Sidebotham, Tommy

Tommy Sidebotham was born in 1927 and served his apprenticeship with Dick Perryman at Newmarket. He then rode as a freelance after coming out of his time.He won the 1947 Royal Hunt Cup as a 5lb claimer, riding Herbert Blagrave’s Master Vote, a 25-1 shot. Having been prominent throughout, Master Vote took up the running three furlongs out and stayed on well to beat Billy Nevett’s mount Whitehall by two lengths. He also won that year's Goodwood Stakes on Strathmore.

His 5lb claim also came in handy at Haydock Park on May 14, 1949, when making practically all the running to land the valuable John Davies Handicap, worth £1,574 10s to the winner, on Perryman’s four-year-old colt Pelota.

That was the final year of his apprenticeship. Despite having been a successful apprentice jockey, he struggled, like so many, to re-establish himself after losing his claim. He rode just two winners in 1950 – Liability at Worcester on May 13, and Brown Peal at Lincoln on July 19.

The 1951 season started well with victory on Percy Allden’s Grand Folly in the Warwickshire

Handicap at Birmingham’s Easter fixture, but he had to wait five months for his next, Vidauban (right) in the Great Yorkshire Handicap on the opening day of Doncaster’s St Leger meeting, beating joint-favourite Bob, the mount of Edgar Britt. Two late season winners, Snowshill Sailor at Birmingham on November 6, and Belle Lumiere at Windsor three days later, gave him a score of four winners from 47 rides.Just two minor wins came his way in 1952, on Peter Nelson’s Pink Basket at Birmingham on Whit Monday, June 2, and Gerry Wilson’s Snowshill Sailor at Warwick on August 18.

It was even worse in 1953 when a total of 35 mounts yielded a sole success, on the Percy Vasey-trained Funa in the Commonwealth Handicap at Haydock on June 2. He came within a length of landing a double that day when finishing second on Starcross in the last race.

There were to be no more winners in Britain for Tommy Sidebotham. He gave up at the end of that 1953 season. He took out a jockey’s licence again in 1958 but relinquished it after just a couple of months.

Tommy Sidebotham died in 1988, aged 61.