Jason Watson

[G-G]

No not at all. Really? What kind of logic was behind that decision???? They really have lost the plot.

[barjon]

Yes, officialdom seem to have it in for Watson and I suppose the trainer was collateral damage. Mind you, he was 2lb light and that’s a lot of sweat.

[G-G]

I play badminton with someone who could lose that in a half a game! And that's in an air conditioned sports hall. Under what rule did they fine the trainer? Has to appeal surely. Utterly ridiculous.

[archie]

2lb is more than the leeway that they're allowed and none of the other jockeys lost weight in the race.

The weight was either lost deliberately or accidentally. Either way, between weighing out and weighing in, the saddle is in the care of the trainer and then the jockey. If weight has been 'mislaid', it can be seen as a joint responsibility.

[G-G]

Joke. In usual summer weather in this country, 2lbs may seem excessive but we've been in middle of mini heatwave! If he came back with any weights he went out with, surely? Just 'cos none of the others did.
Run by morons living in the 19th century.

[2017diary]

What do us mere mortals know? The stewards report included this (the bit in italics was what I found especially baffling). Makes you wonder why they spend their time in the sauna when they can go out in 30 degrees, exert energy riding in a race & a finish and still gain weight.

It was noted that despite the warm conditions all other riders that were required to weigh, weighed in either at the same weight, or slightly heavy, but still within the allowable parameters.

I also like the touch "warm conditions"

I don't disagree with what you're saying Archie I just don't like a report reading like it's been written to justify a decision.

[Eleanora Duse]

4 wins in the last 6 days but picks up 8 days of suspension. This lad doesn't make it easy for himself

[Desert Orchid]

Am I missing something? Surely if a rider sweats during a race the vast majority of it is absorbed into his/her clothes rather than evaporating?

It's not as if they weight out and in in the scuddy.

[archie]

Am I missing something? Surely if a rider sweats during a race the vast majority of it is absorbed into his/her clothes rather than evaporating?

It's not as if they weight out and in in the scuddy.

You're missing nothing. You can lose 2lb in a sauna in about 20 minutes. Two and a half minutes in 35 degree temperatures doesn't seem comparable.

2 lbs worth of sweat is about 0.9 litre. Go figure.

[Eleanora Duse]

A treble for Watson at Doncaster yesterday. Will have done his confidence no end of good.

Also seems to have picked up no new suspensions and for the first time in ages is riding on a Monday.

[Eleanora Duse]

I'm not a R Post member. Has anyone seen the interview he's just had with RP?

[barjon]

It was in the 23rd August issue. I can get to it on-line, but I can’t copy it. Anyone know how?

[wilsonl]

He marches into the weighing room at Lingfield like a man on a mission. A few moments later he returns, ready to unpick a turbulent month, one in which he left his job no less but which has been characterised by the way he has bounced back with a hatful of winners.

Jason Watson is certainly a tough cookie. He is also not the only one racing through the turnstiles on a mundane Monday at Lingfield. A stream of trainers and jockey are looking more than a little flustered having battled gridlocked roads on their journey to Surrey and, with time ticking until Watson's first ride of the day, there is not a moment to lose.

"Since the change of direction for me things have been going well," says the rider, straight into his stride. "Winners have been flowing and the rides have been flowing so I couldn't be any happier really.

"It's something that happens to all jockeys. There comes a time when there's always going to be a change of direction and, at the end of the day, all you've got to do is keep working hard, get your head down and do what's right. Hopefully, luck and opportunities come with that."

At the start of last month Watson was still retained rider at the powerful and historic Beckhampton yard of Roger Charlton. The partnership was formed at the end of 2018 when the rider had just been crowned champion apprentice, and started with a bang with a number of high-profile wins in 2019.

At that stage it looked likely the Derby-winning trainer and his young accomplice would forge a long and successful alliance, but the cracks started to appear during a testing 2020 and, with his number of rides for Charlton tapering away to nothing, it was hardly the greatest surprise when they announced on July 21 the partnership was over.

