The old adage, ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’ is not always correct but, in the summer of 1998, it certainly was. The previous year, Puerto Rican-born Angel Jacobs had begun riding work on Newmarket Heath and quickly attracted favourable attention for his accomplished, professional technique. Jacobs subsequently embarked on a career as an amateur jockey, riding his first winner, Bold Faith, trained by Willie Musson, in a lowly Class E handicap, restricted to gentleman amateur riders, at Newbury on June 11, 1998. All told, he rode five winners from 21 rides, at a strike rate of 24%, culminating in victory for Gymcrak Flyer, trained by Gordon Holmes, in a similar race at Beverley on August 13.
Holmes said later that he considered Jacobs ‘a very good amateur to use’ and he was right, insofar as ‘Jacobs’ was, in fact, was former American professional jockey Angel Monserrate. Investigation by the British Amateur Jockeys’ Association revealed that Monserrate had ridden professionally in the United States before being banned after failing a drugs test in 1995. The following year, he adopted the pseudonym ‘Carlos Castro’ and began riding as an amateur, but he was exposed as an imposter by a former employer at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York after riding a winner, arrested and taken away in handcuffs.
Once his latest attempt at subterfuge was revealed, the Jockey Club took a dim view of his actions, disqualifying all five of his winners on the grounds that he was ineligible for races restricted to amateur riders, suspending his licence with immediate effect and later, banning him for ten years. Following his hearing at Portman Square, Monserrate declined to comment but, speaking on his behalf, his wife, Lisa, said later, ‘He just loves riding racehorses and was desperate to carry on. In amateur races he gets paid no money.’
Of course, the most successful horse in the recent history of the Grand National was Tiger Roll, who won back-to-back renewals of the world famous steeplechase in 2018 and 2019, but was denied the chance of a third win by the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020, and by his owner, Michael O’Leary, in 2021 and 2022. Readers of a certain age may also remember – and everyone will almost certainly have heard of – Red Rum, who won the Grand National an unprecedented three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977.
The foundation stallions, or foundation sires, of the Thoroughbred breed are those to whom all, or nearly all, modern Thoroughbreds can trace their paternal bloodline. Although by no means the only stallions to be imported into England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries – according to the General Stud Book, first published in 1793, there were over 200 – the names that have gone down in history are the Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian, and Godolphin Arabian.