David Maxwell Dispersal

A “middle-aged man’s mad obsession” is how the now-retired leading amateur jockey David Maxwell modestly describes his 25-year race-riding career.

And to be frank, taking up race ride seriously in one’s thirties, competing several times a week against professionals and committing to the sport with Maxwell’s intensity, is perhaps how others might characterise it too. It is certainly not the mid-life choice of many; most people in their thirties and forties seeking an adrenalin fix through the winter are more likely to head for the slopes two or three times a ski season.

But forget the Alps, Maxwell has scaled his own heights on racecourses across Britain, Ireland and France, satisfying his racing thirst by riding over 75 winners, twice being crowned Champion Amateur Jump Jockey, landing a Grade 3 winner, and competing in some of the biggest jumps races of the season, including the Aintree Grand National.

Maxwell’s pursuit of race riding opportunities has been far more than his typically self-effacing comment suggests – achieving success in such a demanding and competitive sport is only possible through considerable focus, determination, commitment, fitness and professionalism.

To achieve all this whilst holding down the day job has been a truly Herculean effort that we have all enjoyed watching and, quite frankly, have been inspired by.

Maxwell, whose father was a jumps trainer, had his first race ride in a point-to-point at Cottenham in his twenties. After a spell away from the saddle while concentrating on building his career, and wisely securing a financial base for a future in horseracing, he returned in his late twenties. Through his thirties and into his forties he has pursued the unquenchable passion in his soul that only racing could sustain.

Despite many race days Maxwell has enjoyed over the past 25 years, he has never lost sight of the influence of his very first ride at that Cambridgeshire point-to-point track, aboard what he describes as a “very slow hunter”.

“We were galloping to the first fence, I say galloping, they were slow three-mile chasers and we were only really cantering!” he laughs. “But I remember thinking we were all going to die, I really thought horses couldn’t jump that fast! It was terrifying, and it remains one of the most formative experiences of my entire life.”

With that beginners’ terror long since conquered, the name Mr D Maxwell has become a regular on riding lists, his brown and red colours a familiar sight on Britain’s jumps tracks, and his string of horses an enduring part of the National Hunt season.

A career highlight came with his sixth-place finish in the Aintree Grand National aboard the Henry de Bromhead-trained chaser Ain’t That Shame, an 11-year-old son of Jeremy rated 152, the pair beaten finishing just 15 lengths behind the winner I Am Maximus.

Maxwell recounts: “He is such a beautiful horse to ride, but I had prepared myself mentally for it to be a hard ride as he is so strong – I had thought I might get run away with and in front of a live audience of eight million too; it was going to be pretty embarrassing!

“But he was such a saint, and by the time we had got to Becher’s first time, I could not believe how well it was going.”

He adds: “Honestly, there is no better experience than going around that course on a horse who knows how to jump and who is in a rhythm; it was really great, and I would especially like to relive that experience of jumping three out thinking I am going to win!”

Looking forward, he adds: “He could be one for the Grand National again, but for me he is my idea of a Foxhunters’ winner this season; he is exactly the type because he travels really well, and he is a big tough horse. That race is something of a scrum, so you need a physical presence.”

Until the beginning of September, Maxwell had still been planning a return to the saddle this season but was ultimately forced to retire on medical advice. Although making such a decision must have been a hugely disappointing, he quickly resolved that watching from the grandstand the horses with whom he had shared so many special moments on the racecourse was not for him.

The draft of 17 horses is set to be offered after racing on 24 October, the opening day of the Cheltenham season, known as Showcase Friday.

The draft includes 10 winners of 35 races, who together have earned over £750,000 in prizemoney. With an average age of six, it is an exciting and progressive group, with the majority appearing to have their best days still ahead of them. All hail from leading trainers and, throughout their careers, have been managed and produced by outstanding horsemen and women.

Among the many stars in the draft, El Carios stands out as especially exciting. A five-year-old gelding by leading French sire No Risk At All, he was a debut point-to-point winner in Ireland, followed by a winning debut under Rules in a bumper at Newbury, before finishing a close fifth, just five lengths behind the winner in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. His most recent outing saw him finish runner-up in a bumper at the Punchestown Festival.

“Noel Fehily and Dave Crosse bought him for me,” recounts Maxwell. “He is a real professional, nothing bothers him, but the moment you ask him to do anything, he gets his racing brain on. A race would like to ride again, because I made a bit of a balls of it, is on him at Punchestown when he was second, he really should have won that day.”

The French-bred Just Ennemi, a five-year-old by Kamsin now in training with Harry Derham, is a dual winner from three starts in France and yet to make his debut in the UK.

“He is what you could call the dark horse,” outlines the owner. “He won his hurdle race in France before we bought him and looked utterly clueless for the first circuit and a half, but then something clicked in his mind, and he sluiced up.

“He was disappointing next time out, but Dominic Bressou’s horses weren’t very well then. We gave him one run in Auteuil before he came over here and he sluiced up again.

“Since then, we have always had this season in mind, so last winter and spring we just let him lob around Harry’s, let him grow and he is now a fine physical specimen. Harry does say that he is best horse in his yard, he calls him Silviano Conti! He is very keen on him and thinks he is a real super star.”

Mondoui’boy, a five-year-old by Castle Du Berlais also in the care of Harry Derham, was runner-up in his point-to-point in Ireland, finished second in a bumper at Sandown Park, and later ran sixth in a competitive bumper at Punchestown in May. Maxwell recalls: “I rode him at Sandown, he hated the ground, was rolling around on it like babies do, but the moment I switched him out on to a better surface, he flew home.”

Maxwell credits the high calibre of horses in his string to the bloodstock agents and horsemen and women he has worked with in recent years.

“A lot of it is due to the advice I have received, and by trying to improve year on year,” he says. “I told agents not to find me a Saturday horse – I love as much going to a Monday Plumpton meeting on my pony – but as you move forward in life, you end up with better and better horses, and you end up at Sandown on a Saturday or Cheltenham on a Friday – and it was the Foxhunters on the Friday, which I was always dreaming about.”

The race-riding dreams have now drawn to a close for the gallant Maxwell, and the late afternoon of 24 October will mark a poignant moment as he closes this chapter of his racing life. Yet, as he himself acknowledges, the racing world moves swiftly on, and for others the occasion presents a unique opportunity to acquire proven horses, fit, well and ready to peak in the season ahead.

Friday, 24 October - 5.30pm, after racing, in the Cheltenham Sale Ring

All lots will be stabled in the Charles Turner Yard and available for inspection from Thursday, 23 October.

For further information, please contact Shirley Anderson-Jolag from the Tattersalls Cheltenham team on +44 7488 708343.

The following horses will remain with their trainers up to the time of sale: Ain’t That A Shame, Just Ennemi, Pookie Holler and Queensbury Boy.

All other lots are available for inspection by appointment with Noel Fehily, who can be contacted on +44 7799 474669.