"It was telling, more from the outside I think, that things weren't exactly right," he says. "It was a very mutual finish and it at least opens up more options and leaves me able to venture off and find the winners.

"I'm in that zone now where I know what I need to do and I know where I'm heading. I've just got to keep my head down and keep grafting. It's a clearer path now."

It is hard to imagine a better start to a retainership than the one Watson enjoyed with Charlton. By the end of August 2019 Headman had won two Group 2s in France for the new team, and by the time October was through they had scored at the highest level with Aspetar in Germany and on home soil thanks to Quadrilateral's success in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile. It was the stuff of dreams.

"We were very fortunate in our first season to have the likes of Quadrilateral, Aspetar and Headman," says the 21-year-old. "I rode two Group 1 winners for him that year and as a season as a whole, not just with Beckhampton horses, I had a very good year. In terms of quality, it was probably my best so far.

"I enjoyed riding for Mr Charlton and it was a great learning curve. I was riding for a lot of powerful and well-established owners. To ride the quality of horse they bring to the table was a great honour."

There is certainly a positive shift in Watson's demeanour as we take a quick sprint down memory lane, with Beckhampton's class of 2019 stirring some fond memories.

"Quadrilateral was in a different league to anything else I'd ever sat on," he says. "She gave me a feeling of endless power. It was a shame things didn't work out for her at three, but that's racing.

"I don't think I've sat on a better horse yet than Headman though. I think we were unlucky not to win a Group 1 with him and unfortunately, again, he never had his chance. For me he was a more powerful horse than even Quadrilateral and I really thought he was top drawer."

Quadrilateral's Fillies' Mile win sent her to the top of the market for the following season's 1,000 Guineas, and after such an emphatic start to the rider's new job it would have been inconceivable to think we would be standing here today with Watson stepping out as a freelance rider.

Yet 2020, the most testing 12 months for so many people, was not the year Watson needed to build on 2019's success, and when Charlton's horses failed to find any consistency the foundations started to crumble and pressure began to mount.

Thinking back to the start of that year, he recalls: "I'd not long been back from Australia and actually flew to France and rode a Listed winner for Hugo Palmer. That was a good boost and I thought things were going to go right again and we had a lot to look forward to.

"Then all of sudden Covid hit and everything got stopped and we weren't sure where we were going and what we were doing. It made it difficult for everyone I think and it was a hard winter and a hard time for Beckhampton, as I'm sure it was for a lot of people.

"Both of us hit bad form really and that wasn't unnoticed by everyone, so it made sense to try something different for both parties."

Reflecting on what might have been had Quadrilateral won last year's 1,000 Guineas might seem a little cruel, but surely we would be having a very different conversation had she become a Classic winner. Instead, she finished third as the 11-4 favourite, then filled the same position in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, before Ryan Moore took over from Watson when she was beaten at Group 3 level on her only other start.

"You can only dream what it would have been like," says Watson. "I was looking forward to it and you do think, 'Well, if this comes in where am I going to be?' But it didn't and you've got to look for the next big win and the next superstar.

"People obviously question why and it was a bit of a shock she got beat and how she ran that day. It was disappointing but we later found out she had a few problems and that was that really."

From whichever angle you approach him, Watson never shows even the slightest hint of malice towards Charlton. He clearly learned a great deal from one of racing's great thinkers during their time together and is sure the last three years will prove invaluable during the rest of his career.

"Mr Charlton has obviously got a lot of experience and knows exactly what he's doing," he says. "I learned loads from it and felt as though my riding became better tactically, and my confidence increased. To have the chances I did with him was a great honour.

"He's a calm man and doesn't get too flustered about things – he's very straightforward to work for. We always worked quite well together and saw eye to eye a lot of the time."

He adds: "I think that was reflected in the opportunities I did get for him, but in 2020 and coming into this season things just weren't working out. We all have a job to do and a business to run, and we've all got to do what's best for ourselves, so I think that's the approach we both took.

"There was never a fallout, it just happened and that was it. When we see each other at the races we still have a chat and there's no hard feelings there at all. I'm grateful for the time I had there."

