Wilkinson, Jumbo

Christened Benjamin Edwin Wilkinson but always known as Jumbo, he was born at Sedgefield on May 14, 1932. He first appeared on the racecards in 1950 riding Vernon Arms for trainer Jack Fawcus at Wetherby on Saturday, 21 January, 1950. His next three rides, Common Sense, Full Blend and Jedburgh Lass, were all for the same trainer as the young jockey continued to learn his trade.A horseman rather than a jockey, he was particularly good around Liverpool, where he won the Grand Sefton on Ernest, the Becher Chase on Clear Profit and, in 1960, finished third to Merryman ll on the same horse. He also finished fourth in the 1958 Grand National on Glorious Twelfth. 

Over hurdles, the best he rode was Quelle Chance, on whom he won several races and finished third behind Winning Fair in the 1963 Champion Hurdle. 

Jumbo rode for the final time at Carlisle on Easter Monday, March 27, 1967, when he scored his last victory on 5-2 favourite Toledo Steel in the Warnell Fell (4yo) Hurdle. Thirty-five minutes later he finished fifth on Follower in a two-mile handicap chase. Afterwards he was in such acute pain with an aggravated back injury that he could not carry on riding. 

He had a suffered a series of falls during that season which had culminated in a slipped disc and a chipped vertebrae. He spent the next six weeks in hospital and when he emerged he had to wear a plaster jacket and then a metal corset. 

Not long after leaving hospital he was granted a temporary licence to train under both Rules, taking charge of more than 20 horses formerly trained by the late Jack Fawcus at Ashgill, Middleham, following Fawcus’s tragic death on May 30, 1967 in a car crash on his way to Uttoxeter races. Jumbo had been stable jockey to Fawcus and had served his apprenticeship with him from 1948 to 1953. 

Having ridden more than 200 winners in a 17-year career over jumps, he had his first training success just a fortnight after taking over the licence, when Bubbled Over won the Hurn Apprentice Selling Handicap at Beverley on June 14, 1967. 

He went on to saddle over 200 winners. These included Kelso Chant, the winner of 15 races including Ascot's Long Walk Hurdle: Be My Guest, who won Haydock's Premier Long Distance Hurdle and Eboracum, Chip Chase and Armagret, who each won several good races. Armagret went on to became a decent point-to-pointer, winner the 12-runner Mens’ Open at the Cambridge University Draghounds meeting on frozen ground on Saturday February 12, 1996. 

On Monday, February 3, 1969, Jumbo sent out Fine Hand, ridden by his brother Nimrod, to contest the Widgeon Novices Chase on Eider day at Newcastle.

Fine Hand was more than 30 lengths clear when he fell at the second-last, leaving, it seemed, the race at the mercy of the favourite, Colonel Imp.

Wilkinson was back in the saddle in a flash, but Colonel Imp jumped the last in front. Riding like a man possessed, Nimrod caught and passed the favourite on the run-in for a spectacular victory.

Fine Hand then won its next race. Jumbo, when a jockey, had ridden both its sire, Flush Royal, and the dam, Fine Bay. 

Former National Hunt Jockey Alan Harrison rode just five winners in his career, all for Jumbo. 

Jockey Geoff Harker turned professional in the 1885-86 season and became Jumbo’s stable jockey. 

His last winner was Netherby Said at Market Rasen in 1996.  He never had more than 20 horses at any one time and, on retiring, said: "Training is a way of life and I wouldn't be packing in now if we had more horses. It's a sad day but I've no regrets-the game has been good to me and I'd do it all again, given half the chance." 

Chris Thornton said: "When I first knew him, Jumbo was a highly respected jockey, probably one of the best of his era, and I've known him throughout his training career. 

"He was of the old school, a hard worker who produced the goods when he had the right horse. He was very tough and would ride out the worst horses in the yard, never asking his staff to do anything that he wouldn't do. He was a real character and a good man to have at a party, being full of fascinating stories from the old days." 

Ex-jockey Steve Charlton, now a valet, said: "I rode quite a few winners for Jumbo, including Kelso Chant in the Long Walk. He was a lovely guy, who always had a joke to tell. He had some horrific falls but always made light of them. They don't make them like him any more." 

David Munro, who also rode winners for Wilkinson, said: "He was a wonderful man, a good horseman, great company and a fearless jockey."