- This topic has 7 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 8 months ago by
.
- Posts
Only ever met him a couple of times but found him to be a lovely chap. Slightly before my
time , but seemed to be a top notch jockey. My condolences to his nearest and dearest.
It would be lovely to hear the anecdotes of others.Very sad to hear this news. I am too young to have seen him as a jockey but I do remember him as a fine trainer. King’s Curate’s win in the Stayers Hurdle was particularly memorable.
Reaching 1,000 winners over jumps in his day was a great achievement when there was not as much racing, a lot of abandonments, travel was not as easy and when injuries were potentially more serious.
RIP Mr Mellor.
A very good jockey, a very versatile and successful trainer, and one of those rare successful people for whom the best thing about them was what they did for other people. In Stan’s case, especially for his fellow jockeys. It was not just that he was so light that he needed to have a smart brain to be successful; he just had a very smart brain full stop and the personality to use it well.
Two very good writers about racing, Brough Scott and John Oaksey, write about Stan Mellor at:
https://broughscott.com/stan-mellor-more-than-a-milestone-brough-scott/
Very sad news!
Great jockey who set the standard for those that followed.
His retirement from race riding was just as I started taking an interest in the sport so never got to see him ride.
Condolences to family & friends.My dad’s favourite jockey. I remember him saying he was doing Titus Oates in the King George just because Mellor was on it. Stan said his greatest strength was his guile in the saddle, delivering horses when the opposition was unlikely to be able to respond. He called it a day just before I was taking a big interest but I recall Grandstand on BBC following his races all afternoon at Newbury when he was bidding for his 1000th. I was amused that it was not to be and the media circus had to wait a few more days when Ouzo finally delivered Stan’s big win. He seemed to be all smiles throughout all the attention.
I don’t suppose his training career quite hit such heights but he had some very good days and some smart horses. Festival winners, a couple of Whitbreads,a Stewards Cup, placings in the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdles and Grand Nationals.
Pleased I was able to visit Linkslade on a Lambourn Open Day in ’87 where Lean Ar Aghaidh was paraded a couple of weeks after his national 3rd place, emulating Royal Mail a few years before.
R.I.P.This from Wiki made me smile.
Falls and injuries
It is believed that Mellor had 750 falls during his riding career.One especially bad fall coming down the hill at Cheltenham caused his riding cap to slip off and spin away causing his wife, watching in the stands, to scream, “Oh my God, his head has come off”.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.