National treasure

IT has been said that Sam Waley-Cohen has something of the young Mick Jagger about him – the same rock star facial features, highoctane energy and breathtaking charisma.

 

No doubt he can sing a bit too but as he celebrates his 40th birthday the emphasis is on his spectacular achievements as an amateur jockey.

 

In April he marked his retirement from racing by winning the Grand National, the first amateur to do so in more than 30 years.

 

The only amateur in the race, his win at 50-1 on the novice Noble Yeats – bought only in February by his racehorse trainer father Robert – was a fairytale ending to a glittering career in the saddle.

 

He was already well-known in racing circles for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2011, notching up another first in three decades, and finishing runner-up in the Grand National in the same year.

 

Some might think that’s enough success for one person in one year but Sam didn’t leave it at that.

 

He was also nominated as the Spears young entrepreneur of the year thanks to the success of his chain of dental practices.

 

He had set up Portman Dentalcare just two years earlier and by 2020 it had expanded to more than 160 practices - there’s one in Reading

Road, Henley - and now has spread across Europe with a total of more than 250.

 

You really couldn’t invent such a remarkable success story. Known also for his habit of arriving at races at the controls of his own helicopter, Sam modestly attributes his racing achievements to the partnership with his dad.

 

He says: “I’ve been so spoiled and so lucky and it has been great doing it with dad. It has been wonderful. We’ve been a real partnership.

 

“I’ve had some incredible days, more than I could ever have hoped to imagine. I’m going to miss it hugely but there are plenty of other things going on in my life.”

 

He’s not kidding. Not only can he claim to be the most successful amateur jockey of all time, his royal connections also credit him with being the friend who encouraged Prince William and Kate Middleton get back together after their temporary split in 2007.

 

In fact the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were among the first to tweet their congratulations to their friend on his Grand National victory.

 

Sam is also a father of three with wife Annabel and the family split their time between Oxfordshire and London.

 

But, as with many fairy tales, there is a background of sadness to his success. Sam has the initials of his younger brother Thomas stitched into his saddle ever since his death from bone cancer eight years ago.

 

He says: “His diagnosis in 1995 was a terrible blow but it seemed treatable. He had incredible get up and go, he was extremely cheeky and lovable and because of his illness teachers found it hard to tell him off.

 

He never complained but when the cancer returned for the third time in his late teens we all knew that it was not going to end well.”

 

Sam is now celebrity ambassador for the Bone Cancer Research Trust and after his Grand National victory he said: “Thomas was riding with me.”