Top Jockey Richard Johnson and Zara Phillips
Invite Us Into Their Cosy Cotswolds Home
As my car winds its way though the beautiful serene surroundings of the Cotswold Hills to the whitewashed detached country house of Richard Johnson and Zara Phillips, I can't help wondering about the nature of the greeting that will be found at their front door.
This is, after all, the home shared by one of Britain's most acclaimed National Hunt jockeys and a member of the royal family who is often described as a particular favorite of the Queen.
Will the butler open the door or will a housekeeper beckon us in, as the smell of freshly baked scones drifts from the scullery into the cold Christmas air?
As I leave my car on the gravel drive, I can see Richard inside beckoning for me to go around to the back door. And as I enter the house through their warm kitchen, all preconceptions are shelved.
The couple do not stand on ceremony. Richard is casually dressed in polo top and jeans, having just returned from his daily two-hour swimming session. Zara is sitting on the kitchen work surface dressed in jeans, a brightly-colored stripy sweater and trendy trainers. She greets me with a warm handshake and a huge smile that I am to see many times during the afternoon.
She is vigorously rubbing their two-year-old black labrador's face as he stands on his hind legs with his paws on her lap. Richard is on crutches having broken his leg in two places at Exeter and Devon Racecourse in October, but the banter between them means you don't get a moment to commiserate.
"Zara massages my leg every day," explains Richard, who is the youngest ever jockey to chalk up 100 wins in four consecutive sessions. "She has qualified as a sports masseuse and it has made a huge difference to the speed of my recovery."
Zara blushes at the praise: "There was a lot of internal bruising, so what I had to do was get the blood moving and draw the bruises out. If it has helped Richard I am delighted, but any good masseuse could have done the job as well."
Zara is developing her knowledge even further by learning horse massage so she can treat injured animals. "It's another string to my bow. Whether I use that skill professionally to help my horses or those of friends remains to be seen. I just don't know yet."
Richard also finds it hard to plan the future too rigidly. The National Hunt Season now runs for virtually 12 months of the year and Richard will ride for 300 days during that period, travelling the length and breadth of the country.
"My grandfather was a farmer who owned horses and my father is a farmer, while my mother breeds and trains horses. It's in the family," he explains. "I went straight into racing after completing my GSCEs at boarding school. It's always been something I wanted to do. Dreams like that don't always work out. I'm lucky for me that they have."
But Richard insists that his most prized possession is not the trophy marking his Cheltenham Gold Cup victory on Looks Like Trouble in 2000. Instead it's a framed photograph of his grandfather Ivor Johnson holding a horse called Rusty Bridge, on which Richard won his first race. "It's simply irreplaceable," he adds.
So is Richard romantic? I ask. "Not exactly," says Zara in a resigned, jokey way.
"With all the travelling and demands of the job I'm too tired to be romantic. At least, that's my excuse," adds Richard. "But I did get Zara some flowers once! I was doing a draw for a raffle and I won some flowers. So I thought, 'Oh great, these'll come in handy.'"
The couple first met at the stables of David Nicholson, one of National Hunt's legendary trainers. "I was always keen to train with David," says Richard. "I got to know him after working for him a couple of times whilst still at school and I joined his stables when I was 16. My opportunity came when Adrian Maguire, who was the stable jockey at the time, got hurt. I ended up riding a lot of very nice horses for David at a young age. It was great for me to know that somebody had enough confidence in me to let me ride them."
Zara was one of a number of young riders who groomed the horses, while also taking them for early morning rides. "Zara and I used to go out in the same crowd and and gradually we became closer," explains Richard. "It wasn't a bolt from the blue, it was something that just grew.
"It was clear from our first meeting that there was a great deal of common interest. Zara and I became close after the Cheltenham Festival at David Nicholson's party in 2000. We had a discussion about a horse that had raced at the Festival meeting and for once I must have been more interesting than the horse!"
"It was a close run thing!" jokes Zara.
We walk into the dining room where a sideboard hosts an impressive array of trophies. "I have been fortunate to have one quite a few," says Richard, who is still only 24.
Zara pokes fun at him as we talk. "Hang on Richard, you aren't claiming that one," she says, pointing at a beautiful crystal decanter. "I won that at the Scottish championships last year!"
