Bryony Frost on Saturday became the first female jockey to win the King George VI Chase after riding a sublime tactical race on Frodon to give trainer Paul Nicholls a 12th success in the race.
The 25-year-old led from start to finish on the 20/1 outsider with whom she also enjoyed a landmark Grade One success at the Cheltenham Festival last year.
“I have just won the King George,” a tearful Frost said. “I had absolutely the best time on him [Frodon]. He has just smashed everyone’s expectations. I don’t argue with him too much as he is his own personality.”
Photo: AP
“I cannot stress how much this horse means to me — he is my life. You dream as a little girl to ride a horse like this,” she said.
Success in the race — worth £113,000 (US$151,205) to the winner and considered second only to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in terms of prestige — also makes Frost the most successful female jockey over jumps.
“I talked to my brother in the United States last night and I said I was one away from being the woman jockey with the most winners over jumps,” Frost said. “He said: ‘How cool would it be to do it in the King George?’”
Photo: AP
Frodon was the least fancied of Nicholls’ four runners with Clan des Obeaux, bidding for a third successive win in the race, finishing third.
Cyrname, who vied for favoritism in the group, ran a dreadful race and was pulled up in the finishing straight, as was another Nicholls runner, Real Steel.
The aptly named Waiting Patiently came like a train under champion jockey Brian Hughes after the last of the 18 fences, but Frost and Frodon managed to hold on, winning by two-and-one-fourth lengths.
Nicholls watched the race from the Royal Box — empty of its usual occupants, who like the rest of the usual 20,000 crowd at Kempton Park had to stay away due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and pumped his fist in celebration.
He had commented ahead of the race that he did not see Frodon as a contender, but conceded after his unexpected victory that the horse was a quirky character.
“I wasn’t expecting that, although he’s a very good horse on his day and loves it round here,” Nicholls told broadcaster ITV.
“I said to Bryony: ‘Go as quick as you can and just keep galloping, you know he’s tough and brave,’” he said.
The 58-year-old Englishman said Clan des Obeaux had run “flat.” As for Cyrname, Nicholls believed the horse had gone into a sulk when he did not get his way.
“Cyrname seemed to spit the dummy out when he got dropped in behind and probably likes to dominate, but this horse [Frodon] keeps going a gallop and never knows when he’s beat,” he said.
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