Jockey

Becher’s Brook has the distinction of being the most famous fence in the most famous steeplechase in the world, the Grand National. Even if you have just a passing interest in horse racing, you’ve probably heard of the 4ft 10in fence, notorious for a steep drop on the landing side, which is jumped twice during the Grand National. However, you may not know much about Captain Martin William Becher, after whom the famous fence is named.

 

Born in Norwich in 1797, Becher served as a young man in the Storekeeper-General’s department of the Army and was stationed in Brussels during the Battle of Waterloo. On his return to Britain, he joined the Yeomanry and the courtesy title of ‘captain’ was conferred upon him by the Duke of Buckinghamshire.

 

Becher subsequently became a professional jockey and won the first steeplechase ever run in the vicinity of Liverpool, an ‘unofficial’ version of the Grand National known as the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase, on The Duke in 1836. However, it was not until three years later, during the running of what is generally considered the first ‘official’ Grand National (although the title wasn’t formally adopted until 1846), that Becher reserved his place in racing folklore.

 

In 1839, seventeen horses went to post for the race, supposedly over four miles but actually further, on a course consisting of ploughed fields, banks, ditches, streams and even a loose stone wall. At the sixth fence, a stiff post and rails, Becher’s mount, Conrad, refused, sending Becher flying over his head into the eight foot wide ditch beyond, where he remained until the rest of the field had passed. However, in a characteristic act of derring do, Becher remounted the 20/1 chance and set off in pursuit, only to part company again at the second stream, now known as Valentine’s Brook.

 

Captain Becher reportedly said afterwards that he had not known how ‘dreadful water tastes without whisky in it’. Nevertheless, his exploits caught the public imagination and, by 1840, the most famous steeplechase fence in the world was already known as ‘Becher’s Brook’. The brook itself was filled in 1990 but, despite repeated calls by animal rights’ groups for its removal, along with Valentine’s Brook, The Chair and Canal Turn, the signature fence in the Grand National will hopefully continue to provide a thrilling spectacle for as long as the race itself exists.

 

Captain Becher rode for another eleven years after his Aintree ‘adventure’ and eventually died in 1864, at the age of 67, after a short illness.

 

Retiring a little over a month ago, Katie Walsh was a jockey held in high regard. Daughter of Ted Walsh (also a jockey, trainer, now presenter), and born in 1984 she holds the honour of being the highest placed female jockey in the prestigous Grand National, finishing a very respectable third place 2012 on Seabass. In 2015 she won he Irish Grand National, so that’s another impressive accolade she holds.

 

Her interest in horse began with eventing many years prior to she came to be held in high acclaim for her racing abilities. Early success in horse racing took the form of multiple successes at the Cheltenham Festival in 2010 where she rode not one but two winners (Poker De Sivola in the National Hunt Chase and Thousand Stars in the County Handicap Hurdle ). After a succesful career and the aforementioned Grand National successes, she bookended her time in racing with yet more success at Cheltenham. At the 2018 festival she won the grade 1 Champion Bumper aboard Relegate.

 

Upon announcing her shock retirement after a win in the Novice Hurdle at Punchestown , Walsh stated “I’ve had a marvellous career and I’ve unbelievable memories. The next chapter in life begins now. I said to myself that I’d retire whenever I rode my next winner, whether it be here at Punchestown or wherever.” The hard fought win on Atley at 9-1 was an impressive way to bow out of racing.

 

Walsh is held in such high regard she received a guard of honour by fellow riders following her final win. She has been praised for opening the door for women jockeys, and showing where determination and grit can get you in this tough and competitive sport. Ever modest she always let her riding do the talking though, saying that she saw herself as ‘a jockey’ and not ‘a female jockey’.

Younger readers may not be familiar with the name of Frederick James ‘Fred’ Archer (11 January 11, 1857 – November 8, 1886) but, for an all too brief period during the late nineteenth century, he dominated British Flat racing in the same way as Lester Piggott a century later. Born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Archer was apprenticed to Newmarket trainer Matthew Dawson as a ten-year-old and became champion jockey for the first time in 1874 winners

 

Archer headed the list of winning jockeys in every subsequent season until his untimely death in 1886. By the end of his career, ‘The Tin Man’, as he was popularly known, had ridden 2,748 winners in Britain, including 21 Classic winners and it was not until 1933 that Gordon Richards, latterly Sir Gordon Richards, beat his record of 246 winners in a single season.

 

Like Lester Piggott, Fred Archer was unusually tall for a jockey at 5 foot 8 inches and, like Piggott, struggled desperately with his weight as he grew older. Malnutrition, Turkish baths and a reliance on a powerful laxative preparation, euphemistically known as ‘Archer’s Mixture’ ultimately took their toll on his health, but he was also blighted by a succession of personal problems throughout his life.

 

He became known as ‘The Tin Man’ because of his fondness for money, and gambling, at which he was, on occasion, spectacularly unsuccessful. He was also accused of being part of a race-fixing ring, but there is no evidence to support this. In January, 1883, he married Helen Rose Dawson, niece of Matthew Dawson, but her death during childbirth just a year after they were married, at the age of 23, plunged Archer into a deep depression from which he never fully recovered.

 

On November 6, 1886, Fred Archer returned to his Newmarket home, Falmouth House, suffering from the effects of a serious chill and high fever, which was subsequently diagnosed as typhoid fever. On November 8, suffering from delirium and depression, possibly caused by the recurrence of the anniversary of his wife’s death during his illness, Archer produced a revolver from the pedestal at his bedside and shot himself through the head in the presence of his sister, Mrs. Emily Coleman. In so doing, he brought to an end one of the most successful, yet tragic, lives on any jockey in history; he was just 29 years old.

 

Fred Archer is buried in Newmarket, Suffolk, and some of his effects, including his racing saddle and the revolver he used to shoot himself, are on display in the National Horseracing Museum in the town.

 

Since 2007, Steve Smith Eccles has been a jockey coach at the British Racing School on the outskirts of Newmarket but, in his younger days, was a highly successful National Hunt jockey. “The Ecc”, as he was fondly known, is probably best remembered as the jockey of See You Then, trained by Nicky Henderson, who won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival three years running in 1985, 1986, 1987. An impressive achievement to say the least. However, Smith Eccles rode a total of 861 winners and, following the retirement of John Francome in 1985, occupied the No. 1 peg in the weighing room until hanging up his riding boots in 1994.

 

Despite his aristocratic name, Smith Eccles is the son of a Derbyshire coal miner and was born into a family with no previous horse racing connections. Apparently, Eccles was the surname of his grandfather, an orphan, who added the Smith in honour of the family that brought him up. His first job, with Harry Thomson Jones in Newmarket, was the result of a speculative letter by his father. Some years later, he had the distinction of riding legendary steeplechaser Tingle Creek to win at Sandown, breaking the course record in the process.

 

During his riding career, Smith Eccles developed, probably quite justifiably, a reputation for hedonism. Interviewed towards the end of his career, in 1993, he said, “OK, I’ll be known for my cavalier attitude to life, but I would like to be remembered for my riding ability and the winners I’ve ridden rather than my character.”

 

UK horse racing is of course never short of a character or two, and punters love that trait when combined with a winning attitude because ultimately it’s all about putting pounds in your pocket, finding the best odds to chance and making good at the big events, such as Eccles performances at the aforementioned Cheltenham Festival. Such an impressive and consistent performance three years running in the Champions Hurdle no doubt saw some punters cash it. It’s certainly not the first time following a jockey has resulted in good fortune for those following their rides either. Who can forget Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven?