Seb Sanders was champion apprentice in 1995 and shared the jockeys’ title with Jamie Spencer 12 years later following an epic down to the wire battle.
Here, the multiple Classic winner, who partnered over 400 winners for his principal supporter Sir Mark Prescott, discusses some of his finest moments at Royal Ascot, including arguably his most memorable performance on crack sprinter Kingsgate Native.
Watch every race of Royal Ascot 2025 live on Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415 | Virgin 519) from Tuesday 17th June to Saturday 21st June.
KINGSGATE NATIVE
Golden Jubilee Stakes (2008)
“Without doubt my best Royal Ascot winner. It was very special. I met Chris Richardson of Cheveley Park in the car park after racing with my agent and that’s how the ride came about. They’d bought a stake in him and had just run him in the King’s Stand. He hadn’t run great but they did think he’d come on a bundle for it.
“They weren’t going to run him in the Jubilee because they were worried he wouldn’t stay but as fate would have it decided to back him up and take their chance. I’d ridden a lot for Cheveley Park so it was great to get the chance, but I didn’t give him a great ride to be honest.
“A lot went wrong, especially in the first half of the race. He was keen and I couldn’t get the cover I wanted. It was only because I didn’t really know him and didn’t realise he could take as fierce a tug as he did. For the first three furlongs I was absolutely cursing myself but the last three were pretty good.
“He showed a hell of a lot of mettle but it was more a grind out than a real quicken. Whether they cooked themselves on the front end I don’t know but 100 yards from the line I was well on top. It was great. I’d basically just won the Jubilee on a spare. To come into the winner’s enclosure, meet the Queen and everything that went with the occasion will stay with me forever.
“On his day he was one of the best sprinters around. He won the Nunthorpe at two as a maiden, remember. When you think that I didn’t get a lot right at Ascot yet still beat those great Aussie sprinters War Artist and Takeover Target so easily. He was one of those sprinters who did what he wanted on the day. It was up to him and how he felt.
“I was confident I’d win the July Cup on him a few weeks later. I now knew how to get the best out of him after Ascot but he just didn’t turn up. He was the first one beat. I couldn’t blame it on the track. If he was up for it, he was one of the best but that day he just wasn’t.”
Seb sprung a 33-1 surprise in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee on Kingsgate Native
ASTRAC
Wokingham Stakes (1995)
“It was the year I became champion apprentice and he was my first Royal Ascot winner, claiming three pounds. Trained by Reg Akehurst, he was a straightforward horse who also gave me my first Pattern win, but he was better with cut in the ground and it was quick going that day. He was drawn slap bang in the middle and I went far side and won by five lengths on my side, which takes some doing in a big sprint handicap. The next three home were all drawn high so the tactic paid off handsomely.
“We knew he was really well as I’d ridden him in a ‘prep’ run at Newmarket, but we didn’t necessarily think he’d win the Wokingham. That was down to his trainer, who was as good as anyone at plotting handicaps. His horses were always fighting fit and stayed well and he was an uncomplicated man to ride for.
“I owed Reg a lot because what he taught me stood me in good stead for the rest of my career. His philosophy for riding those quirky southern tracks alike Ascot, Sandown and Brighton was brilliant. He taught me when and how to attack a race and it very rarely went wrong if you stuck to the basics. He defined the way I rode for the rest of my career.
“That day at Royal Ascot was the first time I met Julian Wilson, the legendary BBC broadcaster and racehorse owner. Julian became a great mate to me and he was instrumental in my Royal Ascot winner for Lady Herries nearly 10 years later.”
WUNDERWOOD
Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes (2004)
“Julian was racing manager to owner Tony Perkins who had a lovely horse called Wunderwood in training with Lady Anne. I’d been riding quite a lot for her and won a race at Newmarket on him a couple of weeks earlier, beating a horse called Alkaased, who went on to win the Japan Cup for Luca Cumani.
“I hadn’t been a regular at the Royal Meeting as I was usually off to places like Catterick and Ripon in the north for my boss Sir Mark (Prescott). I was happy going to places like that to ride winners rather than be at Ascot for one ride on a 33-1 shot. Riding winners was everything to me.
“Wunderwood was different, though – a smart horse with a big chance. I had the perfect trip round and he was just full of running when they turned in and absolutely hosed it. If they’d have locked me away I’d have still been confident I would have found a gap at some stage. He was just push button that day and made my life very easy.
