Bruce Robertson Hobbs (December 27, 1920 – November 22, 2005) was an English

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

racehorse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

. Born on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, Hobbs became the youngest jockey ever to ride the winner of the English Grand National when successful on

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

, a son of

Man o' War Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and ...

, in 1938 just three months after his 17th birthday. Two weeks later, Hobbs won the

Welsh Grand National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt racing, National Hunt Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...

on Timber Wolf. At the end of the 1937–38 season, during which he rode 35 winners, Hobbs made history by becoming the first jockey to win three Grand Nationals in one year, being successful in Long Island's Cedarhurst version.

Riding career

Hobbs had started as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, riding 10 winners before his 16th birthday. It was said that of all the young riders in the history of racing, "none has created a greater stir than has young Hobbs." He had just turned

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

when he had his first ride in the National in 1937. He had been due to ride Battleship, until that horse was withdrawn. In the event, he was booked to ride a horse called Flying Minutes and was amongst the leaders until falling at the last open ditch. In 1938, he finally got to ride and win aboard Battleship, a horse that was completing a unique

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It i ...

National double. A crashing fall later that year resulted in injuries including a broken spine. Although told he would never ride again, he returned to the saddle, but turned to training horses at age 25.

Military service

Between 1940 and 1945 Hobbs served in the

Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons The Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1794 to 1956. It was formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Its volunteer companies played an active role ...

. He reached the rank of Captain and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

Training career

Shortly after the war, Hobbs became a private trainer for John Rogerson at

Letcombe Regis Letcombe Regis is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The village is on Letcombe Brook at the foot of the Berkshire ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. In 1953 he moved to

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

and became assistant trainer to

Cecil Boyd-Rochfort Sir Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort KCVO (188718 March 1983) was an Irish thoroughbred racehorse trainer who was British flat racing Champion Trainer five times. Background Cecil was the son of Rochfort Hamilton Boyd-Rochfort and the grandson of ...

. In 1961 and 1962 he was assistant to John Clayton. In 1964 he moved to the Carlburg stable near Newmarket and became private trainer to

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

. Hobbs became a public trainer in 1966, basing himself at the

Palace House Palace House is the home of the National Horse Racing Museum in the remaining part of Charles II of England, Charles II's racing palace in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. It is home to the National Horse Racing Museum, the British Sporting Art Trust ...

stable where he remained for the rest of his career.

Retirement

Hobbs retired from racing in 1985. He died at Newmarket, Suffolk, in 2005, aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Bruce English jockeys People from Long Island 1920 births 2005 deaths Place of death missing People from Vale of White Horse (district) People from Newmarket, Suffolk Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons officers British racehorse trainers