Brian Swift. He rode his first winner on Swift’s Noirmont Buoy in a Goodwood apprentices’ race on September 11, 1967 (right). It was Jock’s first ride for Swift since joining his yard.He rode three winners in 1968 and 1969 and then joined Staff Ingham’s stable. Having had another three-winner campaign in 1970, he soared to 19 winners in 1971, four of which were gained on Ingham’s filly Sofonisba, who Jock later recalled as the best he ever rode.

Having completed his apprenticeship, he found winners hard to come by, just one from a mere 13 rides in 1972, and one more – the last of his career – on the

Gavin Hunter-trained Conscience Money (right) in a five-furlong two-year-old seller at Chepstow on Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday, May 28, 1973.By then he was combining life as a jockey with working as a postman in Ashtead sorting office and making his deliveries in and around Epsom. “My heart is still in racing but I can’t face going back to being a stable lad,” he said. “As a postman I am earning more and have plenty of free time. When I was an apprentice, I had just one day off a fortnight.

“What I’m always waiting for is an opportunity to ride a really fancied horse. My weight has stayed the same and, although I’m getting a bit desperate now, I still hope something will turn up.”

It didn’t in 1974, when he failed to make the frame on any of his 18 rides. He handed in his licence at the end of the year. He made a comeback in 1979 and rode occasionally until 1984 but had no more winners.