John Francome (born 13 December 1952) is a retired 7 time British Champion Jump Jockey. In addition to being a successful jockey, Francome was previously a racing trainer, broadcaster with

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

and an author.

Racing career

Francome first rode a pony called Black Beauty at the age of six. His first riding successes came as a showjumper, and was a member of the team that won the European Junior Show Jumping Championship for Great Britain. Francome's father secured a meeting with trainer Fred Winter and he became an apprentice in October 1969. His first race ride came at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

in December 1969, a race he won riding Multigrey trained by Godfrey Burr. In February 1970, Francome rode his first of 575 winners for trainer Winter on Osceola at

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the olde ...

. Osbaldeston was an early success story for the Francome/Winter partnership, notching up 17 victories. Francome won his first British Champion Jump Jockey title in the 1975/76 season. The same year he secured his first Grade 1 victory in the Sun Alliance Chase at Cheltenham with Pengrail. On his way to the 1977/78 British Champion Jump Jockey title, he won the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...

on Midnight Court. In 1981, he won the Stayers Hurdle on Derring Rose by 30 lengths again for Winter. One of Francome's most successful horses was Burrough Hill Lad, trained by

Jenny Pitman Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

. Francome took victories in the

Welsh Grand National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of abo ...

, Hennessy Gold Cup and King George VI Chase. At the 1984 Gold Cup, Francome could not ride Burrough Hill Lad due to his retainer with Winter, and finished second with Brown Chamberlin - a horse he had won both the Sun Alliance Chase and Hennessy Gold Cup on. Alongside riding for Pitman, Francome had success riding for Michael Dickinson, successes on Wayward Lad in the 1982 King George VI Chase and also on Silver Buck, Bregawn and Flatterer. Whilst many top successes came in Chases, Francome had success over hurdles with

Sea Pigeon Sea Pigeon (1970–2000) was an American-bred, British-trained racehorse who excelled in both National Hunt and flat racing. In a racing career which lasted from 1972 until 1981 he competed in eighty-five races, and won thirty-seven times. He ...

winning the 1981

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a d ...

. During the 1982 season, Francome stopped riding once he drew level with competitor, Peter Scudamore, in the Jump Jockeys Championship as Scudamore was injured. The two shared the title. Francome broke Stan Mellor's record of 1035 wins on Don't Touch at Fontwell in May 1984. In 1985, Francome retired and had ridden 1,138 winners over jumps in Britain and a total of seven British Champion Jump Jockey Titles. The John Francome Novices' Chase at Newbury was named after him in 2017.

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 ...

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...

- Midnight Court (1978) * Sun Alliance Chase - Pengrail (1975), Brown Chamberlin (1982) * Stayers Hurdle - Derring Rose (1981) *

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a d ...

(1981) * King George VI Chase - Wayward Lad (1982), Burrough Hill Lad (1984)

Cheltenham Festival winners (5)

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...

- Midnight Court (1978) * Sun Alliance Chase - Pengrail (1975), Brown Chamberlin (1982) * Stayers Hurdle - Derring Rose (1981) *

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a d ...

(1981)

Controversies

Francome had several controversial moments during his riding career. In 1978 he was suspended for 35 days for passing information to bookmaker, John Banks. He once famously referred to the racing stewards as "Cabbage Patch Dolls".

Career after racing

Writer

In 1986, Francome published his first fictional novel Eavesdropper. He went on to write a further 24 books. His most recent novel was Storm Rider published in 2010. His autobiography Born Lucky was published in 1985.

Bibliography

Francome's fictional books: Francome's non fiction books:

Broadcaster

Francome was a member of the

Channel 4 Racing ''Channel 4 Racing'' was the name given to the horse racing coverage on the British television stations Channel 4 and More4. History The first transmission of racing on the channel was on 22 March 1984 from Doncaster, as it took over midweek cov ...

television broadcast team. He appeared on the weekly show The Morning Line and also on race day broadcasts. In 2012, when Channel 4 Racing changed production companies from Highflyer to IMG, Francome left his role.

Injured Jockeys Fund

Between 2012 and 2016, Francome was the President of The Injured Jockeys Fund. From 2017, he became a Vice Patron alongside fellow jockeys AP McCoy and

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), better known as Frankie Dettori, is an Italian horse racing jockey based in the United Kingdom. Dettori has been British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and has ...

Personal life

Francome was born in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. In 1976 he married Miriam Stringer. The couple divorced in 1990. Sam Ricketts, the former professional footballer for Wales is his nephew. In 1986, Francome was awarded an MBE for services to horse racing. Francome built and owns Beechdown Farm in

Lambourn Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...

, a stableyard and training facility that can house 96 horses. Clive Cox is currently the resident racing trainer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francome, John 1952 births English jockeys Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Lambourn Sportspeople from Swindon British horse racing writers and broadcasters British Champion jumps jockeys English_male_novelists Autobiographers British_sports_broadcasters