IT has been quite a 12 months for Charlotte Jones.

She started 2017 as a stable lass at James Moffatt’s Cartmel stables with a handful of rides under her belt as a conditional jockey; she ended it with four winners to her name and boundless horizons opening up before her.

The Barrow rider’s year has been amazing to watch unfold.

She burst onto the scene at Cartmel in May, claiming her first win on board Lough Kent, before taking the same horse to victory in one of the track’s feature races a month later and then winning the Cumbria Crystal Cup on board Altruism, a horse out of form in his previous two runs at the track.

As if success on her local track was not enough, Jones went on to win on her first ride at Aintree on board Bon Chic in October.

Her record had Moffatt joking at various points about having to put her on a retainer, and it has all taken Jones by surprise.

Looking back, she still cannot get her head round what has happened, and admits: “It’s a bit surreal really. It’s been a bit overwhelming.

“I came into the year only having had a small handful of rides, and I’ve come out of the year with four winners – three at my local track and one at Aintree. There’s no better places to have had the winners either.

“Even now, I don’t feel like I’ve had that many rides to be experienced. I don’t feel like I’m experience enough to be having the winners I’ve had. They’ve not just been little races around Sedgefield or the like, they were two of the biggest races at Cartmel and then a race at Aintree. It’s all a bit mad; I couldn’t have asked for any better.”

While Jones is still in shock at her successful 2017, Moffatt is bold enough to say he had seen it coming, such was the obvious ability of the young rider in his midst.

Asked if he could have imagined 12 months ago the year Jones was going to have, he says: “To be honest, without trying to sound clever, yes! She’s a class rider.”

Having enjoyed so much success this year, form claiming her maiden success, to winning two big races at Cartmel on board Lough Kent and Altruism, to pulling off a shock on her maiden ride at Aintree, there are many highlights to choose from for Jones.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that she cannot choose when asked to pick out one moment.

“Winning at Aintree was a massive thing for me, because I was on a 33/1 shot, and having previously fallen off that mare (Bon Chic) earlier in the season at ~ Cartmel, I was dreading riding her,” she recalls. For her to come out and perform the way she did I couldn’t have asked for more. It was hard work, but it was a massive thrill.

“My win on Altruism at Cartmel was a massive highlight as well. He has been my favourite horse since I started in the yard; I’ve looked after him pretty much the whole time I’ve worked here. To go out and win on my favourite horse is something.

“Then there is my win on Lough Kent in the big race. At the time, I couldn’t believe it – winning by that short distance was good.

“He is another of my favourites in the yard. I look after him too, so it’s always a pleasure to ride him. He does everything and more that I ask of him. I can’t ask for a better horse to have taught me the ropes on the track.”

If Jones finds it hard to single out any one moment as her best, her boss has no such issues.

Moffatt still smiles when he thinks about her standing in the saddle and holding the whip up high as she claimed her first winner on board Lough Kent at Cartmel in May.

He says: “She was quite amazing on Altruism, but the one thing I remember from 2017, I still have that memory from Cartmel – among all those good days we had with Morning Royalty, Think Ahead and other horses – was Charlotte crossing the line with her whip in the air, like she’s not supposed to, sticks in my head. I thought that brilliant. It meant so much.”

This year is set to see Jones joined on the track by fellow stable lass Polly Steele, another Barrow rider who has come on leaps and bounds working at Pit Farm Stables.

Moffatt is looking forward to seeing what she can do, having gone in for her amateur licence, and adds: “It’s going to be very interesting to see Polly. She’s top-drawer stuff as well, so there is lots to look forward to.”

That is something Jones is excited by as well, and she says: “I’d love to see Polly succeed as well. If she can have rides, then I will be there to support her, no matter what. I’d love to see her have the same success I’ve had.

“She deserves it. She works really hard in the yard and maybe doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves. Hopefully things will change and that will be coming.”

What, then, of 2018 for Jones herself?

She admits to not having thought much about it, still caught up in the whirlwind in 2017.

But there is the hope for more rides, more winners, more success, and she says: “I haven’t really had much time to think about next year. I just want to go out there and improve everything as a whole.

“I’d like to get more winners, and I’d like to keep up the strike-rate I have at the moment.

“It’s about 22 per cent, and hopefully I can keep improving on that.

“I want to hopefully get more rides. If I keep getting more experience, then hopefully I will keep improving.”