In 1989, many racing scribes, including some not usually given to bestowing lavish praise on young riders, were predicting a bright future for Doncaster-born apprentice Lee Newton. The mining engineer’s son had ridden four winners from his first eleven rides.Lee was only nine when he got his first taste of racing. Considering himself the ideal build for a jockey, he jumped on his bike one day and knocked on the door of veteran Doncaster trainer Bob Ward. He spent his weekends and holidays working for Ward, and when he retired, a short time with a show jumping yard, before joining another local racing stable, that of Ron Thompson.

While still at school he went for a trial period to Paul Kelleway at Newmarket. The Master of Shalfleet was impressed by what he saw and wrote to Lee’s headmaster asking if he could leave school early to join him. At 15 his schooldays were over and the next 18 months saw him working at Kelleway’s yard.

Lee joined Geoff Huffer at the start of 1989 and had his first mount in public for him on Easter Monday that year, finishing third on 20-1 outsider Aptitude in a competitive handicap. Next time out, Aptitude provided him with his first winner on only his second ride when landing an apprentices’ race at Brighton.

Huffer’s Mel’s Rose was Lee’s next winner on June 7 at Yarmouth. He returned to the Norfolk track later that month to score a double – Aptitude and Mel’s Rose again. Win number five came at Wolverhampton, once more on Aptitude in the Midland Cambridgeshire on August Bank Holiday Monday. Another winner of turf plus one on the all-weather gave him a highly satisfactory score of seven at the end of his first season.

However, the career which looked to be riding high came down to earth with a bump early the following year. Huffer’s yard was owned by Prince Yazid of Kuwait and Iraq’s invasion of that country brought La Grange Stables to a shuddering halt overnight. Huffer relinquished his licence.

Lee joined John Gosden’s Stanley House team and stayed there for five months before moving across town to Ben Hanbury. He had a few rides for him including a winner on Wednesday’s Auction at Wolverhampton.

The Jeff Banks-trained Polonez Prima was responsible for two of Lee’s four wins in 1991. His victory in Newmarket’s Bedford Lodge Hotel Handicap was followed eight days later by success in the £10,000 added Harvey Jones handicap at Haydock.

In the summer of 1992 Lee left Newmarket and returned to his northern roots, joining the burgeoning string of Middleham trainer Mark Johnston.

He rode 11 winners from 154 rides in 1996, his last as apprentice. Although many apprentices have disappeared without trace after losing their claim, Lee remained relatively steady, riding 14 winners from 164 rides in 1997, 12 from 181 in 1998, seven from 151 in 1999, and 11 from 187 in 2000.

However, his career suffered a severe slump thereafter and at the end of 2002, aged 31, he relinquished his licence, having ridden just one winner that year from a handful of rides.

He became a financial services adviser and, in November 2003, was awarded the prestigious Griffins Richard Davis award, organised by JETS, the Jockeys’ Employment Training Scheme, in recognition of having shown greatest enthusiasm for preparing for a second career after race-riding.