Henry Custance

Last updated

Henry Custance
Henry Custance, jockey and horserace starter.jpg
Henry Custance, starter
Occupation Jockey and Horseracing Official
Born27 February 1842
Peterborough, England
Died19 April 1908 (aged 66)
Leicester, England
Major racing wins
Major races
1,000 Guineas Stakes (1867)
Ascot Gold Cup (1861, 1865)
Epsom Derby (1860, 1866, 1874)
St Leger (1866)
Significant horses
Achievement, Ely, George Frederick, Lord Lyon, Thormanby

Henry Custance (27 February 1842 - 19 April 1908) was a British jockey who won the Derby three times in the 1860s and 1870s. [1]

Contents

Riding career

Henry was born in Peterborough on 27 February 1842, the son of postman Samuel Custance and his wife Elizabeth Carpenter.

He began riding in pony races at Ramsey, Cambridgeshire at the age of 13, and won a contest for a saddle, when he weighed only four stone. He was unsuccessful finding employment in Newmarket, so moved to Epsom to become apprentice to Ned Smith. There he had, in his own words, "a jolly though rather a rough time". [2]

His first win was at Peterborough on a horse called Ada, owned by George Edwards. His first major success followed in the 1858 Cesarewitch Handicap aboard Rocket, a race he won again in 1861 on Audrey. [3]

He joined the Russley stable in 1859, then under the management of Mathew Dawson and rode over forty winners. For Dawson, he won his first classic, the 1860 Derby, on Thormanby. The horse was well-backed, and Dawson insisted that the jockey switched racing colours at the last minute, to confuse anyone attempting to sabotage the horse's chances on its way down to the start. [3]

The following year, he rode Dundee in the Derby. The horse broke down during the race, but still finished second to Kettledrum. He would have a mount in the Derby for twenty consecutive years. [2]

In 1863, he became stable jockey for James Dover at East Isley.

Custance recorded a second win in the race in 1866 on Lord Lyon, a horse with four white feet who was, according to Custance, "a bit of a whistler". Despite this the horse was remarkably successful. He had won the 2,000 Guineas at odds-on, although Custance had been injured in a fall at Epsom, so R Thomas had taken the ride. He went on to become only the third horse to win the Triple Crown with Custance again riding, when just holding on to win the St Leger.

Custance won the 1867 1,000 Guineas on Achievement and could have added another Derby winner that year as well. He had agreed to ride Hermit but when the horse broke a blood vessel two days beforehand, Custance opted for a different horse. Hermit recovered and won the race, ridden by Johnny Daley. A third victory in the race finally came in 1874 on the ill-tempered George Frederick.

After this point, Custance began struggling with his weight, only being able to make 8st 10lbs. His last winner was Lollypop in the All-Aged Stakes at Newmarket's Houghton meeting in 1879, before his weight battle forced him to retire after 24 years as a jockey.

Later life

Following retirement, Custance worked for ten years as a race starter, and officiated at the 1885 Derby, the only man to have both ridden in and started the race. [4] He held a licence as deputy starter to the Jockey Club and was official starter to the Belgian Jockey Club. [2] He was also starter at The Curragh on 19 October 1886 for Fred Archer's only ride there, only weeks before his death. On noticing the effects of severe wasting, he commented to Archer, "I never saw you look half so bad as you do now." "Well, if I look bad now, how shall I look next Wednesday when I ride St Mirin in the Cambridgeshire?" replied Archer. On the day of the latter race, he contracted a fever from which he subsequently died. [5]

After that, he became the proprietor of The George Inn at Oakham, and rode out with the Quorn and Cottesmore hunts. [2] He published his autobiographical "Riding Recollections and Turf Stories" in 1894, with a dedication to a patron from his riding career, the Duke of Hamilton.

He married Mary, and died of a paralytic seizure at his home, 53 New Walk, Leicester on 19 April 1908. His funeral took place at Oakham on 23 April 1908, and he left an estate of £8,081.6s.2d. [2]

Riding style and personality

Custance was a lightweight jockey. For his Derby win on Thormanby he had to carry 22 lbs of lead in his saddle. He was bold and resolute, with good hands, and was a fine judge of pace. [2]

He was close friends with fellow jockey George Fordham, and was best man at his wedding and godfather to his eldest son. [3] In a popular story, he saved Fordham from a losing cricketing bet with a bookmaker by stealing the ball so the match was declared void. [6] He was described as cheerful and amusing. [2]

Major wins

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Archer (jockey)</span> English jockey (1857–1886)

Frederick James Archer, also known by the nickname The Tin Man, was an English flat race jockey of the Victorian era, described as "the best all-round jockey that the turf has ever seen".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Buckle</span>

Francis Buckle (1766–1832), known to the British horse racing public as "The Governor", was an English jockey, who has been described as "the jockey non-pareil" of the opening quarter of the 19th century, and the man who "brought respectability to race-riding". He won at least 27 British Classic Races during his career, a record which would not be beaten for over 150 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Flatman</span> English flat racing jockey (1810–1860)

