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In 1958 Pat Taaffe (the man who rode Arkle) and his brother Tos both rode in the Grand National which their trainer father Tom won with MR WHAT. Neither of them rode it, Arthur Freeman did, and both hit the deck. Tos finished third in the race following year on Mr What when Pat fell. Pat won the race twice on Quare Times for Vincent O’Brien in 1955 and Gay Trip for Fred Rimell in 1970.
Jack & Tolley Dean
Christian & Nick Williams
James & Sophie Doyle
Jamie & Ashley HamblettI’ll need to check it in the
Loose-Leaf
, but I’d be surprised if there hasn’t been at least one instance this pointing season where three members of the same family have ridden in the same Ladies Open – Angela Rucker and her two nieces, Alex Smith-Maxwell and Phine Banks.
The last two named are daughters of Katherine Smith-Maxwell and Christine Banks, sisters of Mrs Rucker and like her daughters of five-time former champion lady pointing rider Pat Tollitt. Quite a dynasty.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Aren’t the Banks colours remarkably similar to Rucker’s herself Jeremy? ie. blue but with a slightly different coloured hoop.
I used to ride out for two sisters who trained and rode their own point-to-pointers. They rode against each other quite a few times, including when finishing 1st and 2nd (of two runners!) in the Seavington Hunt Race on Captain Random and The Earth Moved. A fantastic photo of the two horses in the air together made it onto the front page of that year’s Point to Point Results and Form published by Weatherbys.
Aren’t the Banks colours remarkably similar to Rucker’s herself Jeremy? ie. blue but with a slightly different coloured hoop.
Ooh, good question – they’re certainly very similar if not the same. I’ll check my racecards tonight, as I’ve certainly seen all the Rucker, Banks and Smith-Maxwell silks during the season, if not all in the same place at once.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Terry Biddlecombe must have ridden in the same race as his brother on many occasions, especially when they were both still amateurs. Can’t remember his brother’s name, but I think the initial was A.
At Perth in April 1972 Peter Brogan and his infamous brother Barry made history when they dead heated for first place on Avondhu and Almond Lodge respectively in the Argaty Handicap Chase. That is surely unique.
An old mate of mine who is in his eighties has newspaper reports about his father and four uncles all riding in the same race,five brothers in the same race,I think the pub in Kildare called the Five Jockeys relates to this.One brother did ride the winner.
If you go to back a certainty always buy a return ticket.
Bobby Beasley was a descendant of five (I think) Beasley brothers who rode and won Grand National’s in Victorian times one of them riding at Punchestown when he was 70.
It is interesting to note that daughter’s of famous jump jockeys figure prominently in the eventing world these days.
Daisy Berkeley is the daughter of Dave Dick who rode ESB to win the National and Pas Seul and Mont Tremblant to win the Gold Cup. She was third at Badminton on Springalong.
A faller in the water this year was Christina Cook who is daughter of Josh Gifford, brother of Nick the current trainer and neice of Macer. Her mother, Althea, rode a horse called Havana Royale to victory in the prestigious Queen’s Cup at the Royal International Horse show. Quite a dynasty.
Bobby Beasley was a descendant of five (I think) Beasley brothers who rode and won Grand National’s in Victorian times one of them riding at Punchestown when he was 70.
Some of the stories of the Beasley brothers exploits are incredible. They rode back in the days when Punchestown was purely banks and stone walls as well.
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