Best Mate´s Jockey Quits Saddle

Jim Culloty, the man who partnered Best Mate to successive Cheltenham Gold Cup triumphs in 2002, 2003 and 2004, has announced his retirement from the saddle.

The Irishman told Teletext that health reasons were behind his decision to call time on a career which also saw him land the Martell Grand National on Bindaree.

'I have been thinking about it for some time, basically for health reasons,' he said.

'Whenever I have had a fall lately I have been left feeling dazed, which I didn´t in the old days. As much as I love riding, I have to put my health before my career.'

Culloty´s first winner came on Karicleigh Boy at Exeter in January 1994 and he landed a notable success at the Galway festival when Perugino Diamond took the spoils in the 2000 Galway Hurdle.

But his career really took off through his association with trainer Henrietta Knight and the Jim Lewis-owned Best Mate, on whom he won a total of 12 races, including their three triumphs in the blue riband.

Culloty also bagged the King George VI Chase on Best Mate´s stablemate Edredon Bleu at Kempton on Boxing Day in 2003, having landed the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on the Dessie Hughes-trained Timbera earlier that year.

Knight revealed that news of Culloty´s retirement had come as a surprise to her.

She said: 'I knew he was going to ride freelance, but that at the same time he would still ride a lot of our horses, including Best Mate.

'It was quite a surprise because he rode a beautiful race on Impek at Market Rasen (last Saturday) which turned out to be his last.

'Any jockey who has had a number of falls and is as intelligent as Jim is likely to think about the future and, of course, he has a family to consider now.

'Even so, this is quite a sad day for me and everyone will miss him around here. The place will seem very strange without him.'

Culloty is currently away in Scotland and there will certainly be no rush on Knight´s part to appoint a new rider for Best Mate.

She added: 'I have no idea about Best mate´s future. Jim suited the horse down to the ground because he is such a quiet rider, but then again anyone could ride Best Mate.

'There will be no rush to name a replacement and of course I shall have to talk at length to Jim Lewis.'

Culloty spent longer at Knight´s Lockinge yard than any other jockey.

She explained: 'He was here for almost 10 years and came to us as an amateur. His first winner (for us) was Full Of Oats in the race which is now the Warwick National.

'He has been a great asset to the yard and we´ve had some great moments together, in particular Best mate´s three Gold Cups.

'More than that, Jim is a very good friend of ours and in all that time we never had a cross word.

'He´s also been very loyal to us and what we´ve always liked about the way he rides is his ice coolness on the big occasion.

'He never interfered with a horse´s rhythm and I can´t think of a better man for the big day.

'We will always be the best of friends and the Best Mate era will go down in history as three fantastic years. Three out of three in the Gold Cup - what more could Jim have done for us?'

Lewis said: 'It´s a surprise in the sense that I knew he dearly wished to carry on riding Best Mate and all my other horses, but Jim has had some lousy falls of late, has a young family to think about, and I can totally understand his decision.

'What he´s done today typifies the way he was in his riding career in that when he made his mind up that was that and he never flinched from a decision.

'Obviously I wish him the best of luck and I know I speak for Henrietta and Terry (Biddlecombe) when I say I hope he stays in racing.

'He´s had a great career with three Gold Cups, a Grand National and a King George and he can look back with pride on those accomplishments.

'He was a top jockey in every sense of the word, very cool and calm and he never got flustered easily.

'He had a long and memorable association with Best Mate and in all that time the great thing was that he never let us down. He was a very loyal lad.

'However, I do think this decision is the right thing for him and nobody can take away what he has done for us.'

Lewis suggested the job of finding a replacement jockey for Best Mate would not be easy.

He added: 'The names which immediately come to mind already have big jobs to think about and we would want somebody who could ride Best Mate each time he runs.

'At the end of the day there is a long way to go before the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter, which is his first target.'

Culloty came in for what proved the spare ride of the decade when landing the world´s greatest steeplechase at Aintree in 2002 on the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Bindaree.

His gain was Jamie Goldstein´s loss with the latter breaking a leg at Ascot on the Wednesday before the big race.

Twiston-Davies paid tribute to Culloty, saying: 'It was Jim´s only ride for me, which is remarkable in itself, but we had been impressed with the way he rode Best Mate in the Gold Cup and were delighted to acquire his services following the unfortunate accident to Jamie.

'Our number one jockey Carl Llewellyn was on Beau and so Jim came in for Bindaree and his quiet style of riding suited the horse down to the ground.

'Everything came right on the day and if there was one ride Jim could have had for me it would have been a struggle to name one bigger than winning the Grand National.

'I wish him all the best for the future.'

Biddlecombe, whose advice helped Culloty in the jockey´s formative years, said: 'What I like about Jim is his loyalty and his unique style. We´ve all had great fun and enjoyed and coped with the ups and downs.

'At the end of the day he´s ridden three Gold Cup winners for us, as well as Bindaree in the National, and you can´t ask for much more than that.'

? PA Sport