his name was john but for no reason the stable called him joe
funny that.a very good lad.father a great bloke

hardestgame      Sep 12 09:13 

new young jockey JOHN BLANKS  rode a horse owed my daily mirror called mirror boy to win big handicap at redcar
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JOE Blanks .... and, of course, the race that Mirror Boy won at Redcar was - The Andy Capp Handicap.

'Andy Capp' - being a strip-cartoon character in the Daily Mirror.

Hardestgame,i use to work with a girl who's sister was going out with Joe Blanks when he died,all the blokes at the bank i worked with use to follow him,terrible tragedy when he died,lovely family as well.

Declan Hogan.

There was also a Dermot Hogan who used to ride for John Oxx & Stephen Quirke and a Denis Hogan Training & riding today.

A Wragg was presumably Arthur Wragg, brother of Harry, as was Sam. They were all jockeys.

He was apprenticed to Stanley Wootton at Epsom in the 1920s, so Mister E might know something of him.

This is a story about Stuart Webster from 2004...he was living in Skipton where I used to live.Sad story.



As one of racing's unsung heroes, Stuart Webster gave most of his life to the game. For more than 25 years the fearless Flat jockey earned a reputation of being able to handle unruly and difficult horses, and even tried his hand at jumping.

But now Webster, 47 next month and a father of one, has discovered that racing has stolen his memory, and the man who drove home around 400 winners is now scraping a living pushing trolleys at a local supermarket and peeling spuds in a fish-and-chip shop.

A brain scan has revealed he is suffering from dimunitive brain disease, which, his hospital consultant has told him, is owing to a build-up of bangs to the head. Now he must deal with the trauma of severe short-term memory loss with a life of routine and repetition if he is to perform even simple, everyday tasks.

He says: "I rode a lot of naughty horses over the years and consequently had several falls, for which I am now paying the price.

"There is no cure and I just have to live with it. But I'm learning how to cope and still enjoy life. I survive on a set routine in which everything has to be put into its place so that I know where to find it next time.

"I always carry a notepad and pen around and write every task down so that I won't forget to do something. But I don't always remember to look at my notes. The other day I was supposed to take my daughter Christmas shopping and clean forgot.

"It's scary at times. I go into a shop and if there's more than one room I can get lost - I don't remember how to get out and panic sets in.

"It's very confusing, especially in unfamiliar surroundings. Airports and railway stations are particularly frightening places."

He relies on girlfriend Dawn Benford to constantly remind him of what he should be doing next.

"Dawn is a carer for me and I am quite ashamed. She already has enough on, looking after her 12-year-old son in a wheelchair - I feel I'm just an extra burden.

"But I won't let it get me down. I went into racing to do a job and get somewhere in life and I enjoyed every minute, so I have no regrets."

Webster lives in Skipton, North Yorkshire, where he works two days a week at the supermarket and is also part-time at his sister's fish-and-chip shop.

He receives pounds 75 a month from his jockeys' pension - the scheme wasn't even running when he first started riding - and says the only other help he's had from racing came from the Injured Jockeys' Fund, which offered to finance his brain scan.

He says: "When I'm pushing trolleys on a cold, wet, miserable day I sometimes think `What on earth am I doing here?' But then I help an old lady unload her shopping into the car and get a warm `thank you', which makes my day.

"I get more thanks in one day at the supermarket than I ever did in 25 years in racing!"

Ask Webster the names or breeding of the two dozen horses in training when he first started out as an apprentice back in the early 1970s and he can reel off most of the details without hesitation.

He explains: "It's just my

short-term memory that is affected. For example, six months after buying my own little house I couldn't remember where it was."

After his ex-partner Julie Craze quit training two years ago, Webster rode work in Spain for a spell. "But I came back home when I found I couldn't even remember which stable to take a horse back to after riding trackwork. It's very embarrassing," he says.

The memory loss started while Webster was still riding in this country. He reveals: "In the latter years I sometimes forgot my orders when I got down to the start. If an owner wasn't at the races and rang later to ask me how his horse had gone, my mind was a blank.

"I think it really started after a bad fall I had when a horse broke its leg in 1988.

