Bringing up 2000 winners at Goodwood on Sunday, 2016 Champion Jockey Jim Crowley joined an illustrious circle of jockeys to achieve such a feat.
Most will know Crowley as the superbly talented flat jockey retained by Hamdan Al Maktoum, but that is a much later chapter in the story. Prior to his huge success on the level, Crowley was a successful journeyman in the jump’s sphere, collecting 253 victories over obstacles.
His biggest day came when landing the 2005 Lanzarote on Crossbow Creek, but Crowley’s best days were yet to come. It would be 2006, where he moved across codes to join the flat, that proved to be a career-defining decision.
Enjoying a quite remarkable 2020, this year has been a perfect reminder of just how talented Crowley is. Winning six at Royal Ascot, Crowley has enjoyed a pair of Group 1s in the form of the Sussex and Nunthorpe Stakes this term.
Notching up 1,747 victories thus far on the level, he’s enjoyed fourteen Group 1 successes in total, the first being aboard Lord Shanakill in the 2016 Prix Jean Prat for Karl Burke. He was crowned Champion Jockey in 2016 and that remains his biggest career success to date.
His 148 winners that term landed him the gig that propelled him into the stratosphere. Crowley took the job as the retained rider for Hamdan Al Maktoum just one month later. Eight of those top-level successes have come in those famous blue and white silks.
Crowley will always be best known for his partnership with the “Batmobile”, Battaash. On board for all four of Battaash’s Group 1 victories, the pair have become part of the furniture at Glorious Goodwood. Nothing up four victories in the King George Stakes, history could beckon in 2021.
Goodwood is Crowley’s local track and it was only fitting to land his 2000th aboard a Hamdan Al Maktoum owned horse at the Sussex venue. Facile doesn’t come close to describing it, as Modmin only needed a hand ride from Crowley to blast clear.
Having one of his most successful seasons since his 2016 title, Crowley isn’t ruling out the potential of 3000. On his plans, Crowley said: “It’s not impossible (the next 1,000). It might seem a long way away now, but so did 2,000, so did 1,000. We’ll keep batting away and see where we end up“.
With the 2000 winner’s circle also containing Richard Johnson, Joe Fanning, Ryan Moore and Jamie Spencer, Crowley certainly isn’t out of place in such illustrious company.