight. Nothing is guaranteed in this game, and nothing is ever yours. You have to take every moment as if it were your last, but respect the future at the same time.
When you're a jockey for a team, you ride for the future as well as today. Whereas when you're freelance, you only really ride for today. But when you become associated with your horses and with your team and with your owners, if it's not happening today, it will happen tomorrow. So how do we make it happen tomorrow? It's about respecting your horse and respect and the longevity of his career, not just the next six minutes.
Underdogs In Purple: The King George Fairytale
Frodon And I The Underdog Team
You watch him at home, his carriage, the ambience that surrounds him. He's a pure athlete, but he's got the punch in the pocket. He's somebody special. Just to be able to ride him at home or to school him was a pretty big deal, let alone being his jockey on the racecourse. We grew together as well because we started winning our handicaps, and we started winning them hands down.
We started taking our chances in the graded races, and away we went. We weren't the favourites for the King George. We were 20-1 - we were always the underdog. We’d go in there with the will that we'd never back down.
We both wore our hearts on our sleeves; we took no prisoners. We went off in front, and we did it our way. There was no hiding in our tactics. Everybody knew what we were going to do; everybody tried everything to try and get to us.
Frodon Emptied His Petrol In 2020 Success
That day in the King George, it was just the current underneath the river that you can't see. It was one of those races where it was just blissful. We cruised around, and we took these amazing opportunities to get oxygen into his lungs, and he was faultless in his jumping. I remember getting halfway around the apex of the last bend, and I said to him, ‘We’ve got to go, Frody, we’ve got to try and keep going.’
I still get goosebumps now thinking about the moment when I told him we had to go. He went, and he drove his hind legs into the ground for one last drive. We went to the very end of our tank that day, but he gave everything, and I gave everything to take one of our biggest victories. I remember rolling down to the last, just praying that it comes right for him. Where he was most lethal and where his talent was was the way he got away from his fences.
He was lightning from the back of the fence. His first stride on landing was so fast he could make up two lengths just in that first stride away. He landed, and he was gone. He had so much power behind him, he was just a ball of energy. He was magic. He made you feel like you could fly over every fence. I would love to know how many fences I jumped in my life with him, but every single fence we jumped, there was never a moment, never a small doubt that he was going to unship me or we were going to make a bad mistake. Not once.
In every race, there's one fence you go whoa, that was a bad mistake or lucky there. With him, there was never one. His intelligence, the organisation of his own body is just exceptional. I'll never meet anybody like him like that.
Racing Gives Special Moments!
From the back of the last to the line, you’re foot down hard on the pedal. There’s nothing else but getting to that line in your head. Keep the rhythm, stay with him, keep him straight, just drive and tell him to keep going. Your voice is so important.
They need your backing because, you know, at this point, too, they're feeling the pinch. They need your strength, you need theirs. It’s that combination, it's that partnership that you can't find anywhere else.
Racing with your horse gives you moments that you can't find in day-to-day life.
The Silent Pinnacle & A Tom Cruise Retirement
King George Regret
That is my one regret. The crowd for me and for Frodon is so important. He absorbed the atmosphere and the electric energy that the fans gave him. He came alive.
But in the King George, with all its history, not having the crowd to cheer him home meant it didn't touch the heart as much as perhaps when he won the Irish Champion Chase at Down Royal in 2021, or the Ryanair at Cheltenham in 2019. Then, you could share your moment. Our sport really is about sharing the moment.
At the end of the day, it is you and your horse out on the track for six minutes, and it's down to you two at that point, but it’s everybody behind at that moment, your owners, your trainer, everybody at the yard that worked with the horse, then the fans that follow the horses follow you as a jockey. It starts adding up, and then all of a sudden, there’s a massive amount of joy in just that one moment.
Tom Cruise Of Equine World Frodon
He’s great. Even now, when he's doing his parades and stuff, he just goes into a whole new person when the camera starts rolling. He’s unbelievable. He is like the Tom Cruise of the equine world.
He's ridiculous. He’s a true star. He's all chill at home, and his pot belly hangs out when he’s having his dinner. But when the cameras roll, it’s as if he’s all suited up, hair gelled back, and he’s got the strut.
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