Five Towns brings up landmark winner for Marquand

PA Sport Reporters
September 4, 2023 5:19 pm

Windsor victory is rider’s 1,000th in Britain.

Tom Marquand brought up his 1,000th winner in Britain aboard Five Towns at Windsor on Monday evening.

The 25-year-old, who has built up a reputation for being one of the best jockeys around, had already reached that figure in Britain and Ireland but has now reached the milestone on home soil having successfully linked up with a filly appropriately trained by his boss, William Haggas.

Marquand began his career with Richard Hannon in 2014 and only a year later was crowned champion apprentice at the tender age of 18.

His first Group-level success came in 2017 when Anna Nerium landed Salisbury’s Dick Poole Stakes, but he would have to wait until 2020 for his first Group One victory which fittingly came in Australia where Marquand spent plenty of his time honing his craft.

He earned the moniker ‘Aussie Tom’ for his exploits in the Southern Hemisphere and partnered the Haggas-trained Addeybb to three big-race victories in Australia before also combining for Champion Stakes glory at Ascot in 2020.

That triumph came shortly after Marquand landed his first Classic success, as he proved an able late deputy aboard Joseph O’Brien’s Galileo Chrome in the St Leger at Doncaster.

Earlier this year he wrote himself into the Royal Ascot history books when steering Haggas’ Desert Hero to win the King George V Stakes. It was the first time the King and Queen’s colours had been carried to victory at the Royal meeting since the death of the late Queen.

Marquand married fellow jockey Hollie Doyle in 2022, with the pair sitting second and third respectively behind William Buick in this season’s jockeys’ championship.

“It’s fantastic,” Marquand told Sky Sports Racing.

“It takes a lot of horses and lot of people to ride 1,000 winners, so I’m very fortunate to have had that support.”