Born in Shottesbrook, near Maidenhead, Berkshire on November 21, 1917, Douglas ‘Doug’ Smith was one of the finest jockeys of the twentieth century, although his achievements were overshadowed, to some extent, by his illustrious contemporaries Sir Gordon Richards and Lester Piggott. Nevertheless, having finished runner-up behind Richards in the Flat Jockeys’ Championship seven times, he won his first jockeys’ title in 1954, following Richards’ retirement, and proceeded to win four more in the next five years, a sequence interrupted only by Arthur ‘Scobie’ Breasley in 1957.
Smith retired at the end of the 1967 Flat season, with a total of 3,112 winners to his name. His career tally included four British Classic winners, namely Hypericum, owned by King George VI, in the 1,000 Guineas, in 1946, Our Babu and Pall Mall, owned by Queen Elizabeth II, in the 2,000 Guineas in 1955 and 1958, respectively, and Petite Etoile in the 1,000 Guineas, again, in 1959. In 1949, he also had the distinction of winning the Stayers’ Triple Crown – that is, the Gold Cup at Ascot, Goodwood Cup and Doncaster Cup – on Alciydon, owned by the Earl of Derby. Smith also remains the most successful jockey in the history the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket, having won what is now the second leg of the traditional ‘Autumn Double’ half a dozen times between 1939 and 1966.
Following his retirement from the saddle, Smith turned to training, famously saddling the 1969 Oaks winner, Sleeping Partner, owned by Lord Derby. However, his life subsequently descended into chronic alcoholism, which led to him giving up training a decade later. On April 11, 1989, having been unable to cure the disease, despite repeated hospital stays, Smith committed suicide by drowning himself in the swimming pool at his home in Newmarket. He was 71 years old.
