Jump Jockey Richard Johnson is the latest sporting hero to become a Patron of Tickets For Troops, supporting Britain’s servicemen and women.
With every racecourse in Britain joining forces to donate over 30,000 free tickets to racedays across the country, Gold Cup-winning jockey Richard Johnson has shown his support for the initiative in becoming racing’s first Tickets For Troops Patron.
Runner-up to the exceptional AP McCoy in the National Jump Jockey Championship for the last 15 years, Richard reached the impressive landmark to join just a handful of racing greats to have ridden 2,000 winners, in November last year. His first success came in April 1994, aged just 16 aboard Rusty Bridge, bred and trained by his grandfather Keith Johnson.
Winner of some of racing’s greatest prizes, Richard’s career successes include The Queen Mother Champion Chase, The Champion Hurdle and The Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2000, aboard Looks Like Trouble, trained by his father-in-law Noel Chance.
Arguably the greatest British jockey never to have won the season’s championship, Richard is one of only two jockeys riding today to have won all four of Cheltenham’s major races.
Joining sporting legends such as Lawrence Dallaglio, Steven Gerrard and Dame Kelly Holmes, as a Tickets For Troops Patron, Richard said:
“I am absolutely thrilled at the level of support that British Horseracing has shown to Tickets for Troops, even more so to play a personal role in backing this initiative. Hopefully this pledge from so many kind supporters goes some way to showing our brave service men and women how much we appreciate the incredible work that they do every day on our behalf.”
Tickets for Troops spokesperson, Raleigh Addington commented:
“We are delighted that such an esteemed sportsman as Richard has offered to lend his support to Tickets for Troops and we welcome him as one of our Patrons. It means a lot to our troops to receive this level of personal support and hopefully a number of them will be able to look forward to meeting Richard at the racecourse.”
For further information on the nationwide racecourse involvement, please contact Kelly Barnes, Promotions Assistant at the British Horseracing Authority, on 020 7152 0164 or email her at [email protected].
