BEN Curtis has come a long way.

A long way since he was sat on a school bus and in a panic to fulfil a school work experience assignment, he asked his friend Conor Murphy, a nephew of trainer John Murphy, to put a call in to see if he could complete his assignment in the yard.

A long way since he fought out the Irish apprentice title with Gary Carroll and Joseph O’Brien, all three finishing in a dead heat in 2010.

A long way since he moved over to Britain to ride for the late Alan Swinbank and rode seven winners from 73 rides.

Last year he rode 170 winners from 1038 rides. No jockey rode more winners in the calendar year. He won the all-weather championship, finished fifth in the overall championship, rode his first Royal Ascot winner on Dandalla and rode in the Derby for the first time.

All of that success was a likely stimulus for Mark Johnston when he approached the Cork native to see if he could establish a link with him for the 2021 season and beyond.

And now, with the British flat jockeys’ championship beginning today (running until British Champions Day, October 16th) Ben Curtis is one of the main players, his odds tumbling down to 4/1 in what looks like a wide open race.

He has been endorsed by a number of people, not least Mick Kinane who knew Curtis from when they were both at John Oxx’s and described him as a jockey with “an unbelievable work ethic.”

Needless to say, the 32-year-old is relishing the challenge of clocking up the winners and motorway miles in pursuit of champion status.

“I had a good chat with the agent as I always do and I think we were both of the belief that we’re going to put the head down and try and ride as many winners as possible,” Curtis says, while travelling home from Nottingham on Tuesday.

“It’s all well and good saying, I’m going to wait until Goodwood and make a decision from there but every year, irregardless if I’m 5/1 or 500/1 for the championship, I’m still trying to ride as many winners as possible so that won’t change.

“We’ll put our head down, go wherever we can go to get winners and get on as many horses with chances as we can. Then I do think once you get to Goodwood, you can get a feel of whether you’re in contention or not.

“But do you know what? I think it’s going to be a great championship this year. There are some brilliant riders out there that will be going for it. Oisín (Murphy) and (William) Buick, they’ve got massive support behind them.

“Hollie Doyle is just riding winners everywhere she goes and Tom Marquand is making a big impact. I think there’s a few outside of the top of the betting that could make a big shake of it to. It’ll all make for good viewing.”

It was towards the end of January that Curtis was contacted by Johnston to come up and have a chat. The Scotsman, the most prolific flat trainer ever in Britain, in many ways is a perfect fit for Curtis.

“Mark said that he hasn’t had a stable jockey since Kevin Darley in 2006 but that they had a lot of horses and if you put us as priority we’ll do the same,” Curtis recalls. “I had a little time to think about it and spoke to my agent Simon Dodds and a few people around me but in the end I think it would have been very silly to turn that opportunity down.

“For an operation that size, with that much ammunition, churning out winners from sellers all the way up to Group 1s on a yearly basis, it was an easy decision in the end.”

Background

Curtis only sat on a racehorse for the first time at the age of 14. He comes from a non-racing background but hard work was instilled in him. It was well-known bloodstock agent Aidan Murphy, father of trainer Olly, who first spotted him riding at John Murphy’s yard and suggested it would be a good experience for him to go over and work for his wife Annabel King.

After protracted negotiations with his parents, he moved over to Warwickshire and says he “progressed enormously as a rider” there before coming back to work with Ruaidhri Tierney, who operates as a jockeys’ agent now but at the time had a string of about 10 horses. It was for Tierney that he had his first winner, Always On Top in an apprentice handicap at Gowran Park.

Ben Curtis, Joseph O'Brien and Gary Caroll after they shared the apprentice jockeys' championship with 39 winners each in 2010 \ carolinenorris.ie

He moved back to John Murphy’s after and then on to the Curragh where he operated as a freelance and got support from Liam McAteer and Tom McCourt. After speaking with Fran Berry and Mick Kinane, Curtis approached John Oxx to seek advice about his next step and soon after was asked to come and sign on as stable apprentice at Currabeg.

Unsurprisingly, he has only praise and good will to project towards John and Caitriona Oxx.

“If anyone asks me about John Oxx, both as a boss and an individual person, he was an absolute gentleman,” Curtis says. “He always made sure I was kept on the straight and narrow, he always gave me a leg up and a chance when he could.

“In terms of general life, but John and his wife Caitriona, they were brilliant for me. They always said, whatever you do with your money, buy a house, get on the property ladder. That’s something I’ve kept with me now and property is something I could see myself doing after racing.

“I just think they were able to put a cap on me and make sure that I kept straight and in between the lines which is what you want from any boss at that age.”

Move over

Curtis rode over 152 winners in Ireland in all but in 2012 his curve had a pyramid shape and he was coming down on the wrong side. It was his current agent Simon Dodds who contacted him about moving over to Britain.

