ALEXANDRE GEORGES CARTER (Alec)
I am indebted to Derek Gay, who contributed this article
Alexandre "Alec" Georges Carter was born on Monday, 31 January 1887 into a family which had been steeped in French racing since the 1830's having come from England a few years before.
His father Frederick trained at Chantilly and the Carters were almost classed as the aristocracy of trainers.
At the age of 13 Alec rebelled against his family when it was suggested he work towards a profession, insisting that he wished to become a jockey - a year later he got his wish and was apprenticed to his father.
In 1902, as a 15-year-old apprentice, he won the 1 and a half mile handicap - the Ommnium - for trainer Henry Foy on the filly Affection, giving him the biggest win of his career. Alec followed this up by winning the last race on the card for a double.
Although he only carried 7st when he won the Ommnium, he quickly began to put on weight and turned to riding over jumps.
By 1907 he was champion jockey in France over jumps with 139 wins ( a record).
He won France's major jumps race, the Grand steeplechase de Paris, in 1908 on Dandolo (see below) but by 1910 he had been conscripted into the French Army under a law issued in the 1890's which stated that any person born in France of parents born in France were classed as French Nationality.
Originally incorporated into the cavalry at Luneville , he was allowed by his unit to ride in races which he continued to do. Riding mainly for M James Hennessy, he won the 1913 French Champion hurdle on Gala Fen and a second Grand Steeplechase on Lord Loris in 1914.
It was in the same year (1914) that he had his only mount in the Grand National when he rode the 1909 winner Lutteur III into 3rd place.
When war broke out in 1914 , he was serving as a Sergeant in the 23rd Dragoons, and saw action straight away being quickly promoted to 2nd Lt for gallantry in the field. It was rumoured that he was offered command of a Cavalry unit but he transferred to an Infantry battalion.
On the 11th October 1914, at Arras near the river Aisne, the unit came under fire from a German machine gunner, Carter was hit as he was receiving orders from his Colonel, and badly wounded.
His leg was shattered, and had to be amputated.
Four days later he died of his wounds, ironically around the same time his 1914 Grand steeplechase winner Lord Loris was badly injured when a shell exploded near him.
Lord Loris had been requisitioned by the army for 4,000 francs and had been the mount of an officer, taken to a near by barn, he was treated by vets but succumbed to his injuries.
A few weeks before his death Carter had written to a friend saying " I seem to have had a charmed life at the front , although I have had 4 horses killed under me , I have not had a scratch". That was before fate took a hand via a German machine gunner.
Alec was the "darling" of French racing circles: good looking with cherubic features , he had impeccable manners and was always well dressed. Women pursued him, including the rich and famous. One such woman was Emilienne d'Alencon, a cabaret dancer and courtesan, famous for her lovers male and female.
She was rumoured to have been his partner for a while even though she was 18 years his senior. Emilienne later married the jockey Percy Woodland.
A picture of Alec hangs on the wall of Auteuil racecourse with a memorial plaque put there by his fellow jockeys, they also named the hallway there Alec Carter Hall.
Alec's win on Dandolo.
Auteuil, Paris, June 7, 1908
The event, the Grand Steeplechase of Paris - the most important race of its kind after the Liverpool Grand National – was not favoured by the weather which, after four days of scorching heat, had become chilly.
There were just ten runners: the English entry Albuera, four French four-year-olds – Pimlico, Pharson, Bessborough & Adonis ll – and five older horses, Journaliste, Royal Visiteur, Salomon, Francois and Alec's mount, Dandolo, which had won the same race in 1904.
Royal Visiteur started favourite and led for some 4,000 metres before being taken on by Albuera (who found the ground too hard). Inside the final 1,000 metres, Adonis ll, Jounaliste & Pharson forged ahead. Adonis ll jumped the last in front but was immediately joined, then passed, by Pharson.
Then Alec gave Dandolo its head and, in a mighty struggle over the last few metres, went on to win by a length.
Alec was warmly cheered by the crowd on his return to the paddock.