Swindon and the surrounding areas have a long history with horse racing, from the plethora of stables that existed here in the 19th century, to its crop of modern jockeys. One of its most famous exports was John Francombe. A much-decorated jockey, he later went on to work as a television pundit. Below, we give a career retrospective on this famous son of Swindon.
Photo by Mike Kotsch on Unsplash
Highlights of His Racing Career
Francome had a host of major wins in his career. Arguably, the biggest of these was winning the 1978 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Midnight Court. He also won the Sun Alliance Chase twice: Once riding Pengrail in 1975 and Brown Chamberlain in 1982. Switching effortlessly from chase to national hunt racing, the horse most people will remember is the turf legend Sea Pigeon, which won the Champion Hurdle in 1981.
He also had wins on several other big names in huge races and by the end of his career, Francome had made quite the statistic. He had 1035 wins at Fontwell alone. In jumps, he had 1138 winners overall and claimed seven British Champion Jockey Jump titles.
Starting in Racing
Francome came from a meagre background, at a time when being a jockey was a career path mainly open only to the wealthy. He openly admitted that his family struggled to find the funds to allow him to train and compete. Since Francome's day, racing has changed considerably. The digital era's proliferation of online bookmakers has renewed interest in the sport, bringing in spectators from even more walks of life. Even racehorse ownership has now changed considerably, with the ability to become part of a syndicate being more accessible than ever. Online syndicates exist allowing low entry points, meaning anyone can become a horse owner. Francome himself would even open his stables after racing and often make sure that racing was accessible to all.
It was his family who managed to secure the funds to buy him his first horse, a pony named Black Beauty. He excelled, at first becoming a junior showjumper. However, his heart was set on racing and he became an apprentice for the trainer Fred Winter in the late sixties.
It did not take long for Francome to have his first race and with it, his first win. He romped home to victory riding Multigrey at Worcester in 1970. In the next year, he rode for Winter and notched up his first win for his benefactor. This would begin a very fruitful partnership, in which they would snatch some of the biggest prizes in racing.
Francome’s Post Racing Career
After he retired, Francome became a prolific author writing 23 fiction titles and two non-fiction. One of these was his autobiography “Born Lucky” which detailed his illustrious career. For a time, he was also part of the team on Channel 4 Racing. He has also been a vice patron of the Injured Jockey’s Fund.
However, his biggest accolade came shortly after retirement. In 1986 he was awarded an MBE for service to racing. This was a well-deserved and fitting reward for one of Swindon’s most famous sportsmen.