“I went back to Ascot and won another nice race on him the following month. Tony (Perkins) went on to have a horse with Ralph Beckett called Asaint Needs Brass which is actually an anagram of my name. I won on him first time out at Kempton.”
“His win in the Ascot Stakes was one of the top five rides of my career. In fact, I’m blowing my own trumpet but it’s one of the best front-running rides you’ll ever see.
“When I went out to meet the trainer David Pipe, his father Martin asked me how good I was from the front. My response was: ‘I’m one of the best’, so he told me to go out there all make all. I knew the time of day because I’d been doing it for my old boss Bryan McMahon, Reg and Sir Mark Prescott for years. I’d been on the clock from the age of 16 so knew my fractions.
“Junior wasn’t always the sharpest away so I had to work my hardest in the first furlong to get where I wanted to be. As it happened they let me off by five or six lengths, which surprised me a little. Some jockeys are afraid to go too quick, especially over 2m4f, but I never was if I was riding a horse I knew would stay. They key is to start winding a horse up in plenty of time and more often than not they’ll hit the line.
“I took advantage on every turn. You can pinch lengths in a flash if you’re cute enough and I was still five or six clear going into Swinley Bottom, without going too quick. I was pressing buttons without wanting him to jump out of my hands and just rode him like a grinder. I knew he wasn’t going to stop and they never had a bite at me.
“It was a great thrill to have executed such a perfect plan and a special day for Middleham Park Racing, as it was unusual back then for a syndicate to win a race at Royal Ascot. My silks were a kind of plastic material which caught the wind. I blew up like a balloon which didn’t look great on the photos!”
“I’d won a 5f sprint on him at Doncaster so we knew he was a good horse. His trainer Clive Brittain thought he had a better prospect for the Coventry so decided to step him up to 7f in the Chesham.
“There was a massive advantage on the stands side that day but I was drawn right over on the other side in stall one. I was never one to go against orders and Clive liked his horse to be sat handy but this day I took the bull by the horns.
“I knew he’d run well if I stayed over there but wouldn’t win so I dropped him out and switched across. Luckily, everything went right because I ended up following the right horse and he quickened to win just like I thought he would. He was hard on the bridle two out and was never going to get beaten.
“Zaidan liked fast ground but ran on soft on his next two starts and just paddled it in. He was a Street Cry and 99 out of 100 of them hate soft ground. There was some talk of him running in the Kentucky Derby but he ended up in Hong Kong with John Moore and then Tony Cruz. A very talented horse who could have achieved more.”
THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY…
DANEHURST
King’s Stand Stakes (2002)
“Sir Mark’s filly, who was owned by Cheveley Park Stud, had been working well and I thought she was a good thing but we finished second to John Gosden’s lesser fancied Malhub, who was ridden by Kevin Darley.
“Aidan O’Brien’s Johannesburg was favourite so the plan was to sit behind him as we used to hold Danehurst up. Unfortunately, he only got to half way and was one of the first beat. I was stuck on his heels and there was no pace but by the time I’d extricated myself from what was a perfectly made plan it was too late.
“Malhub was Gosden’s third string and shouldn’t have beaten us. If they’d have gone a better gallop I think I’d have won and it does rankle me still, but that’s sprinting for you. You need so much luck – that’s why Sir Mark dislikes training sprinters.”
HOORAY
Albany Stakes (2010)
“She’d just won a maiden at Kempton and was lengths ahead of everything in the morning. In fact, she was on a different planet and her owners Cheveley Park were rightfully very excited about her. It was like riding a frightened deer on the gallops though so I had to make sure I got her settled well enough to finish her work. That’s why we decided to drop her in at Ascot, just like we had at Kempton.
“Sadly, the plan backfired and she finished only eighth behind Richard Hannon’s Memory. Sir Mark (Prescott) was so disappointed afterwards he turned to me and said: ‘She clearly isn’t as good as we thought then.’ Of course, I didn’t agree.
“If she wasn’t a good filly, the rest were selling platers She went on to prove what a special horse she was. When won the Lowther at York, the boss told me to let the handbrake off as the stalls opened – that’s when we found out how to ride her. We were trying to control her energy at Ascot when we should have let her run.”
Seb Sanders was speaking to Sky Sports Racing’s Simon Mapletoft.
Watch every race of Royal Ascot 2025 live on Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415 | Virgin 519) from Tuesday 17th June to Saturday 21st June.