‘World’s tallest jockey’ hopes to beat long odds with first Cheltenham win

At 6ft 4in (1.93 metres), Jack Andrews is used to towering over his fellow jockeys, who tend to be at least a foot shorter than him.

But the man who has been described as the tallest jockey in the world is determined not to let his unconventional stature slow him down when he bids for his first Cheltenham festival win on Thursday.

Andrews, 24, from near Rugby in Warwickshire, will ride the 20-1 shot Anightinlambourn in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir challenge cup amateur jockeys’ handicap chase at 5.30pm. His older sister Gina, who at 5ft 7in (1.7 metres) is herself considered on the tall side for a jockey, will ride in the same race.

There is no height limit for jockeys, but because they carefully watch their weights to help their racing, most are considerably shorter than Andrews. Keeping his racing weight down to 10st 2lb (64.4kg), his lightest racing weight in the last 12 months, is “a daily thing I have to constantly keep an eye on”, Andrews told the Racing Post last year.

“I try to eat the right things, I try to eat regularly. Obviously there are a few cheat days every now and then, like anyone. But I must be naturally quite light anyway, light-framed. It is hard but it’s worth it when you have good days.”

Raised in a racing family – as well as Gina and another jockey sister, Bridget, both his parents rode as amateurs – Andrews always loved the sport and started racing at about 15 or 16. “I was probably 5ft 10in when I had my first ride so I was OK and then when I got to about 17 I really shot up again and that is when I got quite tall,” he told the Daily Star.

“There was a fear I might not be able to make it as I grew up thinking I would be a professional rider when I was older. When I had that growth spurt it was a