David Paul Harrison (born 8 July 1972 in

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

) is a former

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. Harrison rode his first winner on a horse called Majestic Image at

Southwell Racecourse Southwell Racecourse (pronounced /ˈsʌðəl/ or /ˈsaʊθwɛl/) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located east of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of only six racecourses in the UK to have an all-weather track and is one of ...

on St David's Day, 1 March 1991. He went on to become the

British flat racing Champion Apprentice The flat racing Champion Jockey and Champion Apprentice titles are awarded annually to the jockey(s) and apprentice(s) respectively that have ridden the most winners (both turf and all-weather) in Great Britain during a set period or championship ...

jockey in 1992, with 56 winners, also winning the

Lester Award __NOTOC__ A Lester Award is one of a range of awards given to jockeys at an annual ceremony in Great Britain. The awards are named in honour of Lester Piggott, an eleven-time British flat racing Champion Jockey who won thirty British Classic Races ...

for 'Apprentice Jockey of the Year'. During his 11 years in racing, his major wins included the

Royal Hunt Cup The Royal Hunt Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to ...

for

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

at Royal Ascot (Colour Sergeant) along with victories in the

Hong Kong Derby The Hong Kong Derby is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1873. Restricted to horses four-years-old only since 1981, the race is run in mid-March and is the premier event on the domestic racing programme with a purse of HK$18 m ...

(Holy Grail) and

Irish St. Leger The Irish St Leger is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it i ...

( Arctic Owl). Other notable winners include Mongol Warrior, trained by Lord Huntingdon which became the first British trained winner of the Swiss Derby and Single Empire, trained by

Peter Chapple-Hyam Peter Chapple-Hyam (born 2 April 1963 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England) is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He trained Dr Devious to win The Derby in 1992 and repeated the feat with Authorized in 2007. He managed two Group One wins ...

, winner of the

Derby Italiano The Derby Italiano is a Group 2 flat horse race in Italy open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Capannelle over a distance of 2,200 metres (about 1 mile and 3 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take place each year in ...

. He also rode many winners as stable jockey to trainers

James Fanshawe James Fanshawe is a British racehorse trainer. Horse training career He principally trains flat horses such as multiple Group 1 winner Soviet Song. However, he has twice won the Champion Hurdle: in 1992 with Royal Gait, previously a disqual ...

and

Brian Kan Brian Kan Ping-chee (; 24 November 1937 – 12 February 2022) was a five-time champion horse trainer and politician in Hong Kong. Horse training career An émigré to the United Kingdom in 1952 who worked in a Chinese restaurant near Epsom Dow ...

. Harrison's career ended prematurely, after he damaged his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...

when he fell from the racehorse, My Chief, in a race at

Sha Tin Racecourse Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club. Penfold Park is encircled by the track, and the Hon ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, on 30 May 2001. My Chief clipped the heels of another horse and took a heavy fall. After his accident, Harrison relocated to

Andalucia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

and became an agent for other jockeys.

References

Welsh jockeys 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from St Asaph Lester Award winners British Champion apprentice jockeys {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub