Nico de Boinville

Born in Baughurst, Hampshire on August 14, 1989, Nico de Boinville joined Nicky Henderson, at Seven Barrows in Lambourn, Berkshire, as a stable lad in 2009. He said later, “It was all about seeing where I could go with it”, and for his first three seasons he appeared to be going nowhere in a hurry. Between May 2009 and April 2012 he had just 30 rides and, except for two wins on Barber Shop, owned by the late Queen Elizabeth II, in hunter chases at Fontwell in February 2012, little to show for his efforts.

Disillusioned with his lack of progress, at the age of 22, De Boinville tendered his resignation with a view to returning to France, where he had gained limited experience of working with racehorses during his gap year. Luckily, Henderson refused to accept his resignation, a week later De Boinville rode Petit Robin to victory, by a nose, in the Listed Sportingbet Handicap Hurdle at Sandown Park and the rest, as they say, is history.

De Boinville rode his first Cheltenham Festival winner, Whisper, trained by Henderson, in 2014. The following year, having only recently ridden out his claim, he rode his second, Coneygree, trained by Mark Bradstock, in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. At the start of the 2015/16 National Hunt season, De Boinville replaced Barry Geraghty as stable jockey at Seven Barrows and has since ridden 14 more Cheltenham Festival winners. Of the ‘feature’ races, aside from the Cheltenham Gold Cup, he has won the Queen Mother Champion Chase three times, on Sprinter Sacre (2016) and Altior (2018, 2019), and the Champion Hurdle once, on Constitution Hill (2023).