Bryony Frost: Cheltenham Festival Winner and Britain’s Most Successful Female Jumps Jockey

The 2010s represented a golden era for female riders. While Hollie Doyle blazed a trail on the flat and Rachael Blackmore became a force in Ireland, a British jumps racing talent emerged from rural Devon. Making her rules debut in the same year as Hollie Doyle, Bryony Frost lit up the National Hunt scene for over a decade before setting off to take on a new challenge in France.

British racing’s loss was French racing’s gain when Frost crossed the Channel in 2024. However, she left behind a gallery of unforgettable moments, many of which sprang from her incredible bond with a horse named Frodon. Frost will also be well remembered by the record books. At the time of her move, her tally of 293 British winners made her the most successful female National Hunt jockey of all time.

Who Is Bryony Frost?

Bryony Frost was born on 13 April 1995 in Buckfastleigh, Devon – home of the tonic wine of Glaswegian infamy. Hailing from rich racing stock, Bryony is the granddaughter of trainer Richard Frost and the daughter of trainer Jimmy. Before starting out as a trainer, the latter enjoyed a successful career in the saddle. His standout moments were his 1989 Aintree Grand National triumph aboard Little Polvier and Champion Hurdle glory with Morley Street in 1991. The racing gene appears to have passed on to both Bryony and her brother Hadden, who also grew up to become a professional jockey, winning the Pertemps Final at the 2010 Cheltenham Festival.

For Bryony, life in the saddle began at just two years of age, when getting the leg-up on a family donkey named Nosey. By the age of four, she had progressed to ponies. Entering the competitive world of pony racing as a nine-year-old, the future star went on to register 50 wins on her way to multiple Devon and Cornwall pony racing championships.

Bryony followed the traditional progression of many riders when moving from ponies to point-to-point racing at 16. Equally adept on the larger animals, she won 56 point-to-point events in addition to nine Hunter Chases. Having claimed the Devon and Cornwall Novice Lady Champion title in 2012/13 and the Leading Lady Rider for Devon and Cornwall in 2013/14, Frost was ready to race under rules.

2013-2015: Current Event Takes Bryony to the Big Stage

 

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The emerging talent made her debut under rules when riding as an amateur in February 2013. However, she didn’t register her first win until 1 February 2015. Despite most of her early rides being for her father, that maiden success came aboard the Rose Loxton-trained Current Event. Already familiar with the horse following two wins in the point-to-point sphere, Bryony’s breakthrough came in a Class 3 Hunter Chase at Musselburgh.

Frost also had Current Event to thank for her first trip to the Cheltenham Festival and experience of the Grand National fences in 2015, albeit without success. Following an unseat in the Aintree Foxhunter Chase, the duo bounced back to winning ways at Cheltenham and Newton Abbot, helping Bryony to the 2015 National Lady Jockeys N.H. Champion title.

2016-2018: Entering the Professional Ranks

The rise through the ranks of this determined young rider had caught the eye of many in the racing world, including 14-time Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls. Offered her first ride for Nicholls in 2016, Bryony started as she would mean to go on with a win aboard Polisky in a Hunter’s Chase event at Ascot.

Her increasing association with the Nicholls’ yard earned Bryony a second crack at the Foxhunter’s Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2017. Taking the ride aboard Pacha Du Polder, who had finished fifth with Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton in the saddle in 2016, Bryony came out on top in a thrilling battle with stablemate Wonderful Charm.

Hot on the heels of that big race success, Frost made the decision to join the professional ranks. Her first win as a conditional rider soon arrived at Worcester on 18 July 2017. Little did she know at the time, but her partner in that Class 4 contest would be the horse to provide her with a first top-tier triumph. Striking up a remarkable partnership with Frost, Black Corton went on to win six of his next seven starts, with the big highlight coming when mastering Elegant Escape in the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day. In winning that Kempton contest, Bryony became only the second female rider to win a Grade 1 jumps race in Britain, following in the footsteps of Lizzie Kelly, who won the 2015 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase with Tea For Two.

In November 2018, she became the fifth female jockey to ride out her claim. At the end of the season, she added the Champion British Conditional Jockey title to her list of awards. That honour provided a satisfying end to a year in which Bryony felt the tough side of the sport, when suffering internal injuries and a fractured collarbone as a result of two heavy falls.

Frodon: The Little Horse with the Big Heart

🤩 FRODON! BRYONY FROST!

A match made in heaven provide a gift from the gods: a spring-heeled, front-running performance at @CheltenhamRaces

Nothing quite like it

— Sporting Life Racing (@SportingLife) March 14, 2019

As impressive as her partnerships with Current Event and Black Corton were, Bryony Frost will forever be associated with the wonderful Paul Nicholls runner, Frodon. Notably small in comparison to many of his rivals, Frodon had appeared 16 times for Nicholls before Bryony climbed into the saddle for the first time on 23 December 2017. The pair finished only second that day but hinted at what would follow with a 17-length success in the Crest Nicholson Handicap Chase at Cheltenham. And then came a golden 2018/19 campaign.

Kicking off with a Grade 2 victory in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, Frodon and Frost won three of four subsequent starts, culminating in a barnstorming front-running triumph in the Ryanair Chase. A monumental effort from the horse, which propelled Bryony into the record books as the first female rider to win a Grade 1 contest at the Cheltenham Festival. She was soon joined by Rachael Blackmore, who won the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle the following day. The Ryanair performance cemented Frost and Frodon as one of racing’s most popular partnerships, with the rider’s love for the horse shining through in every post-race interview.

The 2020/21 season began under something of a cloud, with Bryony lodging an official harassment complaint against fellow rider Robbie Dunne. That resulted in an 18-month ban for Dunne, but the good times soon returned for Frost and her favourite horse. Further Grade 1 wins arrived in the 2021 Down Royal Champion Chase and, most famously, when causing a 20/1 shock in the 2020 edition of the King George VI Chase. That Boxing Day victory saw Bryony become the first female jockey to win the King George. It was also the 175th win of her career, taking her past the previous record of Lucy Alexander to become the most successful British female jump jockey of all time.

Frodon retired in 2024, having won 11 times with Bryony in the saddle, and now spends his days on the Frost family farm in Dartmoor.

2024: A New Adventure Begins

Despite her success, Bryony Frost found her riding opportunities dwindling in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Rather than chasing owners and trainers for rides in the UK, she opted to take her talents to France midway through the 2024 season. Having barely stepped off the plane, the Grade 1 winning jockey signed on as retained rider in France to powerful owners Simon Munir & Isaac Souede.

Taking advantage of a steady stream of quality rides in the famous double green silks, Frost made a success of her Gallic adventure. In September 2025, she became the first female jockey to win a French Graded event and ended the year as the leading female jockey in the country, having won almost €1 million in prize money.