Born on September 22, 1994 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Tom Bellamy is the elder son of former National Hunt jockey Robert Bellamy. He rode his first winner, Ponchatrain, trained by Martin Keighley, in an amateur riders’ handicap chase at Sedgefield on May 10, 2011. Bellamy enjoyed early success on Swing Bill, trained by David Pipe, in an amateur riders’ handicap chase at Cheltenham on November 11, 2011 and, following discussions with Pipe, turned conditional early the following year.
Three years with Pipe, in Nicholashayne, Somerset, yielded just 20 winners and, in August 2014, Bellamy joined Alan King at Barbury Castle Stables in Wroughton, Wiltshire. He rode 23 winners in 2014/15, 18 in 2015/16 and 25 in 2016/17, the latter total including his first Graded winner, Master Blueyes, trained by King, in the Adonis Juvenile at Kempton on February 25,2017.
In his first season as a fully-fledged professional, Bellamy won the BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Splash Of Ginge, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, on November 18, 2017. The 2017/18 season, as a whole, proved a disappointment, though, with just 17 winners and his seasonal tally fell again in 2018/19, to just 12 winners, at a dismal 6% strike rate. Reflecting on his period in the doldrums, Bellamy said later, “…I was at a stage when my claim had gone, had two really quiet seasons and wasn’t far off giving up. “
Nevertheless, with the support of King, Twiston-Davies and Emma Lavelle, his career took off again and has continued to flourish ever since. Bellamy rode a career-best 51 winners in 2021/22, including a high-profile victory on Eclair Surf, trained by Lavelle, in the Classic Handicap Chase at Warwick on January 15, 2022. In the next three seasons, Bellamy rode 47, 48 and 45 winners and it would be fair to say that his services have become much sought-after. Aside from being first-choice jockey to David Dennis, he was appointed stable jockey to Emma Lavelle in December 2023 and to Kim Bailey the following summer, when David Bass left to go freelance.
More recently, in November 25, Bellamy was promoted to first-choice jockey at Barbury Castle, replacing Tom Cannon, who had been stable jockey to King since the retirement of Wayne Hutchinson in 2019. At the time of writing, Bellamy has yet to ride a Grade 1 winner, but has five Grade 2 and five Grade 3 winners to his name, the most recent being Master Chewy, trained by Twiston-Davies, in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton on December 27, 2023.