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The rider of the great Mill Reef, and subsequent Group One-winning trainer, has passed away at the age of 89.
My condolences to his family and friends.
Top jockey and trainer during a great era of racing.
Loved betting Geoff and Bruce Hobbs together.
A sad loss , and my thoughts go out to his family and friends.Obituary from The Telegraph:
Geoff Lewis, who has died aged 89, reached the pinnacle of his career as a jockey in 1971, when he rode Mill Reef to win the Derby, Eclipse, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Owned by Paul Mellon and trained by Ian Balding, Mill Reef suffered just two defeats in 14 outings, one of them to Brigadier Gerard in the 1971 2,000 Guineas. “That was over a mile,” Lewis recalled. “Mill Reef would always have beaten The Brigadier over a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half.” He added modestly: “To be honest, anybody could have got on him and won.”
Four weeks before the 1971 Derby, Lewis had injured his neck in a fall from a horse: “The doctor wanted me in a collar for six months,” he recalled. “I had to sign a letter taking all the responsibility to discharge myself from hospital. The doctor told me that if I fell again it could be curtains for me. A lot of trainers wouldn’t have risked me, because they knew the owners wouldn’t want to take the risk. But Ian Balding was absolutely magnificent. He asked me if I was fine to ride Mill Reef. I said yes, and that was it, he never mentioned it again.”
The horse won the Epsom race by an easy two lengths from Linden Tree. That October, again with Lewis in the saddle, Mill Reef won the Arc at Longchamp by three lengths from Pistol Packer in a record time. The plan was to race in the Arc the following season; but, having won the Prix Ganay by 10 lengths and the Coronation Cup, Mill Reef shattered his foreleg on the training gallops, ending his racing career. The vets managed to save him, and he lived until 1986.
One of 13 children of a labourer, Geoffrey Lewis was born on December 21 1935 at Talgarth in Breconshire. In 2007 he recalled of his childhood in Wales: “I remember that we had a lot of freedom. During the summer holidays our parents let us go off in the morning, and we wouldn’t return before supper time. We would go down to the river or go scrumping. It was such a lovely place, and of course you felt very safe. I also remember having to go potato-picking in the spring to get some extra money for the family.” On Sunday mornings the children were packed off to church, and then to chapel in the evening.
In 1946, after Geoff’s father had moved to London to find work, the family joined him. Geoff left school at 15 to take a job as a bellboy at the Waldorf Hotel in the West End. He stood only 5ft tall and weighed just over four stone, and when the champion jump jockey Tim Maloney visited the hotel one day he told the young man that he was the right build for a jockey: “He contacted my parents, and I was apprenticed as a jockey with Ron Smyth.”
When he arrived at Smyth’s stables at Epsom for the start of a six-year apprenticeship, Lewis had never even sat on a horse. He went on to ride for some of the leading trainers of the era, among them Noel Murless and Bruce Hobbs.
Lewis won the 2,000 Guineas, on Right Tack (1969); the 1,000 Guineas on Mysterious (1973); and the Coronation Cup on Lupe (1971). He twice won the Oaks, on Altesse Royale (1971) and Mysterious (1973), both for Noel Murless. In Ireland he took the 2,000 Guineas on Right Tack, the Irish Oaks on Altesse Royale, and the Irish Derby on Prince Regent (1969). He retired as a jockey in 1979, having ridden more than 1,800 winners, and set up as a trainer at Thirty Acre Barn near Epsom.
Among his best horses during this second career were Silver Wisp, which finished third to Dr Devious in the 1992 Derby; Rough Pearl, which won the Italian St Leger in 1984; Lake Coniston, Europe’s champion sprinter in 1995; and Yawa, which won the 1983 Grand Prix de Paris.
Lewis retired in 1999, having trained more than 500 winners, and went to live in Marbella, where he continued to take an active interest in racing. He often returned to Britain to be present on Derby Day.
Geoff Lewis married an Australian, Noelene, whose father was a Melbourne Cup-winning jockey, and in 2014 he moved back to England to be near their daughter.
Geoff Lewis, born December 21 1935, death announced August 27 2025
I was too young when he was in his prime as a jockey. But, he was the one who put Highclere (Thoroughbred Racing – the Harry Herbert syndicate) on the G1 map. In 1995 with Lake Coniston who won a July Cup and a year later with the then 2-year old Referendum (finished 2nd in the National Stakes).
Glad he lived a good live to reach almost 90 years and be involved with such Racing greats, especially as a jockey.
Rest in peace Mr. Lewis
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