Fulke Johnson Houghton

Last updated
Fulke Johnson Houghton
Occupation Trainer
Born1940 (age 8384)
Career wins1,200+
Major racing wins
British Classic Race wins:
St Leger (1967, 1968)
Significant horses
Romulus, Ribocco, Ribero, Ribofilio, Habitat, Rose Bowl, Ile de Bourbon, Double Form, Tout Seul

Richard Fulke Johnson Houghton (born 1940) is a British retired Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He trained over 1,200 winners in a career which lasted from 1961 until 2006. The best of his horses included Ribocco, Ribero, Habitat, Rose Bowl, Ile de Bourbon and Double Form.

Contents

Background

Johnson Houghton was born in 1940 to the trainer Gordon Johnson Houghton and his wife Helen. He was named after his mother's twin brother Fulke Walwyn. Johnson Houghton was educated at Eton College before working as an assistant trainer in Britain and France. When Gordon Johnson Houghton died in 1952 Helen took over the Woodway stable at Blewbury in Berkshire but under Jockey Club rules, women were not allowed to hold a training licence. She therefore managed the yard through assistants including Charles Jerdein and Peter Walwyn. When Walwyn set up his own stable in 1961 the 20-year-old Fulke, then working on a cattle farm in Australia, was recalled to England to take over the licence at Woodway. [1] [2]

Training career

At the start of his career, Johnson Houghton was the youngest licensed trainer in Britain. [3] His first major patron was the American businessman Charles Engelhard for whom he trained in the 1960s. In the second year of his training career, he sent out Engelhard's colt Romulus to win the Greenham Stakes, Sussex Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Later in the decade he had further success for Englehard as he trained the brothers Ribocco, Ribero and Ribofilio. The first two both won the Irish Derby and the St Leger whilst Ribofilio won the Dewhurst Stakes before running badly when favourite for the 1969 2000 Guineas: Johnson Houghton maintained that the horse had been "got at" and doped before the race. [2] In the same year Johnson Houghton won a series of top mile races with Habitat. [4]

In the 1970s Johnson Houghton trained the leading sprinters Parsimony (July Cup, Cork and Orrery Stakes) and Double Form as well as the outstanding racemare Rose Bowl. In 1977 he narrowly failed to win The Derby when Hot Grove was beaten in a photo finish by The Minstrel. [4] In the following year Johnson Houghton sent out Ile de Bourbon to record an upset victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Johnson Houghton had less success in the later half of his career [5] but he continued to train some good horses. He won the Cork and Orrery Stakes with Posada in 1988 and trained Ruling to finish third in two editions of the Champion Hurdle. His last top-class performer was Tout Seul who won the Dewhurst Stakes in 2002. [6]

Johnson Houghton announced his retirement in 2006 after a 45-year training career which saw him win over 1,200 races. [3]

Family

Johnson Houghton married Gaie Goldsmith, the daughter of trainer John Goldsmith. [7] His daughter Eve took over his stable on his retirement. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Eddery</span> Irish champion jockey (1952–2015)

Patrick James John Eddery was an Irish flat racing jockey and trainer. He rode three winners of the Derby and was Champion Jockey on eleven occasions. He rode the winners of 4,632 British flat races, a figure exceeded only by Sir Gordon Richards.

Sir Charles Francis Noel Murless was an English racehorse trainer who one of the most successful of the twentieth century. Murless began his career as a trainer in 1935 at Hambleton Lodge in Yorkshire before moving to Hambleton House after the war, at one time sharing premises with Ryan Price. In 1947, he moved south, first to Beckhampton, Wiltshire and then to Warren Place, Newmarket.

Stephen Carson was a flat racing jockey who rode in England. Stephen started his career as apprentice to Michael Grassick on the Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland after graduating from RACE.

Barry Hills is a retired British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.

Fulke Thomas Tyndall Walwyn CVO was a British jockey and a celebrated racehorse trainer, who was particularly successful in National Hunt racing.

Peter Tyndall Walwyn, was a British racehorse trainer. He was based at stables in the Lambourn, Berkshire, area and enjoyed his period of greatest success in the mid-1970s when he was British flat racing Champion Trainer twice.

Ribocco was an American-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is best known for his performances in 1967 when he won two of the most important European races for three-year-olds; the Irish Derby and the St Leger. Ribocco briefly held the record for prize money won by a British-trained racehorse.

Ile de Bourbon (1975–1997) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1977 until October 1979 he ran twelve times and won five races. His most important success came in July 1978 when he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. He was retired to stud in 1979 and sired the Derby winner Kahyasi.

Ribero was an American-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from September 1967 until May 1969 he ran twelve times and won three races. He is best known for his performances in 1968 when he won two of the most important European races for three-year-olds; the Irish Derby, and the St Leger.

Priscilla Victoria Hastings was a British racehorse owner and trainer. She was one of the first three women to be elected as a member of the Jockey Club in December 1977, alongside her half-sister Ruth Wood, Countess of Halifax and Helen Johnson Houghton.

Habitat was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from April until October 1969, the colt ran eight times and won five races. Unraced as a two-year-old, he proved to be the best European miler of 1969, winning the Lockinge Stakes and the Wills Mile in England and travelling to France to win the Prix Quincey and the Prix du Moulin. He was then retired to stud where he became a very successful sire of racehorses and broodmares.

