The wise-beyond-his-years Harry Cobden skipped his GCSE English exam to ride a 33/1 winner and made the right choice to back his own ability in the saddle.
By the age of 19, he had been named stable jockey for top jumps trainer Paul Nicholls and claimed a first Cheltenham Festival win on Kilbricken Storm.
Cobden overcame a broken neck to enter the select group of riders achieving a hundred winners a season and now ranks in the top three jockeys over jumps with Harry Skelton and Brian Hughes.
With 25 Grade 1 winners under his belt, this farmer's son landed his first Champion Jockey title in the 2023/24 season, backed by the weight of the Nicholls' operation.
In November 2023, Planet Sport Bet signed Cobden as its new horse racing brand ambassador. In 2025 he joined Paddy Power.
Growing up in Somerset, a hotbed of national hunt racing, it seems Cobden was always destined for a life in the saddle. He was raised on the Cobden family beef farm, surrounded by various animals, including horses.
Cobden was riding ponies before he could walk and naturally graduated to pony racing at the age of nine. Local trainer Ron Hodges, a friend of the family, took Cobden under his wing after the youngster had bragged that his portly pony was the fastest in the area.
"I smiled and went with it but did try and warn him that he'd be tailed off last if he took this fat little thing into a proper pony race.
"So lo-and-behold that's what happened the first time he raced it properly. He had the right hump. He wasn't happy about it and we had to go and get him a new one right away. We drove miles to get a better one for him. From then on I think he only lost about two races from thirty-odd," Hodges told thesun.co.uk.
Cobden was riding out on the Hodges' gallops at just 10 years old and soon progressed to Point To Point racing where he competed against Paul Nicholls' daughter Megan.
However, Cobden's first win under rules was actually for Anthony Honeyball in March 2015 - in a story that could have come out of a warped Grange Hill script.
Not particularly academic, at 16 Cobden skipped his English GCSE exam to ride El Mondo at Leicester for Honeyball's wife Rachael Green in a hunters' chase. Cobden managed to get El Mondo up for the win at a price of 33/1, earning his father, who had backed the horse with £20, a tidy sum.
After a season working for Honeyball, Cobden was offered the job of conditional jockey for Nicholls, who had been keeping tabs on the up and coming rider.
The 2015/16 season proved to be a key campaign of growth for Cobden as he was thrust into the spotlight by winning the StanJames.com Greatwood Hurdle in November 2015. Cobden, claiming a 7lb allowance, produced Old Guard to win by two lengths at a price of 12/1.
Cobden went on to win 30 times in 2015/16, setting up a 2016/17 campaign that was to shape his destiny.
By this point, Cobden was riding winners for two major West Country trainers in Paul Nicholls and Colin Tizzard, meaning a tug-of-war for his services was inevitable.
In November 2016, Cobden won the Grade 3 BetVictor Handicap Chase for Tizzard and then stepped up a gear to take the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth hurdle at Newcastle for Nicholls on Irving.
Cobden picked up a Grade 1 Tingle Creek victory on the Nicholls-trained Politologue in December 2017 but Tizzard wasn't to be denied, giving Cobden the leg up on Kilbricken Storm for his first Cheltenham Festival winner in March 2018.
Cobden was named Champion Conditional Jockey for 2016/17, making him hot property, and it wasn't long before he had to choose between Tizzard and Nicholls.
On May 4, 2018, it was announced that Cobden would replace Sam Twiston-Davies as stable jockey for Paul Nicholls at Ditcheat.
"It was a big decision at the time as I was also riding a lot of winners for Colin Tizzard, a neighbouring trainer. After taking my time to think about it, I accepted the job and haven't looked back. I have the best of both worlds, as when I haven't got a ride for Paul, I am able to ride for Colin, I am very fortunate," Cobden told greatbritishlife.co.uk.
Cobden's start as Nicholls' number one jockey couldn't have gone much worse as he suffered a serious neck injury in June 2018, barely a month after starting in the role.
He was unseated by Mick Thonic in a chase at Market Rasen but was able to walk away and only learned of the severity of his injury at hospital. He had two scans, the first in Nottingham and the second as he began his recovery, with only the latter revealing just how bad the injury was.
Harry Cobden celebrates a win during the 2019 Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse.
"It's the second vertebra down on your neck and my specialist said it's one of the most dangerous ones to do. I feel lucky to be walking around," Cobden told racingpost.com.
Cobden spent nearly four months in recovery but was back in the saddle by the end of September 2018.
Barely three months after his return, Cobden was back among the Grade 1 winners, taking the 2018 King George VI Chase at Kempton on Clan Des Obeaux for Nicholls, highlighting the jockey's determination to succeed at the top level.
Cobden sent the French-bred Cyrname on a superlative round of front-running jumping, pummelling the opposition and winning by a clear 17 lengths from Waiting Patiently in second.
"I had no idea he would improve like he has done. It is an astonishing improvement. Harry has had a plan all week - and he has executed it brilliantly. He gave him a brilliant ride," Nicholls told timeform.com.
Harry Cobden holds aloft his trophy for winning the RSA Insurance Novices' Chase during the 2019 Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Cheltenham Festival success was next on the agenda for the Cobden/Nicholls team and the pair targeted the 2019 RSA Insurance Novices' Chase.
On the aptly named Topofthegame, Cobden showed he was reaching the peak of his powers by coolly delivering the Nicholls trained horse to beat two classy types in Santini and Delta Work.
Cobden then headed to Newbury with Bravemansgame in December 2020 for the Challow Hurdle, riding a horse which drew comparisons with the great Denman. In a front running display, Cobden steered Bravemansgame with confidence, earning a 10 length victory over Star Gate.