"I always kept a record of every mount, and looking back at my notes I can see that two weeks after that fall I added another heading - How the horse ran - to remind me to put my thoughts down while they were still fresh.

"I had quite a few bangs on the head while race-riding and was knocked out a few times.

"Once at Southwell I was thrown to the ground at the start. I was unconscious and swallowed my tongue, but luckily one of the stalls handlers managed to release it in time."

Webster was best known for his associations with prolific sprinter Glencroft and Blyton Lad, on whom he won six Listed races including Newmarket's Rous Stakes three times.

His most magical moment? "Riding my very first winner, Hei'land Jamie for my boss, `Squeak' Fairhurst, as an apprentice on May 20, 1974 in a six-furlong race at Pontefract. I can still remember feeling excited cantering down to the start, confident I was going to win.

"I had ridden Hei'land Jamie the time before when finishing second at York and really fancied my chances. It's as clear as

day . . . I can recall owner Bill Paul buying me my first riding saddle for winning."

Memories are made of this . . . but Stuart Webster has to live in the past in more ways than one to remember the good times.

Thanks guys on the jockey christian names, particularly sooty1 who knew them all.

Ged,
Arthur Wragg was the younger brother of Harry and Sam.
All three brothers rode in some of the wartime Derbys.

Arthur was apprenticed to Stanley Wootton, I think David Nicholson mentions in his book The Duke, that Arthur and David's father Frenchie were in digs together.

Don't know much more about Arthur only that he died young, in 1953. I think it was TB.

Three brothers riding in the same derby was a feat though, i think they did it four times.

mightymac - You are correct re: Stan Mellor.

- and that Nottingham meeting was shown on ITV on a Saturday afternoon, too.

Thanks onlooker, Was Ouzo a Grey ? Can you remember?

Thanks reculver. I thought it was but wasn`t sure. Some great names in your post. Clear Cut, who traine dhim again and did he not win the Hennessy or Mackeson? Spanish Steps carried the Edward Courage colours and Pendil, greatest chaser not to have won the Gold Cup. A terrific jumper of a fence was Pendil. Nearly as good as me

9 DAYS LATER ON BOXING DAY,SPANISH STEPS FINISHED SECOND BEHIND THE DIKLER IN THE KING GEORGE. TITUS OATS (Lord Oaksey) i believe, finished 3rd...and Pendil won again

Maurice Camacho, of course. thanks.

That was asked by somebody - and verified by others - earlier on the thread.
Or on a similar thread.

"Too much (moderate) racing" - could/will be a contributory factor. -

However, when you are younger, and you become interested in something, it has a more impressionable effect on you - simply because you have not encountered it before - and in the case of racing, it all appeared exciting.

Like ALL learning, You remember the INITIAL experience more than the mundane repetitions.

I`m the same, could tell you the placed horses in all Derbies and Grand Nationals in 70s but would struggle if you asked me who won 2 years ago.

SUMMER FLAT ONLY RACING..NO A.W NO N.H

MON..2 AFTERNOON MEETINGS ..2 EVENING.
TUE..2 AFTERNOON MEETINGS..
WED..3 AFTERNOON MEETINGS..2 EVENING.
THUR..3 AFTERNOON MEETINGS
FRI...4 AFTERNOON MEETS....3 EVENING
SAT...5 AFTERNOON MEETS....2 EVENING EVERY OTHER SAT WHEN NO SUNDAY MEETS
SUN...3 MEETS EVERY OTHER SUNDAY..

WINTER..SAME AS FLAT BUT NO EVENINGS AND 1 A.W MEETING A DAY
EVERY OTHER SUNDAY OFF.

J W Hemingway colours combination were somewhat as you say ...

BLUE, WHITE cross belts, RED sleeves and Cap.

Think Clear Cut's name would probably be influenced by his sire - Articulate.

PAULBU, Mick Miller "and" don't keep us in suspence, one swallow ect ect

Reculver - your very elementary fishing attempt with Morny Cannon must not go unacknowledged.
Jolly well done.

MightyMac - Onlooker has (unsurprisingly, and as usual) correctly answered your Hemingway colours "question".  Your faith in me was not misplaced but I was hay'ing at the time.