As part of our exclusive partnership with Bryony Frost, this is the home for all the amazing insight that Bryony provides. She'll be guiding us through different tracks that she's raced, looking at the biggest meets in the sport and providing a regular column to give you an idea of her day-to-day life as one the best jockeys in the world.
There's so many more pieces to the puzzle than just me and Frodon. There's a whole team obsessing over him to make sure that he can be the best that he can be. His owners the Vogt family, his multiple champion trainer Paul Nicholls, Holly Evans who rides him every day, Michelle who cares for him on the ground, Clifford the head lad overseeing his health every day, even the fans that roar him home in a race. It's an elaborate, complicated puzzle and I'm lucky that I can be a piece that fits in.
If Frodon was a person everybody would want to talk to him. You can feel his vibes and you get positivity off of him. He lets you feel indestructible and lets you forget the world. You get into that groove, that blissful motion unlike anything else.
As a jockey you can sometimes be associated with one horse and to have a horse like Frodon, at this stage in my career, is phenomenal. That's down to Paul. He has trained me to be the jockey I am and given me the opportunities to achieve for his owners and horses.
That support is great to have in any walk of life. Your confidence is heightened because Paul feels you're capable of riding a horse of his potential and you just grab that opportunity.
Behind the scenes Frodon is like a perfect clock, never out of time or sync. Holly rides him every day and knows him so well, and we chat regularly about him. You don't predict you'll remain in a partnership with one horse as weights and days change – he may need claiming weight off or you may be needed at a different track – but Paul has kept me with him and we've been reaching higher heights together every season.
With Frodon it's been smooth sailing from the off, but that's because I do what I'm told. There is no arguing with him, he calls the shots. I see my job as giving my horse the best chance in a race that I can give him, you never make a horse join you, you join them.
Frodon's not one who goes unseen in the yard, you definitely notice him. He makes a fuss and squeals and lets everyone know he's present. There's a few people who used to work with him in France when he was young and said he was an absolute hooligan. He's boisterous and playful, setting off strings and kicking doors – if you're not concentrating he'll undo your zip or rip your coat. He's the boss, 100%.
When I was an amateur, in my first season, I never sat on him, but I'd watch him. He's one of those horses that you see and think: "Oh wow, I'd love to ride him", and at that stage of my career I didn't think that was possible.
I don't recall the exact time I sat on him, but I remember the feelings. You start to dangerously allow yourself to get excited. There could be a tiny chance that you might be able to ride him in a race, but you don't run away with the idea.
He wasn't winning Grade 1 races at the time, but he was clearly so special, jumping fences at four, the general persona that he gave off. You have such admiration for him. He's an unbelievable athlete. He's not huge, he's not flashy, he's not in your face, but his character makes up for all of that.
When a race isn't working – maybe they are getting stuck in soft ground or the pace is too strong – you look after them, that's our job. They're not machines, they're not predictable, and that's why they're wonderful. Our job is to win races, but it's also to look after them so that they can win when it's right for them.
Even if it's a small thing, little memories are what it's about. One day before pulling out for exercise it had snowed, he came darting out of his stable and stuck his nose straight in the snow. You knew he'd been waiting to do it. It's not just the big days of racing with him that create life-long memories, it's the small ones, and I hope everyone has those characters in their life.
His determination, his wit, the cock of his head, that's what makes him good.
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