John Parsons was a British

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 ...

and the youngest jockey ever to win The Derby, reportedly aged 16. Parsons won the race on

Caractacus Caratacus (Brythonic ''*Caratācos'', Middle Welsh ''Caratawc''; Welsh ''Caradog''; Breton ''Karadeg''; Greek ''Καράτακος''; variants Latin ''Caractacus'', Greek ''Καρτάκης'') was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the Ca ...

, trained by Bob Smith. Caractacus was an unusual winner of the Derby. He had run and lost three times as a two-year-old, and as a three-year-old, he had been campaigned over races of two miles and more. He thus started the race at odds of 40/1 and was not expected to win. His owner Charles Snewing had interests in another more fancied runner, Spite, and Snewing's main jockey James Goater had been offered the ride on Caractacus, but had opted for Spite instead. This left Caractacus for Parsons, Snewing's stable boy, who had ridden the horse on three previous starts. Despite the low expectations, Caractacus won, Parsons riding the horse with "marvellous coolness and assurance". Parsons is reported to have encouraged his mount by shouting, "Get along, Crackey" and "Good lad, Crackey." Subsequently, it is said that Parsons disappeared into "utter obscurity". Caractacus was his only ride in the Derby. He would later be found leading horses round the sales ring at Newmarket.

Major wins

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

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(1862)''

References

Bibliography

* * * British jockeys 1840s births Year of death unknown {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub