Mark Birch R.I.P

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https://sites.google.com/site/allsoppfredjockey/birch-mark

what happened

Used to ride for Easterby I remember him

lots of winners for sally hall

didnt he have the leg over sea pigeon

Rode the mighty Sea Pigeon to two Chester Cup victories

he certainly rode Sea Pigeon, not sure if he had his leg over it

I heard he was ill for a while....Only 67.

Ebor winner was Protection Racket

Shocking news

local lad to me very sad news.

Mark Birch, who originally wanted to be a hairdresser, was born in Chadderton, Oldham,  on September 5, 1949.
His apprenticeship was served with Geoffrey Booke. He then switched to Peter Easterby's stable  at Great Habton, near Malton in Yorkshire.
He rode his first winner on Bollin Charlotte at Chester on July 26, 1968. It was on this course that he rode the great Sea Pigeon to successive victories in the Chester Cup, 1977 and 1978.
Mark made his name in his early days when winning four times on Maystreak, the best Northern miler of the day.
In 1981, with the ill-fated Brian Taylor unable to do the weight, he rode Protection Road to a stunning victory in the 1981 Ebor for trainer Jeremy Hindley.
Other big race wins that came his way were on Dawn Johnny (Northumberland Plate, 1981),  Hard Fought (John of Gaunt Stakes, 1980) and Bronze Hill (Lincoln, 1973). He also rode Sonnen Gold, the 1979 champion Northern two-year-old, to six consecutive victories.
Numerically, 1979 was his best year, with 77 winners in the book.
After quitting the saddle, Mark became the assistant of Tipperary-born trainer Kevin Ryan at Hambleton Lodge, near Thirsk.
The prematurely-balding jockey's nickname was 'Archie.'
Mark, who lived at Hillview, Malton Road, Slingsby, York, enjoyed fishing and crosswords.
On September 20, 1969, he married Joyce; she gave him three children, Samantha, Jill and Nicholas Mark.
Mark, in April 2014, was living in Malton.


sad news, R I P

sad news, rip.

just looking at the race card for chester cup day 1979 where mark rode sea pigeon,he rode the first winner that afternoon sonnen gold for spitten mick,

**** of the north

rooster of the north

also won the plate and the ebor.

Will always remember him scooting up the standside rail aboard Able Albert in the 1984 Ayr Gold Cup. Deepest condolonces to friends and fmaily. RIP.

brings back memories of all them Cumbrian and Bollin horses he rode,

Cumbrian Waltzer (nap)

Palatial Style in the Andy Capp up the joggers strip at York.

Foxy,Sonnen Gold was Peter's and like Sea Pigeon owned by Muldoon,won the Gimcrack the day after Sea Pigeon won the Ebor.Very sad news,a fixture on the northern circuit in the "good old days".

I never knew he started at Newmarket with Geoffrey Brooke until I just read it.
R.I.P.Mark.

i remember him winning on a huge drifter of sally halls in the last at ripon one night,returned to silence from connections never seen a jockey so unhappy at winning,rumours were he wouldnt ride for hall again,probably just racecourse bar talk though

Was at York the day Protection Racket won the Ebor was having a mare of a meeting (was about 18-19 so pretty small stakes but still struggling compared to my mate) think it could be named the winner 2f out - that was a happy night RIP Mark Birch

Bonol was another in the Muldoon colours who won the Northern Free H'cap in 80 or 81 very impressively. It was a race that had a bit of kudos at the time - though in Bonol's case that was his career highlight. Another that the owner had in the yard was a sprinter called Sonnenblick - think Jonjo  also rode it once or twice on the flat. Birch was also sometimes used when Stoute had runners at the smaller northern meetings.

Very sad to hear of the passing of Mark Birch today.

Birch & Easterby were the combo to follow when I first started betting in the early 80's so its a stark reminder of how quickly time passes and how so short a time we have here. Remember all the Bollins winning up North in particular.

Didnt realise he was so instrumental in getting Kevin Ryan started either. Sad news indeed.

Yes - well remembered - verbotene - Michael Stoute would use Mark Birch for many of his northern runners.

Birch was at his best coaxing that enigmatic character Buzzards Bay home at York, fond memories .

Very sad news

Sonnen Gold won the Gimcrack with Birchy on board

thanks ribero i was thinking about it last night and thought i had got it wrong.

must be getting old when jockeys who were top of the game when i started punting are passing away - eddery, birch etc...used to back peter easterby/dickinson almost exclusively over jumps and always looked out for the easterby flat horses too, wasn't no bombs a decent flat/hurdler for them? as poster below i have fond/profitable memories of able albert scraping paint to win the ayr gold cup although a few of my racing buddies still think it got beat! hope he gets the send off he deserves..

Morning Foxy,re No Bombs,think Birch rode it in Sea Pigeon's Ebor.

morning ribero

the race with no footage.

Didn't know that Foxy,re the Easterbys they've always seemed to stay very loyal to their Jockeys over the years.

itv were on strike if anybody had an old cini film of it ,it would be worth a fortune.popular jump jockey riding the best dual purpose horse of all time in a historic flat handicap.

Next time I see you Foxy I have a good tale to tell about that day.

dont forget then ribero.

No I won't and while I was thinking about it it brought back memories of a character from your neck of the woods,do you remember "Little Jackie"?

Jackie Paul ? Female

No,Jackie Emmanuel,he'd be 70ish now if hes still around,i'm sure you'll know him when I see you,Bernard Hough knew him.

Mark was a very good jockey. He could have got a good job in Newmarket but of course Easterby was a very good job in the North. Hell of a rick getting off Sea Pigeon.It just shows us  there are just some horses you never get off whatever the weights.

extract below and article http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/other-sport/birch-rides-high-ryans-expres... the great british weather played a part

However, there was an ironic twist of fate when Sea Pigeon won the Ebor at York in 1979.

"The boss (Peter Easterby) was also running No Bombs," said Birch. "No Bombs was the better on fast ground, which looked likely, and as he was a bit naughty at the stalls it was better that I rode him rather than a jockey who did not know him.

"So Jonjo O'Neill rode Sea Pigeon."

The unpredictable British weather dealt Birch a cruel hand, and he added with a wry smile: "We had a torrential downpour at lunchtime and the ground went against No Bombs.

"We finished last. That's racing, but you always think what might have been, because I won the Gimcrack on Sonnen Gold the same afternoon.

"It would have been some day if I had ridden Sea Pigeon too, but at least I had my turn in the Ebor when I won it on Protection Racket two years later."

Like most of us ( SP 18/1 )he probably didn't think Sea Pigeon could win under 10 stone. The horse certainly didn't need soft ground.

Never realised he was from Chadderton. It's just up the road from me.

Having won two Chester Cups on Sea Pigeon, it deed seem surprising that Birchy jocked himself off such a good horse come the Ebor for No Bombs. He seemed to accept it gracefully though. I wonder if NB won when he encountered his preferred fast ground. RIP Mark Birch.

This ride on Able Albert
.
https://youtu.be/ys0Lb4SL_OI

Just been reading about No Bombs and seemingly he was the horse that won at Ascot by 8 lengths but was subsequently disq for banned substances. Apparently, the horse had been fed a 20 pence Mars bar that ultimately cost connections over £4k.

just watched able albert, remember on the day shouting at the tv that it had won whilst the commentator was already reading out the one on the other side, however it does look much closer now!

mully

hope you have paid a visit to the indish as you sound pretty local to it.

Mars bars - theobromine increase