Since 1980, how many different jockeys have won the British Jump Jockeys’ Championship?

The British Jump Jockeys Championship is decided on the number of winners ridden during the National Hunt season, which starts in early May and ends in late April. The British Champion Jump Jockey title is awarded to the winning jockey(s) at the aptedly-titled Bet365 Finale Day at Sandown Park, which marks the culmination of the National Hunt season.

At the time of writing, the current title holder is Paul Nicholls’ stable jockey Harry Cobden, who clinched his inaugural championship when winning on Spring Gale, trained by Henry Daly, at Chepstow on April 26, 2024, eventually finishing seven winners ahead of his nearest rival, Sean Bowen. It is interesting to note, though, that since Jonjo O’Neill Snr. won his second and final title in 1979/80, Cobden was just the ninth jockey to be crowned British Champion Jump Jockey.

That fact is due, in no small part, to the exploits of Sir Anthony Peter “A.P.” McCoy, who, having become Champion Conditional Jockey in 1994/95, was the perennial senior champion between 1995/96 and 2014/15. In other words, McCoy was British Champion Jump Jockey in each of the twenty consecutive seasons he rode as a fully-fledged professional.

O’Neill Snr. and McCoy aside, of the other seven jockeys to win the championship since 1980, only Harry Cobden and Harry Skelton, in 2020/21, have won just a single title. John Francome won five of his seven titles – including one that he shared, magnanimously, with Peter Scudamore in 1981/82 – after the turn of the eighties. Scudamore, himself, won eight and, either side of McCoy, Richard Dunwoody and Richard Johnson won three and four consecutive titles respectively. Brian Hughes succeeded Johnson on 2019/20 and has three titles to his name so far.