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These 2556 comments are related to the topic:
old time jockeys ...
old time jockeys ...
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I give up
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They'll stop you from using Scunthorpe next
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reculver, as you probably sussed, I only tried to post Val F a g g o t e r.
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Paul
I remember taking an interest in Val in the mid 60's..I see he had 26 winners in '67 attached to Harry Whitemans at Cree Lodge. Don't have much on him but he was apprenticed in OZ around 1950. From June 1967.. On this day in . . . 1967 Australian jockey Val ****ter enjoys a bonanza evening at Edinburgh where, from five rides, he has four winners and one second. He lands a double for retainer Harry Whiteman on Carroglen in the seven-furlong handicap and Final Paradise in the handicap sprint, while he also takes the seller on The Two Bairns and the maiden on Old Sugar. ****ter was one of a number of Australian jockeys, of varying ability, who came to ride in Britain in the 1960s. Probably most famous for his association with Mount Athos who ran 3rd in Sir Icvor's Derby...MA was with Dunlop so Val didn't ride. He was highly regarded in OZ...this was his Obit there from 2006. THE Australian racing industry has lost one of its greatest characters with the death of former Coffs Harbour trainer Val F@ggotter on February 17. Born in Broken Hill, the young F@ggotter began his working life in Sydney racing stables in the 1940's. In a stroke of good fortune, during his first year as an apprentice jockey he rode two of the greats of Australian racing, super sprinter San Domenico and champion mare, Flight. "Getting on one great horse was unexpected as apprentices didn't get many opportunities in those days," he once said in a local radio interview. "But to get on two good one's? "I couldn't believe my luck." Entering senior ranks, F@ggotter spent a short spell in India before building a brilliant career in England in an era when riders from down-under ruled the British roost. A close friendship with legendary jockey Sir Gordon Richards saw F@ggotter wearing the royal colours for the Queen and Queen Mother, then gaining a mount in the English Derby at Epsom Downs. He was especially proud of becoming one of the few close friends of the brilliant but difficult Lester Piggott. "Exceptional men are always a little difficult to understand," he would say of that flawed genius on horseback. Retired to Coffs Returning to Australia in 1974, F@ggotter rode briefly for a period in Brisbane before 'retiring' to Coffs Harbour. But with the racing bug still in his system, F@ggotter took out a trainer's licence and found a number of good horses. The best was Misty Sarah, owned by local businessman John Samios, with a string of race victories to its credit. F@ggotter often said the best protege in his stable wasn't equine, but a young apprentice named Glen Colless. "I always knew he had special ability but thought he wouldn't ride for long," F@ggotter said. "He was tall and had a big build but gee, could he ride." Amazingly, the Colless career has boomed against the odds with one Brisbane riding premiership already secured and the top position held in the current season. In 1997, Val and Lorraine F@ggotter retired for a second time to Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast. He was 78 at the time of his death. Val is survived by Lorraine, children Helen, Brad, Desley, Jim and their families. |
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WR
Came across this...didn't know the Hannons had this Irish lineage.. FOR years I've followed Richard Hannon. Am I right in thinking his dad was a trainer in Ireland? Auld Timer,Port Glasgow His father, Henry, rode but never trained in Ireland. He came over to Britain to ride for George Poole, trainer of the 1921 Grand National winner Shaun Spadah. Henry became a trainer in Britain after a bad fall and there's a good story how he got his first horse. On leaving hospital Henry felt like a drink to lift his spirits. He shared more tham a few pints with this guy, bought a horse and forgot all about it. The next morning he was wondering where all his money had gone when there was a knock at the door and this fella said: 'Where do you want this nag?' The horse was called Carrabawn and won several races for Henry when he took out his licence to train at Lewes. He later moved to East Everleigh Stables at Marlborough where Richard trains to this day. |
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TMan, I remember him as 'Harry' Hannon back in the mid 60s. He moved to the stables where Richard now trains around 1958 from a yard in Lambourn. Richard took over very early 70s.
Val never mentioned anything about a job with Harry Whiteman that day in early 1967. He must have got the job when Sandy Barclay left to go to Noel Murless at the start of the 67 flat season. |
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Didn't realise that Harry Hannon trained in Lewes. Anyhow, before he went to Everleigh, he was at Delamere House(?)in Lambourn and he was there for at least four or five years in the mid 1950's. Think his first season at Everleigh might have been 1959.
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Paulbu - you beat me to it. I was drafting my reply to Tman and hunting through my books for the name of the Lambourn stable. Was definitely Delamere but cannot be sure of the "house" bit.
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tambourneineman , it was obvious he had irish connections , the temper was the giveaway ....
