Willie Carson

Last updated

Willie Carson
OBE
Born
William Fisher Hunter Carson

(1942-11-16) 16 November 1942 (age 81)
Stirling, Scotland
NationalityScottish
OccupationJockey
Spouses
Carol Spares
(m. 1963;div. 1979)
Elaine Williams
(m. 1982)
Children4
1000 Guineas (2)
1990
Owner Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum.svg Owner John C Mabee.svg Owner The Hon. Mrs J. M. Corbett.svg
SalsabilHeart Of JoyNegligent
1991
Owner Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum.svg Owner M C Throsby.svg Owner Mrs A L Chapman.svg
ShadayidKooyongaCrystal Gazing
2000 Guineas (4)
1972
Owner Sir Jules Thorn.svg Owner J W Galbreath.svg Owner Ballymacoll Stud.svg
High TopRobertoSun Prince
1980
Owner Niarchos Family.svg Owner Mr K Abdulla.svg Owner Ogden Mills Phipps.svg
NureyevKnown FactPosse
1987
Owner Mr James Horgan.svg Owner Mr K Abdulla.svg Owner prince a faisal.svg
Don't Forget MeBellottoMidyan
1989
Owner Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum.svg Owner Mr K Abdulla white cap.svg Owner Mr K Abdulla.svg
NashwanExbourneDanehill
Derby (4)
1979
Owner Ballymacoll Stud.svg Owner Mrs J P Binet.svg Owner Anne-Marie d'Estainville.svg
TroyDickens HillNorthern Baby
1980
Owner Etti Plesch.svg Owner Mr R Barnett.svg Owner Mr Ron Fennell.svg
HenbitMaster WillieRankin
1989
Owner Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum.svg Owner The Dowager Lady Beaverbrook.svg Owner Lady Harrison.svg
NashwanTerimonCacoethes
1994
Owner Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum.svg Owner Sheikh Mohammed white cap.svg Owner Mr B V Sangster.svg
ErhaabKing's TheatreColonel Collins
Oaks (4)
1977
Owner The King.svg Owner Mr L Gatto-Roissard.svg Owner Mr L Gatto-Roissard yellow cap.svg
DunfermlineFreeze the SecretVaguely Deb
1980
Owner Mr M H Dixon.svg Owner Mr T F Blackwell.svg Owner Sir John Astor.svg
BiremeVielleThe Dancer
1983
Owner Ballymacoll Stud.svg Owner Mr J Hambro.svg Owner Mr S T Wong.svg
Sun PrincessAcclimatiseNew Coins
1990
Owner Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum.svg Owner Mrs Harold Phillips.svg Owner HRH Prince Fahd Salman.svg
SalsabilGame PlanKnight's Baroness
St Leger (3)
1977
Owner The King.svg Owner Mr B V Sangster.svg Owner Colonel F R Hue-Williams.svg
DunfermlineAllegedClassic Example
1983
Owner Ballymacoll Stud.svg Owner Mr Robin F Scully.svg Owner Sheikh Mohammed.svg
Sun PrincessEsprit du NordCarlingford Castle
1988
Owner The Dowager Lady Beaverbrook.svg Owner Sheikh Mohammed.svg Owner Lavinia Duchess Of Norfolk.svg
Minster SonDiminuendoSheriff's Star
 

William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE (born 16 November 1942) [1] is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.

Contents

Life and career

Best known as "Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland in 1942. He was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Armstrong at his stables at Tupgill, North Yorkshire. His first winner in Britain was Pinker's Pond in a seven-furlong apprentice handicap at Catterick Bridge Racecourse on 19 July 1962.

He was British Champion Jockey five times (1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983), won 17 British Classic Races, and passed 100 winners in a season 23 times for a total of 3,828 wins, making him the fourth most successful jockey in Great Britain.

Willie Carson's best season as a jockey came in 1990 when he rode 187 winners. This included riding six winners at Newcastle Racecourse on 30 June, making Carson one of only four jockeys to ride six winners at one meeting during the 20th century. However, he came second in the 1990 jockeys' championship to Pat Eddery (who rode 209 winners).

Carson had a long association with trainer Major Dick Hern for whom he rode his first three Derby winners. Five feet tall and riding at an easily maintained weight of 7 stone 10 pounds (49 kg) Carson was much in demand as a jockey up to his retirement in 1996 at the age of 54.

In 1980, he took over the Minster House Stud at Ampney Crucis near Cirencester and he and his wife Elaine have developed it into a state of the art stud complex. He is almost certainly the only jockey in the 20th century to have ridden a horse that he bred, Minster Son, to victory in one of the Classic races, the St. Leger Stakes 1988. He and his ex-wife Carol had three sons Anthony, Neil, and Ross.

In the 1983 New Years Honours List, Willie Carson was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Civil Division for his services to horse racing. [1] This entitled him to the Post Nominal Letters "OBE" for life.

From 1982 to 1983 Carson joined Bill Beaumont as one of the team captains for A Question of Sport . With Clare Balding, Carson co-presented BBC horse racing on BBC1 until the BBC ended their racing coverage at the end of the 2012 season.

