page_title: Nat Flatman
section_title: Apprenticeship
hierarchical_section_title: Nat Flatman / Career / Apprenticeship
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Jonathan Peel
context_page_description: Elnathan "Nat" Flatman, born Holton St. Mary, Suffolk, was the first Champion flat racing jockey of Great Britain. He began his thirty-four-year racing career as an apprentice jockey at age fifteen and by 1840 he was the dominant rider in British racing, winning the Champion Jockey title thirteen years in a row. During his career, Flatman won the patronage of many significant owners, including Lord George Bentinck, the Earl of Chesterfield, Admiral Rous, Lord Stradbroke and Lord Derby. For these owners, and others like them he won most of the important Thoroughbred horse races in England, including ten Classics, and some significant races in France. He continued to ride until the paddock accident that incapacitated him and ultimately led to his death at the age of 50.
context_section_description: With all his belongings wrapped in a handkerchief and slung over his shoulder Flatman hiked from his home to Newmarket - a scruffy 15-year-old, 4 stone (25 kg) stripling looking for work.  When he arrived at the yard of trainer, William Cooper, "one of the most upright trainers and best men that ever lived", he was initially dismissed on account of his dishevelled appearance.  Cooper's wife took kindly to him, though, and pleaded Flatman's cause to her husband.  As a result, Flatman was taken on as apprentice to the Cooper stable in 1825.
  Flatman worked with Cooper for three years before he was offered his first opportunity to race in public.  At this time he could ride at just a little over 6 stone (38 kg).  This debut was a high-profile one, riding Lord Exeter's Golden
   (or Gold) Pin in the 1829 Craven Stakes, the first important race of the season at Newmarket.  Among his opponents were Zinganee, ridden by Sam Chifney, Jr., and the King's favourite, Fleur-de-lis.  In the race, Golden Pin finished unplaced behind Zinganee, but of greater long term consequence was the arrival of the young Flatman on the Newmarket scene.  It wasn't until the following season that he had his first win, but after that "the boy's rise in his profession was rapid and unintermitted."
caption: Colonel Jonathan Peel, for whom Flatman rode in his early years
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