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blackbarn, as you thought, it was Delamere House in Lambourn
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The link is a map of the old Wye racecourse somebody mentioned the other day. It held its first meeting on Tuesday 29th May 1849 and its last on 2nd May 1974. The Racing Calendar described the course as ‘battledore shaped, one mile and three-quarters with six furlongs quite straight’. I had to look up battledore – it’s that long-handled spade bakers use to take bread out of an oven. Peter Cazelet was far and away the leading trainer at Wye. Escalus and Silver Dome both ran there for the Queen Mum. Her horse Colonello was destroyed there in 1974. Michael Scudamore had his only win in the royal colours on Gay Record, 24th Oct 1966, his 500th winner over fences – and his last. He retired eight days later after falling from Snakestone at Wolverhampton. On 13th September 1948, Fred Winter came down on a horse named Tugboat Minnie and fractured his spine. Joe Guest rode his first winner at Wye on Sampa, 2nd November 1953. Richard Linley also rode the first winner of his career there, Less Curious on 8th May 1972. I don’t know if anyone remembers Peter Upson – he rode his first winner at Wye, Caduceus in 1960. Henry Cecil’s first ever winner, Celestial Cloud, once ran there in a novice hurdle. Sheep would graze on the course when it wasn’t being used for racing and they used to herd them all into the centre of the track on racedays. They were kept in by an electric fence which jockey Aly Brandford once landed on after being catapulted over the rails. Both he and the St John’s ambulance man got a shock when he went to help.
http://community.cdnbf.net/community.betfair.com/user/whitwhitlaw/f2289798d36d95b15a97e8154d4c786e.png?v=158850 |
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my nan and grandfather got me into racing and my nan always told me how much she loved Peter Niven. I took that literally and that day I did a 5p round robin with all 3 of his rides.....naturally, all 3 won and I won £6.77 and loved him from that day forward!
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Whit - Good stuff on Wye. Not sure that Racing Calendar description of Wye is correct though. It was a bit like Plumpton, left handed but without the undulations. Basically it was a 1 mile round oval (squashed at one end if you get my meaning) with quite a short run-in (2f at most). Dont think my memory is playing tricks AND my Copes says oval and flat.
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That Racing Calendar description (the battledore) is of a previous incarnation of Wye racecourse that was used in the middle of the 19th century. The 'oval' of about 1 mile round was used from about the 1870s onwards, and was on a different site.
Battledore was a chaser with WA that won plenty. |
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...and was 1 of his 3 Cheltenham festival winners - won the National Hunt hcap chase in 1968.
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whitwhitlaw , that peter upson you asked about ..would he be the same fellow that trained ..nick the brief to win an irish hennessey....?
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workrider.....Nick The Greek was trained by John R Upson who is still training. Wishes or Watches ran for him on Sunday.
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were they in anyway related whitwhitlaw.....?
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workrider.......I don't have that information. I'll have a look in 'Ancestry'. I'll let you know if I find anything.
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TMan, any anecdotes on old northern stalwart Eric Apter. A jockey who to my mind was always in the shadows of Brian Connorton and never rode more than 30 winners in a season, his best seasons being in the mid to late 70s when Snowy Gray began to give him more 'live' rides.
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workrider...I didn't have enough data to connect P Upson with John R Upson using Ancestry.
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Rare copies of Horses in Training 1954 and 1956 up for bidding on ebay if anybody is interested. Last day tomorrow.
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no problem whitwhitlaw , its such an unusual name i thought they'd be related ...
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It would seem that it's been a bleak week or so for jockey's birthdays. There's still plenty that haven't been mentioned yet.
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PAULBU There’s a couple of birthdays coming up….
November 29th W.A.Carson……30th Nov G Duffield… December 1st Willie Twiston-Davies…1st N.Wakely….2nd D Tudhope…...4th Hywell Davies….4th R Still…5th A.Dickman….5th D Probert…6th B.Poste…6th R Havlin…7th J Hammer…7th K Johnson…10th S.Drowne…12th N Madden…13th J Higgins….13th J Francome…13th J Tizzard…14th R Hutchinson…14th E Larkin…14th A Bevan...15th G Cadwaladr….15th S Drinkwater…16th G Lee… |
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Thanks for that list, Whit. Seeing the name of Ray Still reminds me of an apprentice who came through at the same time in the mid to late 1960s and that is Richard Dicey. Both reached the 70 winner mark very quickly but when their claim ran out they found it very difficult to ride winners. Dicey was liked to one of the many Smyth trainers down south London way. Maybe one of our southern contributors can enlighten us.
