Tom Marquand: A day in the life of a St Leger winning jockey

In this interview, Tom takes us through a day in the life of a multiple Group One winning jockey.

Marquand, who is engaged to fellow rising talent Hollie Doyle, rides for a number of trainers including William Haggas and Andrew Balding, for whom he will ride Youth Spirit in next weekend’s Derby at Epsom Racecourse.

Below, Tom discusses a day to day routine on a raceday with coffee retailers CoffeeFriend.

“I usually wake up around 5.30am and then travel to whatever yard in which I’m due to ride out that morning.

"Riding work is obviously a hugely significant part of the day job as this not only offers you opportunities to ride for different trainers in the morning, but also allows you to ride particular horses in work who you may be riding again in the future.

“Diet obviously plays a key role in a jockey’s life and I try to maintain quite a healthy balanced diet.

"Given you have to make certain weights when riding in races, it is important that you maintain a diet that does not raise the possibility of you riding overweight. Along with having light meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, coffee is a very important energy source.

“I do find coffee quite an important part of my diet and obviously it does help with the early mornings given you are getting to yard to ride out horses at around 6/6.30am in the morning. I actually bought a coffee machine just before I went to Australia. I make the coffee in the Nespresso Machine just from whole coffee beans instead of pods and I absolutely love it – it was a great investment!

“I also drink a lot of black coffee as it’s an easy way to keep firing on all cylinders and obviously keeps me from eating too much so it doesn’t have a massive effect on my diet. I would drink maybe two or three cups of black coffee in the morning. My favourite coffee is actually a double espresso lungo.

“After riding out, it’s all about heading to the races. I might talk to a couple of trainers on the way to the track and then it’s all about focusing on my rides. I might walk the track to check what the ground is riding like and then just prepare in my usual way.

“Once I’ve had my rides and hopefully had a few winners, it’s then all about heading home and getting ready to do it all over again."

Marquand's rides to watch this weekend

“I head to Haydock on Saturday to ride With Thanks in the John Of Gaunt Stakes (3.30pm).

"She was really progressive last year and looks sure to step forward again this term. William’s horses are in good form and I’m hopeful of a big run.

“Capote’s Dream won well for me at Windsor last time and whilst this is another step forward, he looks open to more improvement and should run well in the 1.45pm for Tom Ward."

Marquand's ante post rides to watch

“Youth Spirit seems to be in good form and we’re really looking forward to running him in the Derby next week."