A Huyton mum has expressed her pride over her son who will be riding in this year's Grand National festival despite not sitting on a horse until he was 18.
The much-loved racing extravaganza returned on April 7, with crowds permitted to attend for the first time in two years. The event's opening day focused on celebrating NHS workers for their commitment and effort during the coronavirus pandemic.
Today, April 8, is the hotly-anticipated Ladies Day, while the iconic Grand National will take place on April 9 - the festival's final day. For nurse Joanne Anderson, today is all about her son, Joe.
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Jockey Joe Anderson, 25, stunned his "supportive but not optimistic" parents after dropping out of sixth form to pursue a career as a jockey - despite never having sat on a horse before. Speaking to the ECHO, the full-time jockey's mum Joanne, 51, said: "As a child, he always had an interest in horse riding but living in Liverpool that doesn’t really materialise - he played football like they all do.
"He didn't want to go to Uni, he's always been very sporty and he was looking at going back to sixth form, then one day he said he was going to go to the riding school. It was a definitely a surprise - he was academic and did well in his exams but then half way through sixth form, he dropped out.
"We just had to let him try it, we thought if we put our foot down and didn't let him do it and pushed him to get a normal job, he’d regret it. We were supportive but we weren’t optimistic - who from Liverpool makes a living as a jockey? Except him."
Joanne and husband Tony took their son, who was just 17 at the time, to the British Racing School in Newmarket, where he impressed the course director and proved his desire to succeed in the industry. From there, Joe was able to learn the ropes of riding, as well as how to properly care for horses.
Joanne continued: "We took him down to the British Racing School in Newmarket; he smashed the fitness test and the director there was impressed with his enthusiasm and took him on. They take on intakes of about 15, he got put on one of those intakes and he learnt everything then - how to look after horses, mucking out, riding, everything.
"In his group, there was only him and one other boy who'd never been on a horse before. Most of the jockeys you see have been in the game a long time, it’s been in their family but that hasn't been the case with Joe.
"The racing school put them on placement to start working on a yard in a proper working environment, he stuck at it and got his amateur licence after a couple of years then his conditional licence. He was meant to ride this horse in the Cheltenham Festival but it got pulled out because the rain was heavy so we’re just praying the rain stops."
Joe will be riding the aptly named Hang In There today at 1.45pm. Of her son's feelings towards the race, Joanne said: "He's excited, he's rode this horse before, it's his favourite horse. He works for a trainer called Emma Lavelle and he's rode this horse a couple of times and he's won on it once and come second on it as well, so he's excited.
"We're going [today] just for his race. It's at 1.45pm, the first race. We feel very proud that he's stuck at it and where he’s got himself to and against the odds.
"You get nervous with the jumping but excited as well. His dad gets more nervous than me, especially if he sees him fall off. I've got four brothers who are keen on the racing so they're really proud [too]."
Of her hopes for Joe's future, Joanne added: "I just hope he goes on to have a successful career out of it and carries on - it's not been without hard work, it's been a slog, nothing got handed to him on a plate. He says he’s living the dream."
Update: Joe rode 80/1 shot Hang in There to a creditable ninth place, around 27 lengths back
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