Bravemansgame is a suitable mount for a jockey who has fought back from severe injury to assert himself as one of the top jockeys in British National Hunt Racing, and he proved it when winning the King George in 2022.
In 2023, he broke his four-year Cheltenham Festival drought on Stage Star who won the Turners Novices' Chase.
He took his Cheltenham tally to 48, on Stay Away Fay who won the Albert Bartlett on the final day of the Festival.
At the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Cobden won the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle on Monmiral for co-owners John Hales, Ged Mason and former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
Cobden was crowned champion jockey for the first time following the victory of Spring Gale at Chepstow on Friday, April 26.
He held off his one-time stable comrade and friend Sean Bowen in a good-spirited title battle that went right down to the final days of the season.
The Ditcheat number one sealed the title with a double at Chepstow on Friday evening which took him seven winners clear of Bowen, who had four rides booked on the final day.
While Cobden’s victory has looked assured for some time, given Bowen was out of action for almost six weeks in the heart of the season, the Welshman kept him honest until the penultimate day, with his main backer Olly Murphy hitting form just fractionally too late to make up the ground.
Spring Gale, the 5/2 favourite, is trained by Henry Daly, a yard Cobden is unlikely to have ridden for if not involved in a title charge.
Following his win in the Dunraven Windows Mares’ Maiden Hurdle, Cobden told Sky Sports Racing: “Lovely job. Someone asked me how I felt earlier on and I said it felt like a birthday, it felt like something special happened, but it hasn’t really sunk in, I suppose.
“She did it nicely, she was very tough, Henry gave me the perfect instructions, he said she stayed well and she’s good and hardy and that’s exactly what she is, she’ll jump a fence one day and is a nice mare.”
At Christmas it looked as though Bowen would be crowned champion as he held a hefty lead, but that all changed after the 26-year-old suffered an injury on Boxing Day which kept him on the sidelines until early February.
Cobden took full advantage of Bowen’s absence, erasing the majority of the healthy advantage the Welshman had built up, with the duo then pushing themselves to the limits in the closing months of the campaign.
However, Cobden admits a title charge had not really crossed his mind until that defining Boxing Day moment, when he realised he had the right man behind him in Nicholls to give a championship tilt a good go.
“I was so far behind and Sean looked to have it in the bag and unfortunately Sean got injured and it levelled the table a bit,” continued Cobden.
“I’ve never had a cross word with Sean in seven years of sitting next to him and obviously we’re both going for the same thing, but it wasn’t until the first week in January that I thought I had a realistic chance.
“When he came back we were nil-nil and I had a really good spell through February and March was pretty good. There has been no tension between us at all and it’s been really good fun and something I’ve really enjoyed.
“We’re sat right next to each other and it’s been like that since time has begun really. We’re a similar age and we started a similar time.
“We’ve both ridden a lot more winners than ever before and ridden for a lot more people than we ever have done, but I just thought if he hit a little flat spot and Paul’s horses got into a gear, I could give him a run for his money.”
Cobden also reserved special praise for his agent Sam Stronge, who has been a vital cog in his championship victory.
The 25-year-old has taken more rides than any previous year he has held a licence and he credits Stronge with enabling him to form vital connections with new trainers and owners in the closing months of the campaign.
He said: “It’s been an amazing year and I think previously the most rides I had ever had was just short of 600, whereas this season I’ve had over 720 rides and Sam Stronge has been fantastic for my career and put me on lots of very good horses.
“I’ve made lots of new connections with owners and trainers and Sam has put a lot of effort and work in and I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Cobden’s boss Nicholls has made no secret of his desire to make his number one the first champion jockey based out of Ditcheat and feels this victory justifies the way he has embraced his hugely-pressurised position in recent years.
“It’s fantastic for the team and for Harry in particular, he’s been riding very well this year and he deserves it,” said Nicholls.
“He’s stayed injury free, ridden plenty of great winners for us and gone out and picked up plenty of spare rides, so it’s good he has won this for the team.
“He’s improved enormously with experience and he’s still a relatively young jockey and he’s only going to improve again with more experience. Experience in sport is a massive thing and he’s a complete jockey now who rides extremely well.
“He’s one of the best out there and there’s some good lads out there, but he’s one of the best and he’s come on well the last few years.
“There’s been lots of great days this year, a couple of rides he’s given Ginny’s Destiny when he’s won on him have been brilliant, but he’s been consistent all the way through. To be champion jockey there isn’t just one standout but lots of them and he’s been riding them very well this year.
“He’s great to work with and a good team player who everyone is fond of. I’ve never heard anyone have a cross word with him and I never have any owners saying they don’t want to use him, so he’s just the ultimate team player.”
In February 2025, Cobden claimed his 25th Grade 1 and his first for twelve months.
He guided Pic D'Orhy to a second consecutive Ascot Chase victory, ahead of 7-4 favourite Corbetts Cross who trailed home by 10 lengths in second place.
"He's a great horse we've had so many good days. I really enjoyed that, this is massive," Cobden told ITV Sport.
"I looked at the big screen halfway round and I knew all I had to do was stay in the saddle."
At the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, he guided Caldwell Potter to the Grade 2 Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase, but it was his only success of the week.
Cobden's parents, William and Sarah, are working farmers in Lydford-on-Fosse, Somerset. He has an older brother, James.
Cobden has diligently invested his earnings from racing, purchasing a 13 acre farm and running a shooting business.
In 2018, it was revealed that Cobden had been in a relationship with fellow jockey and childhood friend Bryony Frost since 2016.
The high-profile coupling saw the 2018 RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival billed as a "race between lovers", with Cobden on Elegant Escape and Frost riding Black Corton. Cobden finished third and Frost fifth.
Cobden and Frost have since split, and he is now in a relationship with Olivia Johnston.
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