I raced in the Grand National, but these days I’m at Cheltenham in a completely different job
EVERY army marches on its belly.
And the troops at Cheltenham will be fed and watered by top amateur jockey turned racecourse chief Mark Low.
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Our galloping gourmet has more energy than a Duracell rabbit and a racing man through and through.
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“I grew up in a village called Mathon, just outside Malvern,” he said.
“My father, Michael, had a construction company and was friends with a farmer-trainer, Gordon Price.
“Gordon and his family were known for producing all those beautiful horses with the suffix ‘Dove’.
“They had that great mare Flakey Dove who won the Champion Hurdle.
“Anyway, Dad trained point-to-pointers and did very well as a licensee while a chap called George Jones rode.”
Meanwhile, Mark started his own career in the saddle with a new face.
He added: “We have bought a fantastic pony from Terry Biddlecombe’s family. I couldn’t hold on to one side of him, but he jumped over the head and really got me going.
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‘Around the same time Dad was doing well with a horse called Norwell, which he bought from Mick Easterby. He was my first winner – on my first ride – in point-to-points.
“I was barely old enough to compete at the time – I weighed 3.5kg dripping wet after a big breakfast.
“I needed a JCB to help me carry the saddle to the weighing room after he won!
“The publicity I got from that was amazing and I wanted to become a jump jockey.
“So Dad sent some horses to Fred Rimell – a legend of a trainer – and I started working there while I was still in school.”
And Mark received a university education at Fred’s five-star academy.
“What a team they had there,” he remembers, “Terry Biddlecombe was stable jockey, Nigel Twiston-Davies rode as amateur number one and Kim Bailey was assistant trainer.
“It was a real who’s who. I took my first ride for Mr. Rimell on a horse named Sir Gale at Warwick. He had a lead and would have won with an obstacle, but for me he fell off at the end!
“I had three brilliant years there before moving to Michael Scudamore and then Bob Champion. I’ve ridden at least 60 or 70 winners and was always in the top three or four of the amateurs.
“I did a lot of runs at the festival and finished in the Champion Chase and County Hurdle. Not bad when you’re up against big players like Oliver Sherwood, Tim Thomson Jones and Jim Wilson!”
But Mark had his day in the sun much closer to home thanks to a horse.
He said: “My proudest moment was riding Mum and Dad’s beautiful horse called Choral Festival in the Grand National. And it was no ordinary National – this was 1981, the year of Aldaniti and all.
“Choral was an absolute superstar and never let us down. I was ecstatic when he qualified for the National – fresh out of school and riding in the biggest race in the world! It’s the equivalent of a football-mad kid playing in the cup final.”
And Mark got some smart advice from a racing legend on the big day.
“John Francome and Steve Smith-Eccles were fantastic with me,” he recalls.
“They were my heroes, so it was actually incredible. Anyway, I arrived in Aintree early and bumped into John.
“He asked if I had run the course. I told him I planned to do it later. He looked me in the eye and said, ‘Don’t bother. . . you will ruin yourself’!
“That stopped me. But John explained that if I had enough confidence in my horse, it was best to go indoors, where the drops were greatest and there would be plenty of daylight.
“A few minutes later Dad came in and asked if I wanted to walk around the track with him.
“John’s words were still ringing in my ears, so I told a white lie and said I’d already been there!”
And what a turn Mark had at the big fences of Aintree.
“I knew Choral was going to jump,” he said, “so I went in and walked around until he got tired. To be honest, I probably overdid it a bit. . . but what an experience.
“I was only 17 – I think that still makes me the youngest post-war jockey to ride in the National.”
But time marches on and Mark had to hang up his pants in the late 1980s when the opportunity no longer presented itself.
He said: ‘I’ve had a tough few years trying to build a future for myself.
“Then one day I was shopping with my daughter Ellie when a lady I knew came up and asked how work was going.
“It was quiet at the time, so she told me to call Warren O’Connor, the regional chef at the Cheltenham Jockey Club.
“He took me under his wing and taught me everything I know, from peeling upwards. Warren is now as much my friend as my boss and, along with Paul Holliday and Allen Townsend, has helped me enormously.”
Mark came full circle when he swapped his saddle for a steamboat six years ago and started running the canteen for the stable boys and girls in Cheltenham.
And there is no one better qualified for this job.
He said: “When it comes to being a stable boy, I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt. I know exactly what they want and I like to take care of them; the boys, girls and box drivers are my gang.
“We must remember that without their hard work no race would be possible.”
Mind you, Mark’s Cheltenham week is hardly a happy one with Mary Berry.
He said: “For me the festival doesn’t start on Tuesday. I will be there as soon as the long distance travelers arrive, cooking hot meals and making sure everyone is well taken care of.
“I start work at five in the morning and am still there at nine in the evening.
“I prepare 600 meals a day and enjoy every second; it’s the best week of the year! The Jockey Club are great people to work for and this is my passion.
“And when the long-distance runners go home, I make sure they all have a ‘grab and go’ bag to take with them.
‘That will be a sandwich, cake, pie, chips, bottle of soft drink, fruit…’ . . whatever they want.
‘It’s a serious joke. But when the thank yous come in from people like Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead, every breakfast, lunch and dinner is worth it.”
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