Seb Sanders, one of the finest jockeys of his generation, is now a work-rider for Godolphin handler Charlie Appleby, suggesting that his days as a professional rider are over.
Sanders was crowned Britain’s joint champion flat jockey in 2007 along with Jamie Spencer after the pair finished the season tied on 190 winners.
However, in recent years, Sanders has found rides very hard to come by and failed to have a single ride in Britain last season.
Sanders struck up decent partnerships with both Ralph Beckett and Sir Mark Prescott, partnering Beckett’s Look Here to success in the 2008 Investec Oaks at Epsom.
Godolphin are always keen to have former professional riders join their work-rider team, with Chris Catlin and Kirsty Milczarek also part of the Godolphin set-up with Appleby, who along with Saeed bin Suroor, trains Godolphin’s abundance of talent at Newmarket.
The move looks right for Sanders in the light of limited riding opportunities with Appleby commenting on the move:
He is a great asset to have riding out for us. We have a team of work riders with a wealth of experience. I’m very lucky to already have Willie Ryan, Oscar Urbina, Jamie Mackay and Kirsty Milczarek, who has also joined us.
We have some good established riders and as they say you are only as good as the team you have around you. We are building a nice team of horses and getting together the right group of lads. I’ve got a champion jockey here, a Derby-winning jockey here and others that bring a wealth of experience.
He has been here the last couple of weeks and is riding out on a daily basis like the rest of the lads. I employ him to ride two or three lots in the morning and be here on work mornings. That is our agreement.
