Tom Scudamore Keeping The Grand National In The Family
For jockey Tom Scudamore – riding in the Grand National is almost a birthright. Tom has an incredible family tradition to live up to, though emulating his father’s achievements in the greatest race of all hopefully won’t be part of it. That’s because Peter’s Father won just about every honour National Hunt racing has to offer – but Grand National success always eluded him.
So far, Tom is following in his father’s footsteps both in terms of his personal success and his lack of National success. Tom has ridden in the Grand National a total of nine times, but so far his best performance has been eighth; not good for a man from a family so used to racing success and those who use in play betting may be reluctant to back him.
Tom, who was born a month after National favourite Grittar triumphed in the 1982 race, is the third generation of Scudamores to ride in the National and started riding when he was just two years of age!
His famous grandfather Michael Scudamore rode Oxo to victory in the 1959 Grand National, while his father Peter rode a total of 1,678 winners in a long and distinguished 15-year National Hunt career – though, as we know, he never won a National. Peter is third on the list of most successful jump jockeys of all time; only Richard Dunwoody and A P McCoy have ridden more winners. However, as McCoy himself will testify Grand National racing is a different cup of tea altogether.
Tom became a professional jockey when he was 20 with Martin Pipe’s stable, but also maintained close links with Nigel Twiston-Davies’ yard. He rode in his first Grand National 2001 on Northern Starlight and was the youngest rider in the race – as he was again the following year.
Tom is widely recognised as one of the top jump jockeys in the country and in March 2007 he was made number one jockey to David Pipe. In the 2009 National, he rode Battle Cry, managing to finish the course, but well down the field finishing 16th overall.
Age is still Tom’s side. Let’s hope his National record skips one generation only and that Tom can get a National under his belt for the famous Scudamore jump-racing dynasty.
