Thomas Clayton (1 December 1882 – 24 March 1909) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

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 ...

of the early 20th century.

Early life

Clayton was born in

St Leonards, New South Wales St Leonards is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Leonards is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of Municipality of La ...

, a Sydney harbourside suburb on the north shore, to James Clayton and Alice (''née'' Russell).

Career

He was indentured to famous Randwick trainer Isaac Earnshaw and rode for him some of the best horses of the time. He was best known for his association with the champion

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

and accumulated an impressive record of major wins with this horse. Thanks to Poseidon, Clayton became the first jockey to win the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double in 1906. When Poseidon won the Caulfield Cup for a second time in 1907, Clayton became the first jockey to win consecutive Caulfield Cups.

Melbourne and Caulfield Cups

Before teaming up with Poseidon, Clayton went close to winning the Cups double with

Acrasia Akrasia (; Greek , "lacking command" or "weakness", occasionally transliterated as acrasia or Anglicised as acrasy or acracy) is a lack of self-control, or acting against one's better judgment. The adjectival form is "akratic". Classical approa ...

in 1904. Acrasia finished second in the Caulfield Cup, but went on to win the Melbourne Cup two weeks later. Courtesy of Warroo, Clayton achieved another second placing in the 1905 Caulfield Cup. Another of Clayton's major wins came in the 1908 Futurity Stakes on Antonio.

Death

At 28 years of age, Clayton sustained a

compound fracture A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a '' ...

of the pelvis, broken ribs and internal injuries when his mount "All Blue" was one of twelve horses to fall during the running of the Trial Stakes at Rosehill on 20 March 1909. He died as a result of these injuries on 24 March 1909.

Legacy

On 24 March 2004 the presentation whips Clayton was given for his Melbourne Cup wins on Acrasia and Poseidon were sold at Public

Auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

in Victoria. The Acrasia whip was sold for $750 and the Poseidon whip was sold for $3,750 (figures in Australian dollars). After Tom's death, these whips had been passed in succession to his wife, Nellie, his daughter, Nellie Mary, and then his grandson.

References

Sources

Tom Clayton profile on Melbourne Cup Club websiteFuturity StakesMelbourne Cup Previous Winners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Tom Australian jockeys Jockeys who died while racing Sport deaths in Australia Accidental deaths in New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales 1882 births 1909 deaths