Gilles de Retz (1953–1969) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1956. After winning twice from five starts as a two-year-old, the colt disappointed on his three-year-old debut before recording a 50/1 upset victory in the Guineas. Although the feat was not officially recognised at the time, Gilles de Retz's success made Helen Johnson Houghton the first woman to train the winner of a British classic. The colt failed to reproduce his best form in three subsequent efforts in 1956 and won once from four attempts as a four-year-old. He was retired to stud where he had little success as a sire of winners.

Rose Bowl (1972–1994) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In a racing career which lasted from September 1974 until November 1976 she won six of her fourteen races and established herself as one of the best British race mares of the 1970s. After winning once as a two-year-old she won the Nell Gwyn Stakes on her first run in 1975 and then appeared to be a very unlucky loser of the 1000 Guineas. She returned from injury to show her best form in autumn, winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over one mile and then defeated a top-class international field in the ten furlong Champion Stakes. She won a second Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and was narrowly beaten in the Champion Stakes in 1976, when her season was again disrupted by injury. She was then retired from racing and became a successful and influential broodmare.

Thatching was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. The horse's early career was delayed and disrupted by injury, and he did not show his best form until switched to sprinting distances in the spring of 1979 when he won the Duke of York Stakes. He improved further when equipped with blinkers that summer, recording impressive victories in both the Cork and Orrery Stakes and the July Cup. He had a marked tendency to hang to the left when in front, which led to his disqualification in the William Hill Sprint Championship. He was retired to stud after winning four of his eleven races and became a successful breeding stallion.

Double Form was an Irish-bred British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A specialist sprinter, he showed promise as a two-year-old in 1977, and improved to become a high-class performer in 1978. He won only one race as a three-year-old but was placed in several major sprints. In 1979 he improved again to become the highest-rated sprinter in the United Kingdom, winning the Temple Stakes, King's Stand Stakes and Haydock Sprint Cup in England and the Prix de l'Abbaye in France. He was the first horse to win both the King's Stand Stakes and the Prix de l'Abbaye. He was retired to stud where he was an immediate success but died on 22 April 1983.

Helen Marjorie Johnson Houghton was a British racehorse trainer. She was the first woman to train a Classic flat races winner. Her horse Gilles de Retz won the 2,000 Guineas in 1956, but her name did not appear in the record books as the Jockey Club did not recognise women trainers at that time and the horse ran under the name of her assistant, Charles Jerdein, instead. She was one of the first three women to be elected as a member of the Jockey Club in December 1977, alongside Priscilla Hastings and Ruth Wood, Countess of Halifax.

Steel Heart was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the first major winner for the Irish trainer Dermot Weld. In 1974 he established himself as one of the best two-year-olds of his generation in Britain and Ireland when he won three of his five races including the Gimcrack Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes as well as finishing second to Grundy in the Dewhurst Stakes. In the following year he was mainly campaigned over sprint distances and had further success, winning the Duke of York Stakes and the Goldene Peitsche and finishing second in the July Cup. After his retirement from racing he became a successful breeding stallion in Japan.

Formidable was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed his best form as a two-year-old when he won five consecutive races in little over a month, including the Mill Reef Stakes and the Middle Park Stakes. At the end of the year he was regarded as the best juvenile in Britain over a distance of six furlongs. In the following year he was campaigned over one mile and failed to win, although he was placed in the St James's Palace Stakes, the Sussex Stakes and the Waterford Crystal Mile. As a four-year-old he won three minor races and finished third in the Lockinge Stakes before being retired from racing. He later became a successful breeding stallion.

Lunchtime was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was undefeated in three races as a two-year-old in 1972, including the Dewhurst Stakes and was regarded as a major contender for the British Classic Races. He failed to win in three starts in the following year and was retired to become a breeding stallion in Australia. He had some success as a sire of winners.

Tout Seul is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is best known for his performances as a two-year-old in 2002 when he won five of his seven races including the Shergar Cup Juvenile, Tattersalls Breeders Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes, as well as finishing second in the Two-Year-Old Trophy. In the following year he failed to win in six races but finished fourth in the 2000 Guineas and third in the Irish 2000 Guineas. In 2004 he recorded his first victory in eighteen months when he won the Leicestershire Stakes but was well beaten in his remaining races and was retired at the end of the year.

References

  1. "Johnson Houghton dies, aged 102". The Scotsman . 6 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Greg Wood (23 October 2006). "No regrets as Fulke takes stock of 40 years". The Guardian .
  3. 1 2 Marcus Armytage (26 August 2006). "Johnson Houghton to retire at end of season". The Daily Telegraph .
  4. 1 2 Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN   0-354-08536-0.
  5. Richard Edmondson (24 September 1997). "Johnson Houghton hoping to hit headlines". The Independent .
  6. "Trainer R F Johnson Houghton – Record By Race Type". Racing Post.
  7. Lysaght, Cornelius (16 June 2019). "Royal Ascot 2019: Accidental Agent - 'Extraordinary' war hero who inspired favourite". BBC Sport.