Richard laughs: "I thought I was going to get away with it. To be fair, it is impressive, isn't it?
"And I must admit I feel a bit guilty. Zara is always so supportive of me, but with 300 days of riding a year, sometimes on six or seven horses a day, I can't offer her the same support back. She often comes to the meetings with me. In fact," he adds cheekily, "she's welcome to be my driver any time she wants."
That earns him a gentle kick under the table. "It's great that both our lives are so steeped with horses," he continues, "because we can talk on equal terms about a horse, its behavior or problems."
Zara shares Richard's passion for racing. "I love to talk about racing with friends and family. If they own a horse that's running and we're together, we will sit around a television and urge the horse on."
Indeed she has taken that passion one step further and is trying to encourage young people to come racing in her capacity as honorary president of Cheltenham Racecourse's Club 16-24. Since Zara became the figurehead, membership has increased by 30 per cent.
"It's very easy mixing with people at the races," she adds. "I enjoy the atmosphere created by people of all ages and walks of life coming together to create the excitement of a race meeting."
Richard says he's hoping to be back in the saddle in the New Year and is conscious of the need to remain fit whilst recuperating. "It's true that jockeys have to be fit and I am lucky because I am naturally so.
"Racing is fast and dangerous, but I recently went to watch Zara play hockey and that really was frightening. Terrifying--sticks and balls were flying everywhere."
So would Zara ever consider following in Richard's footsteps as a first-class jockey? "The level of fitness required is very high and to be frank I prefer going a little slower," she says. "But I enjoy riding out for different trainers and occasionally Richard and I go out to exercise the horses together."
So where does Richard see himself in five years? "I hope to have been champion jockey at least four times by then," Richard comments determinedly. "To win that title means everything to me. It's all I have dreamed of since I was a schoolboy."
The couple are both determined to keep their feet on the ground. They look after the house themselves and have simple tastes.
"Zara is a good cook," says Richard. "But with the irregular hours I keep through racing I don't get much of a chance to sample it.
"We keep a close circle of friends and prefer our own company to the bright lights. In the evenings, we tend to just veg out in front of the television like any normal couple."
He adds: "The attention can be hard to live with sometimes. It's one thing doing and interview and pictures with Hello! but quite another to face the paparazzi. Zara and I went to a premiere in London and I couldn't believe the fuss. We were greeted by hundreds of flashbulbs."
He doesn't think they will ever get used to it. "We both prefer the quiet life here in the Cotswolds. Wherever I am riding I like to get home at night after racing. It helps me switch off and remain fresh for the next meeting. I could pursue my career in other countries such as New Zealand or the USA, but I am a homebird and so is Zara. My parents and brother live in Hereford, which is about an hour away, and Zara's parents live even closer."
Zara insists there are no airs and graces about her. "My mother and father sent my brother Peter and I to the local primary school near our home at Gatcombe Park. That was great; we met local friends with whom we are still in touch today.
"I appreciate how lucky I am to have my own horses, but I look after them myself, I would have it no other way."
Zara left Gordonstoun with A-levels in biology, geography, and PE. She then spent several months abroad travelling and staying with horse-related people in New Zealand, Jamaica, and Hawaii, as well as working for three months for a PR firm in Sydney.
She would love to follow her parent's example by competing at the highest level. "They both competed in the Olympics and of course I would love to do the same one day. I have to be realistic--I have a desire to compete but to reach this ambition I must work hard."
But Zara does not see following her parents as a challenge. "It is wonderful to have their guidance and experience. I am very proud of what they achieved, but they put no burden on me at all."
Meanwhile, Richard has joined World Sports Solutions, a management company that is guiding his career. They have already secured him an endorsement in the form of a 3.01 SE X-Type Jaguar sports car to get him to race meetings, as well as increasing his profile via a book deal and sports columns in the national press.
"I would love to go into breeding top race horses when I retire," says Richard. "My mother is already in the business, both as a breeder and trainer, and I feel it's a natural progression for someone who has been around horses all their life. I hope it is a business that would interest Zara too," he adds.
Only a foolish man would bet against this determined, level-headed couple making the venture a huge success.
--Interview: Phil Hall Additional Reporting: Harriet Cooper
Hello!
Number 694
January 1, 2002
pp. 70-82
