Teenage jockey who paid tribute to his late mum after famous Exeter win set for biggest ride of his career at Cheltenham

TEENAGE jockey Freddie Gingell paid tribute to his late mum after riding a big winner at Exeter last week.

And this weekend he will head to Cheltenham for a huge ride in one of the most prestigious jump races of the winter.

Gingell, 17, tragically lost him mum, Kim, to cancer in 2020.

She was the sister to trainer Joe Tizzard and the daughter to the now-retired Colin Tizzard.

It has been a very difficult few years for young Gingell, but he has let his riding do the talking and last Friday rode Elixir Du Nutz to win the Grade 2 Haldon Gold Cup for his uncle.

After winning the race, he remembered his late mum and said: "She would be proud."

He has also been catching the eye of champion trainer Paul Nicholls, who has been giving him opportunities in the saddle over the past 12 months.

And on Saturday, Nicholls will leg him up on Il Ridoto, who is an 8-1 shot with the bookies for the £160,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

The historic race is one of the biggest handicaps of the season, only behind the Grand National and Coral Gold Cup in terms of significance.

Gingell said: “Paul said to me after the Haldon Gold Cup that I’ve got a nice one for you on Saturday.

"It gave me a right buzz being told that I was going to ride Il Ridoto just after winning the Haldon Gold Cup. The day just got better and better. 

“He is a good honest horse and he will give me a real good spin around Cheltenham. He was pulled up over the Grand National fences on his last start, but this will be much more to his liking.

“Paul has got Stage Star in the race as well so he has a couple of big chances in it. He was fourth in the race last year when Harry (Cobden) rode him but with that weight I can claim off his back hopefully he will go even closer this year. 

“I sat on him once last week and hopefully I will get to school him once or twice this week just to get to know him a bit more and go from there. 

“He is quite low in the handicap and with my claim off his back I think he has a massive chance.

“The Haldon Gold Cup was big but the Paddy Power Gold Cup is even bigger again. Thanks go to the owners and Paul for letting me have the ride and hopefully I can reward them.”

He added: “The last few years haven’t been the easiest, but things are now starting to go right.  

“It is a lot better having my own set of wheels as I can go racing by myself now. A big thanks goes to my dad though who has been driving me around. 

“I’m excited at the moment as everything is going so well and I’m on a real high so I can’t wait, but I’d say by Friday the nerves will be slowly kicking in. 

“It was nice to win a race like the Haldon Gold Cup with my uncle Joe and grandad Colin, but it would be nice to get a big one for Paul now.”

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