Elnathan "Nat" Flatman, born Holton St. Mary, Suffolk, was the first Champion flat racing jockey of Great Britain. He began his thirty-four-year racing career as an apprentice jockey at age fifteen and by 1840 he was the dominant rider in British racing, winning the Champion Jockey title thirteen years in a row. During his career, Flatman won the patronage of many significant owners, including Lord George Bentinck, the Earl of Chesterfield, Admiral Rous, Lord Stradbroke and Lord Derby. For these owners, and others like them he won most of the important Thoroughbred horse races in England, including ten Classics, and some significant races in France. He continued to ride until the paddock accident that incapacitated him and ultimately led to his death at the age of 50.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Chifney</span>

Samuel "Sam" Chifney, also known as Sam Chifney Sr., Sam Chifney the Elder or Old Sam Chifney to distinguish him from his son, was an English jockey. He was a pioneer of professional race-riding, developing a trademark late finishing style, known as the 'Chifney rush' and was the retained jockey of the Prince of Wales. He became the leading horseman of his day, winning four runnings of the Oaks and one of the Derby, but his career ended in ignominy after a scandal around a ride on the Prince of Wales's horse, Escape. Despite inventing a bit for horses that is still in use today, he died in debtors' prison in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Lyon (horse)</span> British Thoroughbred racehorse

Lord Lyon (1863–1887) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1866 Epsom Derby, 2,000 Guineas Stakes and the St. Leger Stakes, becoming the third winner of the English Triple Crown. Lord Lyon raced until he was four-years old and was retired to stud in 1868. He is considered to be a marginally successful sire with his most notable progeny being the colt Minting and the filly Placida. He was euthanized in April 1887 after several years of failing health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thormanby (horse)</span> British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Thormanby (1857–1875) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from May 1859 to July 1861, he ran twenty-four times and won fourteen races. He was regarded by experts as one of the outstanding horses of his era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Cannon Sr.</span> British racing jockey and trainer (1864–1917)

Tom Cannon Sr. was a British flat racing jockey and trainer. He won 13 British classics as a jockey, becoming champion in 1872. As a trainer, he trained classic winners, as well as winners over jumps, including the 1888 Grand National. He was the father of four jockey sons, including the six-times champion, Morny Cannon, and the great-grandfather of eleven-times champion, Lester Piggott.

John Arnull (1753-1815) was an English flat racing jockey. He was the first man to ride five Epsom Derby winners and a member of the dominant race riding family in England in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Wood (jockey)</span> British flat-racing jockey (1854–1945)

Charles Wood (1854–1945) was an English flat racing jockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Childs</span>

Joseph Childs (1884–1958) was a French-born, British-based flat racing jockey. He won fifteen British Classics in a 35-year career, the last ten years of which were spent as jockey to King George V. He was known for riding a slow, waiting race, and also for having a short temper which regularly saw him at odds with his trainers and owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Clift</span> British jockey

William Clift (1762–1840), born Wentworth, South Yorkshire, was a British jockey. He won the first runnings of both the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas and was the first jockey to win all five of the British Classics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Chifney Jr.</span>

Samuel Chifney Jr. was an English jockey. He was the younger son of a prominent 18th century jockey, also called Samuel Chifney. In terms of talent, he reportedly outshone all his peers, but "he owned a self-destruct button and had a fatal tendency to press it". This failing meant "his talent was not converted into the kind of concrete achievement that stands the test of time".

Edward William George Hide was a British multiple classic winning jockey. He was, at his peak, the sixth most successful jockey in British racing history and remained the ninth most successful jockey over 30 years after his retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Fitzpatrick</span>

Dennis Fitzpatrick (1764–1806) was an Irish, five-times British Classic winning jockey. He was the first Irish professional jockey to ride in England and competed in some of the most notable match races of the 19th century versus fellow jockey Frank Buckle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Job Marson</span> English jockey

Job Marson (1817–1857) was an English classic-winning jockey, whose most famous partnership was with Voltigeur, winner of the 1850 Derby and St Leger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Aldcroft</span> British jockey

Thomas Aldcroft (1835-1883) was a British jockey who won each of the five British classics across his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Chaloner</span> English jockey

Tom Chaloner was an English jockey who won ten British Classic races, each of them except the 1,000 Guineas at least once. Although he won races across the country, his most notable came in the north of England.

JamesSnowden was a British Classic winning jockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom French (jockey)</span> English jockey

Thomas French (1844–1873), born in Liverpool, was a Derby winning English jockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Webb</span> British jockey

Frederic E. Webb (1853–1917) was a British Classic winning jockey.

References

  1. "The Racing Pages. The Derby". www.theracingpages.org.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Moorhouse, Edward (1912). "Custance, Henry"  . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sherwood, Robert". Jockeypedia. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  4. Kay, Dr Joyce; Vramplew, Professor Wray (2012). Encyclopedia of British Horse Racing. Routledge. p. 292.
  5. Tanner & Cranham 1992, pp. 102–103.
  6. Tanner & Cranham 1992, pp. 69–70.

Bibliography