The fact remains Watson was just 18 when he stepped into a high-profile position and, while no graduating apprentice in their right mind would ever turn down such an opportunity, it is natural to wonder if it came too soon in his career.

"It did come as a surprise," he admits. "I'd never actually ridden for Mr Charlton before so it was a big shock. People might say I was a bit young to take the job and maybe I was but, at the same time, it's not like I didn't have any success with him. The experience I gained from it and the opportunities I got from it have helped boost my profile."

The prospect of life as a freelance, battling with the majority of the weighing room for a finite number of rides every day, holds no fears. Watson might be based near Gloucester but he has become an increasing presence in the north and whether it is Thirsk, Doncaster, Pontefract or even Musselburgh, if there are rides available he will be there.

He has certainly found favour with one of the region's most powerful trainers in David O'Meara, who has provided him with six winners from 48 rides this year and is a man any jockey would be delighted to have in their corner.

While there is no official link between the pair, the fact 11 of Watson's last 20 rides have been for the North Yorkshire trainer tells its own story.

"I'm just riding a lot for him and there's not really more to add than that," he says. "It's a big help and he's obviously got a big stable. I'm happy to go wherever – send me to the moon if you want as long as I'm getting the rides and the winners."

Going freelance has also allowed him to rekindle his link with Andrew Balding, who is chasing his first trainers' title this year and was instrumental in helping Watson take the apprentice crown in 2018.

"I rode for Andrew in Qatar over the winter and it kind of renewed a connection, which is great," he says. "It's not like we ever lost contact but I had my own job. He's a top-drawer trainer and having one of the best seasons he's ever had. He has a lot of jockeys, but he has a hell of a lot of horses too, so anything I can pick up from there is a bonus.

"I ride out for Andrew once a week now and also try to get down to David Menuisier in Pulborough. He's a very good trainer, a very clever man and he's going to go places."

He might be only 21 but Watson, who can usually be found in the gym when he's not on course or riding work in the morning, has almost been fast-tracked through the ups and downs of a career in the saddle and his past tribulations seem to have fostered an inner strength that has helped keep him focused over the past month.

At the start of 2019, just two weeks after securing the top job at Beckhampton, he suffered serious injuries when breaking his back in a fall at Kempton. Before that, with just one career win to his name, he had to wait 200 days before the second one arrived, but he overcame both those knocks and is well on his way to putting his latest setback behind him.

"I'm lucky enough to have a very supporting family, supportive friends and great people who have helped me out along the way," he says. "A lot has happened and I think you have to grow up fast in this game. I'd like to think I've probably dealt with it okay. You can always do better but I'm still very fortunate to be in the position I am and hopefully it can go only one way."

Thanks to his ties with the likes of O'Meara, Balding and Menuisier, it should perhaps not be surprising the man answering the questions, even after a torrid trip to Lingfield, is in a positive frame of mind.

He also has the added insurance policy of agent Tony Hind booking his rides. Hind made it his business to get Watson on his books when he was an unsigned apprentice and no-one in racing gets more pleasure out of winning than the kingmaker agent, who has guided Ryan Moore, Richard Hughes and Jim Crowley to the jockeys' title.

"You're looking for people who are going to get you to the places you want to be and Tony Hind is going to be a big help and it's great to be part of his team," says Watson.

"We had a discussion about it [the split with Charlton] and he kept it quite simple, in terms of it being the end to a chapter and now we've got to work on the next one."

Watson points to the big stage rather than the title as the thing that motivates him most and his determination to achieve his ambitions has been ramped up a notch.

"I want to be up there with the likes of Will Buick, James Doyle, Ryan Moore and Frankie Dettori," he says. "They're the big names in the game and the ones always being called up because they've ridden Group 1 winners all over the world.

"That's what I want to do and that's where I want to be. I want to be champion jockey as well but, for me, the significance of winning bigger races is more my mindset. I will do whatever it takes to get to where I want to get. That's the type of person I am and that will never change."

[Eleanora Duse]

thanks