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Richard DICEY was Joint-Champion Apprentice with David(?) Coates in 1968 -
- with 40 Winners each. By 1973 - Neither were listed as Jockeys. |
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re Richard Dicey:-
I think I've posted this before, so apologies if I'm repeating myself. He's got a pre-training business in NSW Australia. Here's his website:- http://rdiceyfreezebranding.com.au/ On there he gives a bit of background of himself. I've copied it below:- "I have always been involved with Horses in some manner. As a teenager I was Champion Apprentice Jockey in England. At the time managing rides in England, Ireland, Holland, France. As weight got the better of me, I rode for a time in India before immigrating to Australia. In my time in Australia I have managed my own 100 acre Agistment/Pre-Training Centre in Perth where I also broke- in for leading owners and trainers of the day. This is also where I established my Freeze Branding business. I next spent time in New Zealand on the look for a training facility. Instead I discovered Real Estate and quickly rose to top listing agent and salesman in the Auckland area. The weather finally got the better of me and I returned to Australia, locating in Brisbane. I continued selling and buying Houses (including purchasing this stables in Ballina in which i leased out for a few years) awhile until my children were of an age that their desire for a horse of their own got the better of me. Starting with a gorgeous wee Shetland, Gypsy, we went from strength to strength ending with a team of 5 and 7 or so State Showjumping and Sporting Titles as well as EFA Interschool Titles and a swag of Pony Club hardware. he interest in horses slowly grew towards the Racing Industry and my daughter, Tracy, became an apprentice jockey and son, William, relocated to Sydney to work as a trackrider and then travelling to the UK. While i got back into shape and starting riding track work and training for trainers such as Mr Adam Palmer, Health Coote etc I recently re-obtained my trainers license. I pride myself on my professional abilities to handle the Horses in a humane and gentle way so that it is a positive experience for the Horse and the Owner." |
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There were many apprentices that were in great demand in the late 1960s. Apart from Richard Dicey, David Coates and Ray Still, there was Geoff Oldroyd, George Duffield, Graham Sexton, Willie McCaskill, Clive Eccleston and Pat Eddery. If you look at the batch that preceded these, including such names as Willie Carson, Ernie Johnson, Dennis Letherby and David Maitland then mid to late 60s was a golden era for apprentices.
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Not so old but anyone know what became of Adam Shoults ,rode a few winners as an apprentice a few years ago ?
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I recently enquired on here about a former jump jockey,Swannee Haldane.
I've just been informed tonight that Swannee has passed away today.Swannee for those who didn't know him was one of lifes characters who no matter how bad things were (& he had more than his share of misfortune in his personal life)he came up with a smile & a joke.He was a battler through & through,someone I'll never forget. R.I.P. Swannee my old pal. |
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he died in a kelso nursing home ...had a stroke last year....r.i.p.
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Not sure if any of the following have been mentioned earlier but here is a snippet from the Racing Post of Thursday 21 November 1991 ALL OUR YESTERDAYS feature.
21 November 1966. Wolverhampton is the only meeting to survive the rain and even at Dunstall Park the going is described in the form book as very heavy with the added rider that it is very bad.(recent events in the UK nothing new then)? Not bad enough to stop racing though to the pleasure of Fred Rimmel and Eddie Harty,who win the Novice Chase with Ten Pins and the first of the Novice Hurdles with Hurry Man. Goes on to mention Neville Crump and Gerry Scott,Roddy Armitage and Stan Mellor,Bill Denson/Doug Barrot in the same race.Ron Vilbert fractured a collar bone when Rainford (Rex Carter) is brought down. Duncan Keith has been riding all through the flat season with a pin in his thigh which he broke at Lingfield in May of the previous year.This has not prevented him from having a pretty successful season with 42 winners but he is to go into hospital to have the pin removed. Bookmaker Harold Goldblatt loses his permit for taking too long to pay out a winning punter.Some shrewd lady in Goldblatts North London emporium backed Bridal Veil at Alexandra Park on 27 September but the fillies success caught Goldblatt on the hop and she was not paid out until seven weeks later. Willie King,President of The Scottish Starting Price Bookmakers Association says that too much Levy Board money is given to the Champion Stakes and the Sussex Stakes,that the Levy Board should fill in the blank days in the fixture list and that fractions (100/8 etc) should be eliminated. Not all on topic of course but thought it interesting to note how much has/has not changed. |
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Sad news re Swanee Haldane. Remember him as a jockey on the northern circuit. Rode Tudor Fort. a live outsider in the 1969 National who unseated him in spectacular style at the 3rd. Does anyone know how he acquired the nickname?
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^^^^^
Born John Swanson Haldane on July 11 1939. Fav.Horse as a rider was Pappagenos Cottage on which he won the Withington at Cheltenham in record time. RIP Johnny. |
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^^^^^
Born John Swanson Haldane on July 11 1939. Fav.Horse as a rider was Pappagenos Cottage on which he won the Withington at Cheltenham in record time. RIP Johnny. |
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Just come across this fascinating thread. Does anyone remember Capt. Pidcock ho used to ride the great Captain Christy? Also Wally Swinburne snr. former fist jockey to Dermot Weld.
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I've been looking at the racing pages in the Glasgow Herald archive, I noticed the rider you mention rode Captain Christy in a novice hurdle somewhere. Remember going to Dunstall Park the day decimal currency was brought in, one of the winners was returned 13/10.
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As far as I can remember, Tommy Capt. Pidcock owned Captain Christy before he was sold to Samuels. I think he lived in Cahir Co. Tipperary. I think he rode Captain Christy to two victories before he was sold.
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Major Tom your confusing the ranks...! Joe Pidcock was actually a Major as well, he bought CC for 10,000 punts from Tom Nicholson who was CC's first owner/trainer having purchased the horse for the princely sum of 290 Irish Guineas as a foal.
We can only assume he made a handsome profit when selling the horse onto Mrs Samuel. |