Bill Smith came, literally, within inches of a fairytale end to his riding career when, on April 28, 1984, he was involved in what was later described in the ‘Sunday Times’ as ‘the race of a lifetime’. The race in question was, of course, the Whitbread Gold Cup (now the Bet365 Gold Cup), which the history books record was won by Special Cargo, owned by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and trained by Fulke Walwyn. Since 1974, Smith had ridden 65 winners for the Queen Mother – whom he described as ‘ one of the nicest owners you could ever wish to ride for’ – and was, in fact, the regular jockey of Special Cargo.
However, for his farewell ride, Smith chose to remain loyal to the 13-year-old Diamond Edge, a stable companion of the eventual winner, on whom he had won the Whitbread Gold Cup twice, in 1979 and 1981, and the Hennessy Gold Cup (now the Coral Gold Cup) at Newbury, again in 1981. In a pulsating finish, Diamond Edge narrowly missed out on becoming the first horse to win the Hennessy Gold Cup three times, going down to Special Cargo and Lettoch, trained by Michael Dickinson, in a three-way photograph, with the first three separated by just two short heads.
Born on October 30, 1948, Smith rode his first winner, Silver Meade, trained by John Blake, as an amateur, on November 28, 1969. Two years later, on his first ride for Edward Courage, he won the SGB Chase (now the Ascot Silver Cup) on Spanish Steps and would twice finish placed in the Grand National – fourth, under 11st 9lb, in 1974 and third, under 10st 3lb, in 1975 – on the same horse. Away from Aintree, other notable winners included Royal Relief, trained by Fred Rimmell, in the Two-Mile Champion Chase (now the Queen Mother Champion Chase) twice, in 1972 and 1974, and Comedy Of Errors, also trained by Rimmell, in the Champion Hurdle in 1973.
