HORSE RACING: Carl's form is very good

'A GOOD performance by Champagne Prince, an even better one from Carl Lowther' writes BRIAN DOOGAN.

Former champion jockey John Francombe's words were spoken to Channel Four's racing audience as the dust settled on the race leading in to this year's Derby.

They could have been repeated countless times since that June day on Epsom Downs.

After taking six years to ride seven winners, Lowther has had 26 more in just two months.

And he is eager to add to that tally when he is reunited with Champagne Prince in the Ebor meeting tomorrow at York, one of the premier events in the racing calendar.

It is a dramatic transformation in fortune for the apprentice jockey from Blackburn whose talent impressed another former champion jockey at the weekend.

Willie Carson now commentates on horse racing for the BBC after a lifetime of success in the saddle.

They say that what he doesn't know about horses isn't worth knowing and, as a multiple Classic winner, he knows a thing or two about the men who ride them. When Lowther steered 11-1 shot Young Precedent to victory in the Andover Rated Stakes Handicap at Newbury Carson enthused: "He did really well.

"He changed his hands at the right time and he got hold of its head. He's a good lad, a very promising boy.

"Jack Berry will almost have as many apprentices as he has jockeys if he goes on like this."

Berry is the revered horse trainer from Cockerham who has guided Lowther's career and those of a host of young apprentices.

The 23-year-old joined Berry when he was 16 and, according to Carson, "could improve into something".

"He's a young lad who looks like he could become something," Carson said exclusively to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

"Jack Berry's got a lot of good kids at the moment and they're all chatting to one another, 'Did you see how so-and-so did - isn't he doing well?'

"And so there's competition between them.

"And competition is always a good motivator.

"At the moment Lowther is very, very good value for his 5lbs claim (a system whereby until an apprentice jockey has ridden 50 winners, he can claim 5lbs off the weight the horse is officially supposed to carry).

"The immediate future is promising. Beyond that, we don't really know."

Lowther has an idea of what he would like to achieve in the game that integrates cloth caps and silk caps and, if you're not careful, burns an equally uncomfortable hole in the pockets of both.

But he is modest and quiet, not prone to grandiose boasts. "I'm just trying to get on and the winners are a big relief," he told me between races yesterday at Windsor where two rides yielded a fifth place finish and an ugly last on the unfancied Zeptepi which ran to form.

Carson would endorse Carl's tendency to keep his feet in the stirrups when they are not on the ground for there are plenty of pitfalls between the level he is at and the stage he aspires to.

"It's very difficult - a lot don't do it," said Carson.

"A lot fall by the wayside. I haven't really seen enough of him to make a final judgement but my advice to him, or any young jockey, would be to work hard, to watch and to try to learn.

"Try to copy someone of similar build.

"When I was an apprentice we were only allowed 40 winners before we lost our allowance.

"Now they're allowed 95 winners below the age of 25 so they're acquiring knowledge for longer.

"This is an advantage and he should make the most of it."

Whatever the similarities in stature, if Lowther studies the tenacity, dedication and horsemanship of Carson, he will be halfway there in a hurry.

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