Mark Roberts

Mark Roberts

Article by Alan Trout

Mark Anthonmy Roberts rode eight winners spread over three seasons. All bar one was a National Hunt Flat Race, with five of the victories being on horses trained by Chris Thornton, for whom he rode as a conditional jockey. 

His first success was at Carlisle on October 9, 1992, when White Diamond, trained by Ann Swinbank, was all out to beat Nouvelle Cuisine by a neck in the Grunwick Stakes N.H. Flat Race. It was the four-year-old’s first start under National Hunt rules. 

It was almost a year before Mark next visited the winner’s enclosure, winning his only race over hurdles at Sedgefield. He had five wins in the 1994/95 campaign, the last of which was Nishvamitri, trained by Chris Thornton, in the Tetley Bitter Stakes Open N.H. Flat Race at Uttoxeter. The winner had to be hard ridden to beat Midday Blues, the mount of Jimmy McCarthy, by a short head. 

Mark had a couple of rides the following season but no further success. 

Mark Roberts’ winners were, in chronological order:

1. White Diamond, Carlisle, October 9, 1992

2. Strong Fancy, Sedgefield, September 29, 1993

3. Valley Garden, Catterick bridge, March 9, 1994

4. Cittadino, Doncaster, December 10, 1994

5. Tara Rambler, Southwell, December 21, 1994

6. Gordon, Catterick Bridge, January 21, 1995

7. M-I-Five, Sedgefield, April 1, 1995

8. Nishvamitri, Uttoxeter, June 1, 1995