One gentleman rider who certainly held up the sporting tradition in the Cardiff area was Joseph Butler Jones, who was known on the racecourse as 'Joe the Crwys'.
The son of Thomas jones, who had a bakery in in St John's Square, Cardiff, Joe took a keen interest in horses and training as a young lad, and when he took over Crwys Farm - now the site of Maindy Barracks - he was able to put his skills to good use.
He had many notable successes in his teens over the old racecourse at Heath and, later, at Ely racecourse which closed in 1865.
In 1865, at Chepstow racecourse over the old Oakgrove, St Arvans - not the present day one at Piercefield Park - he showed his superior horsemanship by winning all four races on the card.
He won the 4-mile Open Hunt Steeplechase on his uncle Mr Richard Thomas's Cabin Boy ( a horse he was later to own himself) then proceeded to win the 3-mile Hunt Steeplechase on Mr E M Currie's Father Pat after surviving an objection for going the wrong side of a flag.