Ladbrokes have announced Ben Jones as their new ambassador with this year’s Jump season getting underway.

The bookies, who already have leading trainer, Dan Skelton, on their books, have added the 25-year-old to their ever-growing stable of high-profile names in the sport.

Last season was Jones’ best to date in the saddle, riding 77 winners and picking up over £1.2m in prize money, including Grade 1 triumphs in the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase with The Jukebox Man on Boxing Day and the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase with Handstands at Sandown in February. 

Jones is the second jockey Ladbrokes have signed up this year, having worked with the leading Flat jockey, Sean Levey, since April. 

Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at his launch as their new ambassador, Ben Jones said: “I want to better myself this year. I want to help Ben [Pauling] get better, too. I think we’re both at the stage where we’re new to the scene when it comes to the big races and the big meetings. Last year we had 10 or 11 big winners and a good bit of prize money off the back of that, but we always want to do better.”

“We’ve got 98 horses here, and there’s a lot of staff members who put a lot of time and effort into keeping things ticking over. So yes, of course I want to better myself, get more winners and get more prize money. But I also want to do it for everyone else involved behind the scenes.”

Head of PR for Ladbrokes, Alex Apati, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Ben Jones on board for what looks to be an exciting season ahead for him. In snapping up one of the best jumps jockeys in the country, we’ll be bringing our customers much closer to the action with weekly exclusives and insights from Ben – and we can’t wait to see how he builds on last year’s successes…”