Hope Regan, a 20-year-old jockey from Warwickshire, expressed immense joy after claiming the most significant victory of her nascent professional career. Riding Arnaz, a 9/1 outsider, at Chepstow on 9 August, Regan secured her first win as a professional apprentice, a milestone she had been eagerly pursuing.
Standing at 5ft 3ins, Regan trains at Rock Farm in Kidderminster, working with DML Racing. She has ridden horses for much of her life, progressing through various stages of training including a season focused on yearlings. Having obtained her professional apprentice licence earlier this year, she shared with BirminghamLive the feelings surrounding her breakthrough win after approximately 30 race attempts.
“It was brilliant, I couldn’t believe it. I had been chasing a win and it’s something I really wanted,” she said. “I was shocked at first; I looked around and realised that no one had passed me at the last minute. It was a really good feeling – I couldn’t stop smiling for about ten minutes.”
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Hope’s typical day starts early, rising at 5:45am before arriving at the yard at 6:10am to assist with tasks such as placing horses on walkers and mucking out stables if needed. From 7am until 11:30am, she rides an average of six horses, focusing on maintaining their fitness, aiming to finish before midday. In the afternoon, between 3pm and 5pm, she returns to muck out, feed the horses, and put rugs on them.
Looking to the future, Regan is determined to become a fully professional jockey. She emphasises the critical role that fitness plays in the sport. “I’ve always been active and involved in sports, so I was fairly fit. But moving to Rock Farm is where I really committed to my fitness,” she explained.
“Maintaining fitness outside of riding is challenging because it requires dedication and consistency. Horses require a lot of work, and riding five or six difficult horses in a day can be quite draining. I realised that if I wanted to succeed, I had to do it properly and commit fully. I go to the gym three times a week after work in Kidderminster and also run outside of that.”
Regan adds that keeping physically active away from the yard benefits her mental wellbeing. “The hours can be quite unsociable, so you have to stay focused, knowing where you want to get to. There aren’t enough hours in the day for much else,” she said.