Arthur Edward "Scobie" Breasley (7 May 1914 – 21 December 2006) was an Australian jockey. He won the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne five times: 1942-45 consecutively on Tranquil Star, Skipton, Counsel and St Fairy; then on Peshawar in 1952. He also won The Derby twice, and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe once.
Breasley was born in 1914 in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and was christened Arthur Edward, but while still very young was given the nickname "Scobie", after the famous Australian trainer and jockey James Scobie.
Breasley rode 3,251 winners during his career, including over 1,000 in Australia and 2,161 in Britain. He rode over 100 winners in Great Britain every year from 1955 to 1964, and was Champion Jockey in 1957 and continuously from 1961–63. He won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the only time on Ballymoss in 1958, and the Derby for the first time at the age of 50 on Santa Claus in 1964, then again on Charlottown in 1966, aged 52.
He developed a great rivalry with Sir Gordon Richards [ citation needed ], and later with the younger jockey Lester Piggott. He was renowned for his exquisite balance in the saddle, for refusing to race wide, and for his sparing use of the whip, preferring to use hands and heels.
Breasley retired as a jockey in 1968 and took up training in Epsom (UK), France, the United States, and Barbados, where he and his wife owned a holiday home. He retired from training horses after winning the most prestigious race in Barbados - the Gold Cup - on four occasions in the early 1990s and returned to live in Melbourne.
Racing authorities in the state of Victoria struck a medal in his honour, awarded annually since 1996 to the best jockey in the state. On its formation, Scobie Breasley was the first person inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In 1999, the Racing Post ranked Breasley as tenth in their list of the Top 50 jockeys of the 20th century. [1]
Scobie Breasley died on 21 December 2006 after suffering a stroke a few days earlier. [2]
Santa Claus (1961–1970) was a British-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is most notable for his achievements as a three-year-old in 1964 when he won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, The Derby, and the Irish Derby. His performances earned him the title of British Horse of the Year.
Walter Robert John Swinburn was a flat racing jockey and trainer who competed in Great Britain and internationally.
Johnny Murtagh is an Irish flat racing trainer and former jockey from Bohermeen, near Navan, Kells, County Meath. As a jockey he won many of the major flat races in Europe, including all the Irish Classics, all the Group 1 Races at Royal Ascot, The Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and Europe's biggest race the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was also Irish flat racing Champion Jockey five times. As a trainer, based at stables near Kildare, he has saddled a winner at Royal Ascot and an Irish Classic winner.
Ballymoss (1954–1979) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career that lasted from 1956 until November 1958, he ran seventeen times and won eight races. In 1957, he became the first horse trained in Ireland to win the St Leger Stakes. The following season, he was Europe's leading middle-distance horse, winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Rheingold (1969–1990) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
George Thomas Donald MooreOBE was an Australian jockey and Thoroughbred horse trainer. He began his career in racing in 1939 in Brisbane where he quickly became one of the top apprentice jockeys and where in 1943 he won the Senior Jockeys' Premiership. He then relocated to Sydney and in 1949 went to work for trainer Tommy J. Smith with whom he would have considerable success.
William James Williamson was an Australian jockey who enjoyed considerable success in Australia during the 1950s and in Europe during the 1960s. He was named after his father William James Williamson, a machinist, and his wife Euphemia Agnes.
Samuel A. Boulmetis Sr. was an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1973. The Hall's induction biography says that "His peers described him as an honest and intelligent rider, qualities he later demonstrated as a racing official and state steward for New Jersey."
Geoff Lewis is a Welsh retired jockey who was born in Talgarth, Breconshire.
Pat Glennon was an Australian jockey raised in the Ascot Vale area in Melbourne, not far from the Flemington Racecourse. Glennon rode his first winner, a horse named Alares, trained by his father, at a bush track Bacchus Marsh at the age of 13.
Charlottown was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1965 until 1967 he ran ten times and won seven races. He is best known for winning the 1966 Derby.
Craig Williams is a Victoria, Australia based jockey. He has won multiple group one races in Australia and worldwide, including the 2019 Melbourne Cup.
Miswaki was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse that was a Group One winner in France and a stakes race winner in the United States. He was an important sire of 97 stakes race winners and was the Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1999 and 2001.
Festoon (1951–1973) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare, best known for winning the 1000 Guineas in 1954 and setting a world record when being sold at auction later that year. In a racing career which lasted from autumn 1953 to July 1954 the filly ran seven times and won three races. After winning her only race as a two-year-old, Festoon won the Classic 1000 Guineas over one mile at Newmarket Racecourse the following spring. She failed to stay the distance in The Oaks but returned to one mile to win the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and finish third against colts in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. She was then retired to stud where she produced several winners.
Charles Henri Semblat, (1897–1972) was a French jockey and racehorse trainer. Semblat was leading French jockey for more than twenty years before his riding career was ended by injury. He subsequently had an even more successful career as trainer for the owner-breeder Marcel Boussac. In 1950 he became Champion Trainer in Britain without ever visiting the country. Semblat is the only person to have both ridden and trained the winner of France's most important race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Reform (1964–1983) was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from April 1966 until October 1967 he won eleven of his fourteen races. As a two-year-old he was beaten on his debut but won his remaining six races and was rated among the best colts of his generation in Britain. Reform was never entered in the British Classic Races, but proved himself to be an outstanding three-year-old in 1967, winning five of his seven starts. After winning the St James's Stakes, St James's Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes he ended his career by beating The Derby winner Royal Palace in the Champion Stakes.
Roger Poincelet was a French jockey who rode a total of over 3,000 winners in a long career on both the flat and, initially, jumps. He is regarded as one of the finest French jockeys ever.
James Scobie was an Australian jockey and racehorse trainer. He was an inaugural inductee to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2001.
William Raphael "Rae" Johnstone, was an Australian flat-race jockey. After enjoying considerable success in his native country, he relocated to Europe in 1932 and spent most of the rest of his life in France. He won twelve British Classic Races and two Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes. On his retirement in 1957 he was described as "one of the greatest international jockeys of modern times". He died of a heart attack in 1964.
Ron Hutchinson is a retired Australian jockey, who won over 1000 races in Europe. In a 37-year racing career, he was successful across three continents.
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