“The late Alan Swinbank, god rest him, was looking for a jockey that he could use on a consistent basis and Simon asked would I fancy flying in and out and giving it a go, on a trial basis,” Curtis explains.

“It’s a very tough move. You’re leaving everything you’ve known behind you. I’d worked very hard to get to where I was in Ireland and I was still getting plenty of rides but my progress had just plateaued a little bit. I’ve always been very ambitious and I knew I wouldn’t be happy just accepting that I was doing a job. I wanted more.

Dandalla and Ben Curtis winning The Albany Stakes Royal Ascot 19.6.2020 Photo Healy Racing.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’ve always lived by that. Don’t ever regret the decisions you make, regret the ones you don’t. It was either sit there and accept that you’re going to float on by and make a comfortable living or try and progress and achieve something.”

In the north of England, Curtis quickly displayed the hardworking reputation that had served him so well in Ireland. After deciding to commit to Britain after that first year, his progress has been unrelenting, posting a new best total of winners every year since his first season. His willingness to do the hard miles, quite literally, has been a career staple.

Take this week for example. Quick calculations using Google Maps show that Curtis had and eight-hour round-trip to Ayr on Monday for four rides. It was a four-hour round trip to Nottingham on Tuesday for six rides. Eight hours again on Wednesday up and back to Ascot for three rides. Just the hour and 20 mins to Redcar for four rides on Thursday but then six and a half hours up and back to Musselburgh for four rides yesterday.

“You don’t think about it,” he asserts. “I always say that in racing. It’s like a numbers game. If you get up in the morning and think ‘Jesus I’ve got 500 miles to travel’ and you go into it with that mindset, you’re going to struggle to get through it. I think if you just have to get into a rhythm and roll with it.

“I used to do a lot of the driving myself but I’m lucky this year, I’ve a lad called Kevin who is driving for me. It makes some difference – just to be able to get your head down for two hours when on your way to the races, to be able ring trainers or to look at form rather than doing it when you get to the races.”

Even though Curtis now has a much sought after link with Mark Johnston, he continues to ride out as much as he can for any trainer he can. He talks about the importance of keeping those links up, not resting on his laurels and just making sure his name is still out there, his face still recognisable when trainers are jocking up at declaration time.

“My dad has always worked hard,” he answers when asked about where he developed such a work ethic. “When I started out, none of my family were in anyway involved in racing, so I think everything from the start was an uphill battle.

“Ireland is very hard to get going in. Some of the best jockeys in the world are there. Everything you do, you have to work twice as hard, just to get the leg up. There was better riders out there than me, all the way from day one. I think you’ve got to put in twice the work to get the leg up on horses which is something I’ve always done.

“Even now, when things are going well, I’ve had 100s of winners, and it’s just something I’ve always known. I don’t think about it, I just put the head down and keep going.”

Social media

And while Curtis pursues the championship this season, anyone can track his journey along the way because he is part of a growing number of jockeys who use a media company as a promotional tool.

“Do you know a lot of people say: ‘Ah I don’t know why they do it,’ but I see it as a great way to promote racing,” he explains. “I’ve a media crowd behind me, M3 media, who have myself, Oisín Murphy and Tom Marquand.

“I’ve watched that Drive To Survive programme on Netflix, and I think racing could take a leaf out of that book. I don’t think people do enough in racing to promote it to the public, to get new people into the sport. Social media is a great way of getting things out there, getting new people involved and the more people that do it, the better.”

Anyone who already follows Curtis on social media will know how close he is to his family – wife Shauna who travelled over with him to Britain and their baby boy Brodi. He says time spent with them both and his two dogs at home is his switch-off, crucial to his own mental health with all the hours on the road and furlongs ridden.

“Brodi wants to be a jockey but I’m going to feed him up so he can’t. No one realises how hard a jockey’s life is. He doesn’t realise either so I’m going to feed him up so he can’t do the weight. The only problem is that if I feed him too much he might want to be a jumps jockey which is even scarier!

“I think it’s very important to come back and switch off here – different people do different things – I like to have a beer, put on the barbeque, spend time with the family and the dogs.

“I’d say I’m well settled here but don’t get me wrong, if I wasn’t doing this job, I’d move home tomorrow. It’s the racing that makes it. It’s 24/7. There’s never a time when you get bored. I enjoy the rhythm and enjoy how busy it is.

“I like the fact that when you get to the end of the season and you’ve ridden 170 winners, that would be nigh on impossible for someone in Ireland. I like the fact that you can just keep extending your goals and trying to achieve new things whereas if I was back there, it’s a closed shop really.

“So I’ve made the best home I can here, I’ve got my wife and my little lad, and two dogs and that’s pretty much all I need.”

A champion jockey title would be nice as well and one thing is for certain, it won’t be for a lack of effort if he comes up short.