He was chairman of Swindon Town FC from 2001 until August 2007 when, following a takeover of the club by Best Holdings SGPS S.A, he was replaced by Jim Little.[ citation needed ]

In November 2010, he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University of Chester. [2]

In 2011, he came 5th in the eleventh series of ITV1's reality television show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! .[ citation needed ]

Major wins


Flag of France.svg France


Flag of Germany.svg Germany


Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland


Flag of Italy.svg Italy

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kinane</span> Irish former flat racing jockey (born 1959)

Michael J. Kinane is an Irish former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009.

Richard Hills is a retired flat racing jockey, who won six British Classic Races in a 33 year career.

The Sprint Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Haydock Park over a distance of 6 furlongs, and it is scheduled to take place each year in early September.

<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.

William Richard Hern was an English Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and winner of sixteen British Classic Races between 1962 and 1995, and was Champion Trainer on four occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cash Asmussen</span> American jockey

Cash Asmussen is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born Brian Keith Asmussen, in 1977 he legally changed his name to "Cash".

Frédéric Head is a retired horse trainer and champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. His grandfather, William Head, and father, Alec Head, who also competed as prominent jockeys and trainers, raised “Freddy,” at the Haras du Quesnay, initially managed by Alec and later by Martine Head, in Deauville until its closure in November 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashwan</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Nashwan was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After winning both his starts as a two-year-old, he developed into an outstanding performer in the spring and summer of 1989, completing a unique four-timer when winning the 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby, Eclipse Stakes, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. After sustaining his only defeat in the Prix Niel in September, he was retired to stud where he was a successful sire of winners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadwell Racing</span> Thoroughbred horse racing operation

Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

John Leeper Dunlop was an English race horse trainer based in Arundel, Sussex. He trained the winners of 74 Group One races, including 10 British Classics, with over 3000 winners in total. He was the British flat racing Champion Trainer in 1995.

Luca M. Cumani is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer and breeder. He trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket from 1976 to 2019. He has trained a multitude of high-profile horses, including seven Classic race winners, two Epsom Derby winners in Kahyasi (1988) and High-Rise (1998), as well as a Breeders' Cup Mile winner in Barathea (1994).

The Height of Fashion Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile, 1 furlong and 197 yards, and it is scheduled to take place each year in May.

Dayjur was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter, he ran eleven times between June 1989 and October 1990 and won seven races. In 1990 he dominated European sprinting, winning the King's Stand Stakes, the Nunthorpe Stakes, the Ladbroke Sprint Cup and the Prix de l'Abbaye. On his final racecourse appearance he finished second to Safely Kept in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. The Racing Post called him "the world's fastest horse".

Michael Jarvis was a Thoroughbred horse trainer in England. Based in Newmarket, Jarvis trained numerous Group One winners including three winners of the British Haydock Sprint Cup. Jarvis's horses also won important races in Ireland, Germany and Italy. He kept approximately 80 horses in training, and his main jockey was Philip Robinson. Jarvis's career spanned almost 40 years from his first win at the top-rated Haydock Sprint Cup in 1969 to his 2007 win of the Italian Premio Roma.

Greville Michael Wilson Starkey was an English jockey who rode almost 2,000 winners during a 33-year career on the flat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhtarram</span> American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Muhtarram was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred race horse. He won the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Ascot twice, in addition to the Irish Champion Stakes and the Premio Presidente della Repubblica in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun Princess (horse)</span> Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Sun Princess (1980–2001), was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and Broodmare. In a career which lasted from September 1982 until October 1984, she ran ten times and won three races. She recorded all her successes at Group One level when a three-year-old in 1983 winning the Classic Epsom Oaks by a record margin of twelve lengths and the Yorkshire Oaks against other females before defeating colts in the St. Leger Stakes. In the same season she was placed in Europe's two most prestigious all-aged races, finishing third in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She raced without winning in 1984 before she was retired to stud, where she became the dam of several winners including the Dewhurst Stakes winner Prince of Dance.

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

Salsabil was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In a racing career which lasted from September 1989 to October 1990 she ran nine times and won seven races. Salsabil was one of the leading two-year-old fillies in Europe in 1989, winning two races including the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at the Longchamp. After winning the Fred Darling Stakes on her three-year-old debut, Salsabil won both of Britain's Classic races for fillies: the 1000 Guineas over one mile at Newmarket and the Oaks over one and a half miles at Epsom. She was then raced against colts and became the first filly for ninety years to win the Irish Derby at the Curragh. In autumn, Salsabil added a victory in the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp but finished unplaced when favourite for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October. Salsabil was then retired to stud where she had success as a broodmare before dying of cancer in 1996.

Lahib was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was unraced as a juvenile and won once from two starts as a three-year-old in the spring of 1991. In the following year he improved to become one of the best milers in Europe, winning the Queen Anne Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes as well as finishing second in the Lockinge Stakes, Prix Jacques Le Marois and Champion Stakes. He was retired from racing at the end of the year and became a breeding stallion. He had some success as a sire of winners.

Opale was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Unraced as a juvenile she won her first three races as a three-year-old in 1983 and later finished second in the Princess Royal Stakes. In the following year, she was placed in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes and won the Meld Stakes before recording her biggest success in the Irish St. Leger. On her final appearance, she was disqualified after finishing first in the Premio Roma. After her retirement from racing, she became a broodmare and produced several minor winners. Her last recorded foal was born in 1992.

References

  1. 1 2 "Willie Carson, top UK Jockey".
  2. "Honorary Graduates 2010". University of Chester. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
None
Hamdan Al Maktoum retained jockey
Until 1997
Succeeded by